#visualcipher.tag

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Let's dissect this baby up in parts because hoo boy is there a lot to this little guy.

First, the shape of the pendant. I don't feel like going through shape language 101 here, I trust you to do your own research there, but let's just point out a few things. Circles are one of the strongest shapes structurally, but also one of the hardest to build into. Circles are often representative of completion, sancity, eternity, heavenliness, and protection. In Christianity, halos are signifiers of divinity, and God as a whole is likened to a circle a few times.

Circles as a shape in this movie are very often tied to glass, both as windows and as mirrors. They are tied to eyes and eyeballs, because those are also round. Circles are viewports, something to be seen through or at.

Even the radio speaker which is also round but not made of glass, can be tied to vision. Its roundness is not as prevalent in framing and composition focus except when you see through it from radio POV shots. Likewise, the COI badges are circular, but with the grid pattern on it, I tie them along to the radio speaker grid visually.

In Iron Lung, circles are for seeing.

Next, the material. I've already pointed out glasses and circles are concurrent in the movie, but the pendant is framed in a golden band. I'm pretty sure we're looking at glass edging, most commonly used for stained glass, so that the solder can stick to the pieces. Those come in copper, zinc and brass, but given the hue of it, I'm guessing it's copper.

That in itself doesn't say much, but copper (and brass, as a copper alloy) is an old material for medical supplies since it has natural antibacterial and antiviral properties. In the movie is sometimes gets a yellower shine similar to gold, a metal often associated with holiness and purity since it doesn't rust. Copper also has religious significance in the Bible (often interchangeable with brass), symbolizing divine presence, harsh justice, strength, but also stubbornness.

Then the centerpiece of it, the seed. It's worth noting that it's not just a seed but a seedling. They have similar symbolism but not entirely.

A seed is infinite potential. Like an egg (which is also round), it symbolizes a new cycle, the foundations for something new. It's promise, hope, rebirth. It's also one of our oldest ties to human civilization, when our ancestors began to develop agriculture. Beyond that, it's also connection to Earth itself, which after the Great Rapture, would mean a whole lot to everyone.

A seedling however, is the next logical step of that infinite potential. It's the very tentative steps into making those endless possibilities into reality, but it's fragile, weak. Most seedlings never make it to maturity, dead before they reach a meter high. It's a fleeting hope, ready to be extinguished at any second, but that hope is now encased in glass.

A new beginning put on pause until further notice, maybe forever, never to be realized.

Considering that Eden is a death cult utterly dedicated and devoted to their Tree as a divine being, and that their belief is that when one dies, their body becomes soil for the Tree, one could extrapolate a bit. The fact that Eden brothers carry a seed with them means that they are meant to feed that seed if they died away from the Tree. No matter what, they are fated to be soil.

Let's go a bit broader now, and talk about maple symbolism. Beyond the fact that they produce sugar, and so are associated with generosity and sustenance, maples are also connected to gentleness and practicality. It's a very useful tree, having medicinal properties, wood good for turning and furniture, and again, gives sugar. Depending on the source, maples are also said to help guide you into a decision by revealing truths, and to offer a helping hand when asked.

A quick note on maple samaras, which is the term for the helicopter-wing type of seed pods. They are shaped this way so that the wind may blow them further away from the parent tree, and spread the offspring on the wind.

Wind are a classic symbol for movement, change, and swiftness, which is a bit ironic given that the entire movie happens in a sealed container constantly running out of air. Simon is metaphorically suffocating. But it kind of fits that the tree produces a samara, but the "wind" carrying those seeds is the Eden brothers. They are vessels both for transport and for sustenance.

Wind can also be associated with divine presence, or even divine speech delivering messages to humanity, so the Eden brothers being tied to wind in a spiritual sense is quite juicy!

I do wanna point out another visual language that is tied to the pendant and other glass circles, and that is the cracks.

Visually they aren't that different from roots, or a trunk with branches, and almost all of them have the point of impact on the bottom of the glass. Almost because we don't see the crack pattern form on the actual pendant so we can only speculate.

Narratively, cracks always occur when the blood is involved in some way. The porthole is cracked by the ocean pressure, the seedling roots when in contact with the blood, the pressure gauge cracks at the same time Simon's temper rises and his mutations consume his left eye, the pendant cracks after the vision of the blood dimension.

Cracks can symbolize a weakness or instability, but when coupled with the symbolism of circles I've mentioned above, it can mean a break with a previously accepted perception of reality, or the spark of change breaking a barrier. But also, given that cracks on mirrors can mean bad luck, all those breaks in reflective glass is quite ominous.

It's also worth acknowledging that the growth pattern of the seedling is on a zigzag shape. It's already a crack in a metaphorical sense.

The cord the pendant is tied to also feels worth exploring. When the pendant is revealed, the cord is about long enough to be worn as a necklace, and it probably was by the original owner.

Simon however, wears his on his wrists. We see he has a woven cord still tied on his right wrist, and he then ties the pendant to his left wrist. So let's look at that.

Wearing a necklace with a religious symbol is pretty standard human practice, there's not a religion out there without some version of their own. Necklaces could be likened to a collar, standing for ownership or allegiance, you belong to it more than it belongs to you. But also carrying something close to your throat or chest signals a deep closeness with said symbol. You literally carry it close to your heart.

Simon wearing it on his wrists can means a number of things. It shows a distance to what is a symbol of loyalty to Eden, and that he doesn't hold the same values as them. Having it close to his hand also allows him to have it in sight and reach much easier than if worn as a necklace. Carrying something close to his hands could also stand for a much more actionable and practical approach, hands are tied to labor and deeds far more than the heart is.

The switch from right to left hand is also interesting. Simon's handedness is a bit up in the air for me right now, but let's assume right-handedness for a moment. Right hands are tied to blessings, dominance and fairness, while left hands symbolize oddness, sneakiness and intuition. By that measure, him wearing the pendant-less string could underline his loss of faith and trust, a mark of something that was and no longer is. A reminder his past life is gone and he's changed from it.

The move from right to left further shows his inner connection to the Tree are more personal, and a bit off the beaten path. Satanism calls their philosophy "the left-handed path", and giving blessings or salutes with a left hand are considered rude at best, a sign of ill-will at worst. It strikes Simon's switch as rather heretical, maybe even a small "fuck you" gesture to Eden's traditions and goals. Eden might have embraced death and despair, but he will fight to keep living.

Now if we assume Simon is ambidextrous, then the more negative connotations can be struck out, and we can assume a more intuitive and spiritual connection than a rational or formal one. The Tree and what it stands for is up for him to decide. The left arm also has the symbolism of the left ring finger, which runs a vein right to the heart by the folk belief.

There is also something to be said of religious symbols being protective, especially as necklaces or bracelets since they form a circle (ha!) of protection around the wearer.

Now that we've gone through all these, let's see what we can spin from these meanings in context to the movie.

We've established circles are for seeing, so what does it say to have a pendant about the size of a monocle or camera lens? Plenty.

The tree is one of the lenses from which Simon perceives the world - and himself - through. It's literally in his sight. The potential for a new life, a second chance, is right there always before him, but never in reach. It's stuck like he is. As a lens, it exists in a liminal space of coming and going, a threshold of perception.

The only way it can actualize its potential is if it's freed from the glass, no longer a window or a mirror, but an active agent of its own.

I also find it poignant that, even though the sub claimed one of his arms, the seed only seemed to take root properly when submerged in the blood. It didn't consume of Simon like Eden claimed or wished it to, but rather it consumed of what the Pinhole God created. Not saying that it was trying to spare Simon or anything, but I am saying it seemed to meet him halfway in regards to him retaining his individuality in some small way.

I bring up the seed as a being with its own will because Simon kind of affords that interpretation. We see his anthropomorphising behavior towards the sub and saying a prayer to his mother, it wouldn't be too out of order to assume he might have given the seed or even the Tree a specific personality based on his interactions with it. On a similar vein, if he projects onto the seed as another, purer version of himself that deserves protection and care (which he never got), that's also quite likely.

Throughout the movie, the pendant is given focus on very particular moments:

When Simon attempts to apologize to Ava for the radiation incident, just before he decides to bring it up, and when he's confronted about Filament Station;

When Simon realizes he'll run out of oxygen soon, and he tries to connect with Ellie for comfort, asking her to keep talking to him;

When Ellie asks if he'd give everything to survive, and Simon answers he never had anything to begin with;

When Ellie speaks about the Pinhole God, and Simon argues how much worth it has as a miracle, and how it won't save him from being sent back down into the ocean;

When Simon lashes out at Ellie that meeting up is useless, and he just wants to go home;

When Simon triggers the portal of the Light, and Simon and the Pinhole God exchange words, "I see you";

When the Father recites his preaching about how when the last Son of Eden joins the Grove, there will be a thousand trees;

When the blood veins begin to consume Simon's torn arm;

and moments before the Blood Tree erupts.

Most of these moments are either tied to Simon's vulnerable moments, seeking connection with someone for comfort and reassurance, or when pondering his truest feelings out loud. Either way, they have a running theme of connection to others, with the present and a possible future.

The pendant is an outward symbol, which comparatively the knife holster is an introspective symbol. Simon retreats into himself when reaching for the holster, while with the pendant, he reaches outwards.

It makes the pendant holding a seedling rather than a seed even more relevant. Seeds are introspective symbols, because they must be buried in the dirt and eventually breach the soi. Seedlings are seeds who have breached and now must reach both downwards and upwards at the same time. Conscious and subconscious, intuition and perspective.

Mmm reaching at two directions at once... sounds familiar.

The Eden brothers having symbolic ties to the wind also fits with Simon as "the one who listens". Senses like hearing and seeing may seem only receptive, and to some extent they are, but reception is nothing without interpretation.