2-11-2020

I tried to do external research in talking to death midwives. These are people who have a community support role for the terminally ill, elderly and bereaved in accepting death but also managing the legal factor in the circumstance. Unfortunately, I did not receive response from the groups I emailed about having a discussion with, so I did some extra online research on different cultural expressions of death, focusing on mythology. Most mythologies and myths have a hero who enters the underworld and returns, notable examples including Orpheus and Hercules. I particularly like the story of Orpheus, who tries to rescue his wife Euridyce from the underworld after her death. His song was so sweet he convinced Hades to let her back as long as he could lead her back to the overworld without looking back. He was tricked to look back at the exit and had to let her go, and I think this story is important to what I am conveying in my game of death;; that acceptance and letting go of what is gone. I think a lyre could mechanically fit really well in the story, maybe as a tool to encourage plants to grow or something, where we could look at games like Spiritfarer using the guitar and various tools as inspiration.