(possible spoilers) ESOTERIC SYMBOL ANALYSIS

I can't say I know very much about the history of Mamoru Oshii, although you say Mamoru was studying to be a Christian priest, and then renounced the religion before working on <i>Angel's Egg</i>. I can believe that entirely, and wouldn't even presume to question that assertion since the entire film comes off to me as an expose, if you will, of the esoteric truths underlying the Christian paradigm which only an unbiased student of Christianity and occult symbolism would understand.

I would begin by starting off with the </b>The Soldier</b>

I agree that this character represents a 'Christ' figure. The cross-bow/weapon he carries around with him is a dead give-away. But when I saw a 'Christ' figure, I do not mean to say a 'Jesus Christ' figure. There are lots of Christs, Christ is not a name, it's a title. This figure is the titular Christ for the age in which we live in, the Age of Pisces. The Jesus of the four accepted gospels represents this Piscean christ-figure. Pisces is of course symbolised by a fish (Jesus feeds the multitude with fish, and is a 'fisher of men').

It would seem that Oshii is critical of the Age of Pisces, having it symbolically represented as a soldier, whose cross is a weapon. The multitudes in Oshiis during the Piscean Age grasp and aim for nothing more than shadows (shadows of the Coelacanth no less). It is also interesting to note that the multitudes are also dressed like soldiers - perhaps a statement by Oshii saying that the Piscean Age has been marred and tainted by the horrible warlike mentality of people (after all if there is anyplace on the face of the planet which knows the utmost horrors and disgusting history of the Piscean Age more so than anywhere else, it would be Japan, as it was the site of two of the worst crimes ever perpetrated by humans against humans (Hiroshima & Nagasaki). The setting of the film even takes place in a seemingly post-apocalyptic village. The soldier brings no enlightenment to the setting. He doesn't know anymore than the girl.

So now let's examine the <b>Girl</b>:

The girl, with her fascination for bottles of water, makes her: a water-bearer. In this paradigm, the water-bearer is of course none other than a heralded symbol of Aquarius.

Every 2100 yrs. + the sun at the equator rises under one of the 12 constellations known to us in the Zodiac. For the past 2000-2200 yrs the sun has been rising under Pisces (the soldier in the film). When people say we are in the End Days, the End Times, they are in fact correct, because what it means is the End of the Piscean Age and transitioning over to the Aquarian Age, as the sun will now be rising under that constellation. It's very ambiguous as to when the exact date and time of the 'official' transition will take place, some people believe it's already happened, others believe it's still a few years to decades off - but the fact remains, astronomically and astrologically speaking, we are heading for this new age, if not there already. So the girl is represented as a young water-bearer, because the Aquarian Age is new, young and unfulfilled. It has not yet come to term.

I must emphasise an important point here - when one looks up their horoscope every day, the natural order is: Aquarius (20 Jan-18 Feb), Pisces (18 Feb-20 Mar), Ares (20 Mar-19 Apr), Taurus (19 Apr-20 May), etc, etc...This is the natural procession of the zodiac we are all familar with. Due however to the tilt in the Earth's axis, this order is reversed in terms of what constellation/sign the sun rises under each day at the equator, otherwise known as the precession of the equinox - Therefore Aquarius follows Pisces.

Now in the film we have a scene where the Pisces symbol (soldier) follows the Aquarius symbol (soldier); however, they walk from east to west, rather than the more visually acceptable aesthetic of west to east (this is film craftsmanship 101) - to which the young 'Aquarian' girl says to the soldier: "Don't follow me."

What Oshii is doing here, is having a little fun with us. He's hinting at the precession of the equinox by the visually reverse direction in which they walk, while the girl is essentially telling the soldier not too follow, implying in fact that in the natural order, she in fact should be following him.

So why does Oshii show the soldier follow the girl? Well, we can look to the Gospel of Luke for this, 22:10 - when in the narrative Jesus explains to his disciples that they should follow the water-bearer into the house for the next passover. The water-bearer in this instance here is the girl, and she is being followed by the followers of this Christ-Era-paradigm in the form of the soldier who bears the cross (as Pisces is the symbol who presently bears the cross, the crossing of the sun, when you consider the equinoxes and the solstices) - the House in this Biblical passage refers to the House of the Zodiac, as far as when the next passover, or passing over, would occur for Christ and his disciples. Well in Angel's Egg we literally see this passing over.

As for the <b>Egg</b>:

I feel the egg has a multitude of symbolic undertones, representing all at the same time.

(1st) I believe it represents the Sun.
(2nd) I also believe it represents the Mind.
(3rd) It represents a new era for humanity.
(4th) A bird, which I shall go into now...

The representation of the end of one era, and the birth of a new era all tied in with a bird makes perfect sense when you keep in mind just who and what the bird represents.

The bird, is the Phoenix - that which rises from the dark ashes reborn (this is also what the sun does everyday, and also what all the various Christs in the various mythologies and relgions of the world does). Again the Phoenix is indicative of the new start humanity has with the ending of the shadowy dark Piscean Age and the birth of the Aquarian Age.

So it is appropriate that the Piscean Christ smashes the egg, with his implement of war (a very sobering action, which not only symbolically re-enacts the history of the entire Piscean Age, but may perhaps foreshadow how the advent of the new Aquarian Age is to be ushered in) - Either way, the end result is the birth of the New Age and the passing of the old age.

So of course we see the Piscean representation standing on the sands watching the Beast rise from the sea, just as described in Revelations 12-13. It was interesting that this beast was in fact a weapon of war in the shape of a single eye (the single eye motif always associated with death or the passing over of one state of being to another).
<b>
The Tree
</b>
This symbol of the tree is the Tree of Life of the Kabbala. This Tree is an esoteric representation and mapping of creation, i.e., what set the precession and procession of the equinoxers in the first place. It represents something which happened so long ago that neither the Soldier or the Girl can remember where they first saw it. The soldier recollects a 'black horizon' and also forgets from where he has come. In truth, they both share the same origin.
<b>
The Water & The Reflection
</b>
This symbol of the water is the representative of the inexpressable notion of that whihch makes up humanity's individual and collective spirit or soul (whichever you prefer to call it) and unconscious mind.

This brings us to the final symbol, and most important: The reflection of the girl as she falls into the pool. While falling we see her reflection on the face of the water, which gives us a visual of two, as opposed to one, a plurality. The gnostic theologoy promotes unity, not plurality - so it is then when the girl descends into the waters, destroyin the illusion of duality and giving birth to the end of this illusion, i.e. the Aguarian Age, once immersed in the waters of human consciousness. It is the awakening of the collective unconscious which is supposedly something we should expect in the forthcoming Age according to the esoteric and metaphysical schools.

In conclusion, I have to say that I found Oshii's film to be a beautiful rendering of the overall philsophical Gnostic archive and teachngs found within the Tarot, Kabbalah and Mazzaroth. Oshii, like many artists before and after, is telling us an ancient story in <i>Angel's Egg</i> through the medium of animated film. I loved it.