Although the events in Midsommar are very loosely based on Sweden's real Midsummer Festival and are more of a hodge-podge of spiritual practices from all over the world, there's something to be said about the effectiveness of horror when it's tied to reality. Director Ari Aster chose the real village of Hårga because of the Swedish legend of Hårgalåten, in which the devil disguises himself as a fiddler and tricks the people in Hårga into dancing themselves to death – evocative of Midsommar's harrowing rituals. Just like its fictional counterpart in Midsommar, the Midsummer Festival is filled with symbols of nature, feasting, and ritual dance. While the Hårga cult performs its ceremonies once every 90 years, the Midsummer Festival is an annual tradition, typically scheduled in late June in line with the Summer Solstice. Midsommar's gorgeous and grotesque take on cult horror is inspired by the real-life Midsummer Festival, a tradition established by the Swedish Parliament in 1952 to celebrate the beginning of summer.
#THE 4 ELEMENTS OF NATURE GROUP COSTUME SKIN#
With the combination of his body hanging from the ceiling, the wings made from the skin on his back, as well as his continued breathing, Simon represents air. It's very subtle, but his chest can be seen rising and falling with each painful breath he takes, serving to paint a much more complete picture of the cruelty of Midsommar's Hårga cult. Perhaps the most disturbing part of Simon's death is the fact that he is actually alive when Christian finds him.
This kind of torture method has been referenced in great detail in Norse poetry, and it is interesting to note that his eyes are also removed and replaced with flowers. The skin on his back is peeled from his muscles and positioned to have the appearance of bird wings, which is right in line with the blood eagle method of execution and torture. After Christian sees Josh's foot in the garden, he seeks refuge in a small barn where he discovers Simon's body hanging from the ceiling. Out of every side character's death, Simon's is the most unsettling, although it is also a beautiful example of A24's signature cinematography. Arguably, it would make more logical sense if Christian's grizzly demise was representative of this element, as the final shot in the triangular building shows him engulfed in flames. However, even compared to Christian, the way Mark recklessly violates sacred ground, not caring about any consequences, is more comparable to the path of a wildfire. Hence, it is entirely plausible that the Hårgas chose to gut him and then fill his body with hay, but it does not make much sense for his death to represent fire. Keeping this chain of events in mind, the distinct way in which his body is prepared indicates that Mark represents the element of fire, because hay burns much quicker than flesh. Related: What Midsommar's Ominous Final Shot Really Means For Dani Notably, Mark does this despite the fact that Midsommar's Hårga is a cult. When the final sacrificial scene towards the end is underway, his body is stuffed with hay and placed in a wheelbarrow. Mark's death was somewhat foreshadowed in the initial scenes of Midsommar, as the children playing "skin the fool" is a direct reference to Mark's skin being peeled off later on, owing to the incredibly foolish act of urinating on a sacred artifact.
As Mark's death is not immediately established as he is missing halfway through the film after being beckoned by a Hårga girl, it is revealed much later during Josh's final scene with the Rubi Radr. The Hårgas kill Mark after he accidentally urinates on their sacred ancestral tree, an act that is interpreted as a massive transgression and insult from the cult's perspective.
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