There have been a lot of hints towards the possibilities of having Seasons in TotK from the missing snow in the trailer around the southern end of the Great Plateau, to the shadows cast at different times of the day compared to BotW and to the Sun and Moon in possibly different locations in the sky. The Art book also shows what looks like to be different stages of growth in plants life cycles, which I also think have a different purpose, which I will get into later. as well as some other pictures in the Art book which potentially have more meaning than when you first look at them.
I've been doing a lot of research again on the importance of the Lotus flower as depicted throughout the Art Book, sometimes subtle and other times directly referencing the Lotus flower. I thought it would nice to have a really good idea of what the Lotus represents and the different stages of it's life cycle when playing TotK to understand the deeper meaning of the game as I play through it. To keep this short, These are just a few of the ideas I have and their potential meaning for the game, feel free to punch holes in my ideas, expand on them or throw your arms up and call me crazy.
Stages of growth - Lotus seeds are impervious to water and the outer shell must be filed down to expose the inner bud in order to grow them on your own and get them to germinate. The Lotus grows in Lake beds and in murky waters, underwater in the shallow soil, and will first sprout it's leaves which will float on the surface and are also basically water proof, while the inners are also mostly hollow allowing them to float. During the warmest month, depending which region of the World you live in the flowers will bloom only for 3 days. More on this later, but after pollination either from self pollinating or cross pollination, the leaves will wither off, leaving only the buds full of developing seeds which will eventually be scattered by wind or other means to start the process again.
In some Buddhist schools, the flower’s stage of growth represents different stages on the path to enlightenment. A closed bud symbolizes the time before enlightenment, while a fully bloomed lotus represents full enlightenment. Sometimes a flower is partly open, with its center hidden, indicating that enlightenment is beyond ordinary sight. The lotus flower has significance across many cultures and religions. Lotus meaning connects to ideas of
spiritual enlightenment, cycles of rebirth, and self-realization.
So, some of my ideas are that the "Tears" are represented by either the Lotus seeds themselves or by the inner petals as depicted by the Art book photo on the left. With 7 main Tears represented as part of a whole a Tear (When the Lotus is closed). My thoughts are after the world of Hyrule was formed by the three Goddesses of Din, Nayru and Farore, the murual represents a depiction of the first "Adam and Eve," with basket Lady representing the cycle of life, death and rebirth and Rauru who is the Sage of Light and just as important helped construct the Temple of Time.
Izanami, is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. When looking at the symbolism on Basket Lady's dress, I think it relates to the Lotus flower as well as the repeated cycle of Life, Death and Rebirth.
The deeper meaning behind the importance of Seasons being in this game correlates to the endless cycle of Life, Death and Rebirth. We see this in the Logo and more importantly with the cupping of hands in a circle which further emphasis this cycle. The basket of what I think are strawberries was bothering me and I thought an odd choice. I couldn't find any symbolism of Gods in Japanese culture bearing fruit, especially strawberries.
But giving fruit is very common, and especially as an offering at Temples to Gods. Coincidentally, giving fruit is a representation of Seasons as well. The next images are that of blooming Lotus flowers found in the Art book. Lotus flowers as stated earlier can only bloom in the warmest months of the year, usually in July. So either these two images are depicting that we are only playing in the month of July, are cutscenes to the past during July or hint again at Seasons being in the game.
Going on with the idea of Seasons as a possible theme,
@Serif had mentioned this photo as a training schedule, which makes a lot of sense. But if we add into the idea of seasons and change it from a training schedule to a time to hunt during the seasons and which weapons are best for that time period, you could also get this as a possibility as well.
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