“Bury Your Fear”: Madonna Shares Deep Reflections On Mortality
Madonna has never been afraid of death. The 66-year-old music icon recently shared a heartfelt Instagram post reflecting on the loss of her mother and how it shaped her views on life and the afterlife.
She reshared a note from November 2024 in memory of her late mother, Madonna Louise Ciccone, who passed away at 30 after battling breast cancer. The loss left a deep imprint on young Madonna, stirring a lifelong fascination with mortality.
“When I was a child my mother died. Seeing her beautiful face in the open casket and kissing her red lips to say goodbye left a haunting memory. A deep longing. A terrible fear of abandonment,” she wrote. “I would follow my father everywhere, reminding him that if he ever died I wanted to be buried with him.”
As she grew older, her perspective on death evolved. “I became fascinated with cemeteries. I was not afraid of death because I knew this was the only way I could be with my mother again,” she explained. Losing more loved ones over the years, she came to see death as “a kind of doorway to eternal life.”
Even heartbreak in her relationships felt like a small kind of death. “Even when my lovers left me I saw it as a kind of death. When they hurt me I would have a ritualistic burial for them. I would bury my fear of abandonment before it could overtake me,” she revealed.
Madonna also found comfort in visiting cemeteries, where she tried to connect with lost souls. “I wanted to reassure them that they were not alone. None of us are. ‘We are all married to God.’ That’s what Sister Mary Theresa always used to say to me. ‘I am the bride of Christ. I am the bride of love.'”
She reminisced about her childhood conversations with the nun, recalling how deeply the words resonated with her. “This sounded so romantic to me. I imagined I could tell her all my deepest secrets. ‘Bury your fear. Bury your fear,’ she would say to me. Then she would take my hand, and we would walk amongst the dead under the light of the full moon.”
Despite reflecting on loss, Madonna is fully embracing the present. She recently announced plans to rerelease her 1994 album Bedtime Stories and is also working on a sequel to Confessions on a Dance Floor with producer Stuart Price.
In December, she teased her new music with a video from the studio. Alongside Price, her boyfriend Akeem Morris, her manager Guy Oseary, and her twin daughters Stella and Estere were all present.
In the caption, she wrote, “These past few months have been medicine for my SOUL. Songwriting and making music is the one area where I don’t need to ask anyone for their permission. I’m so excited to share it with you. Who wants to hear new music in 2025!”
