Animal Symbolism—Butterfly

03 Feb Animal Symbolism—Butterfly

Whenever I decide to begin a post for my Animal Symbolism series, I don’t always know what animal I want to write about, just that I have the urge. And it never fails that the animal wanting an audience makes itself known to me, as if by magic, a day or two or three before I actually sit down to write.

So I waited for a sign and later that same day a leaf blew across the grass in such an odd way that it caught my attention. It looked just like a butterfly.

“Ah hah,” I thought to myself. “Could this be the one?”

To reinforce the message sent by the Animal Gods, I began seeing commercials for butterflies. I even overheard two conversations in passing about them. The coup de gras happened on my way to B&N to write this post. En route to the bookstore, I stopped at Kmart to get a few things and while I waited in line to purchase my goodies, I looked up, and there, sitting in a mason jar was a mechanical butterfly. With a wide grin on my face, I pushed the little black button on the bottom of the jar and watched it flap its tiny blue wings, delighting the kid in the cart next to me.

So what does it mean when you see a butterfly? Some part of your life is in need of a change. Similar to the life cycle of a butterfly, from egg to the caterpillar, then the chrysalis to the butterfly, metamorphosis is the name of the game. Your life will transform in some way. Seeing a caterpillar morph into a butterfly shows us that if we have the courage, we can remake our lives into something more beautiful, whether it be in our career, relationships or our Sacred Self.

As I write this on the eve of 2012, I can think of no better symbol for this planet or for humanity. Collectively, we are literally passing through an evolutionary moment in time.

Biologist Dr. Bruce Lipton wrote a fascinating book, Spontaneous Evolution, and in it he talks about the power of collective thinking. He worked extensively with cells, and what he discovered was that when he changed their environment, it wasn’t the gene that controlled the fate of the cells, it was the environment.

When we transform our way of thinking to a more positive and loving state, we become healthy. Dr. Bruce gives examples of how the same is true for us, in that we cannot change if all the cells (us) are focused on fighting each other and seeing everyone as being separate from your own Self. Dr. Bruce says that we are the imaginal cells in human consciousness evolution. These same imaginal cells are what enable a caterpillar to transform into a butterfly. That’s us folks!

May the year 2012 be the most beautiful and transformative year for everyone.

Reconnect to the Incredible Power of Spirit Animals!

Learn how to meet your own Spirit Animal in Discover Your Spirit Animal by Shelley Shayner

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