| 11 July 2010
“Look deep into Nature
and then you will understand
everything better”
- Albert Einstein
As a child I was fascinated by the life cycles of cicadas and caterpillars and in particular, the mystery of the chrysalis. I would watch as they meticulously created for themselves a cosmically designed genetic laboratory within a time capsule. Then they would put themselves into suspended animation and later re-emerge as something entirely different and wondrous. Wow!Like the clever chameleon, the chrysalis renders itself virtually invisible by mastering the art of camouflage. Its shape and colours merge formlessly into the texture of its natural environment affording it maximum safety and protection.
Meanwhile inside, in a universe of its own and embedded as a precious jewel within ours, a timeless re-enactment of profound and miraculous change takes place. The miracle of metamorphosis. The creation and regeneration of Life into a higher octave of itself.
I give thanks and praises to the Goddess for the existence of butterflies!
To watch a butterfly alight upon a flower, caress its fragrant petals and drink the golden nectar is surely the essence of joy and freedom, is it not? Each of us can delight in the beauty of butterflies as they flutter sensuously by… and yet we are not always aware of the incredible struggle they go through before emerging from their cocoon, newly recreated for flight.
In an act of promethean determination, the butterfly labours to free herself , discarding the restrictive silken shell to inherit a new world of flowers, breezes and sunshine… a world of pure delight and the freedom to celebrate her true divine nature.
The price of her freedom, deeply embedded in her cellular memory, is the knowing that to live one’s true soul purpose is both a burden and a blessing. A butterfly’s message might also be “Don’t take life too seriously because the only permanent thing is change”. As a caterpillar it had to die to itself and just as it thought the world was over, it was miraculously transformed into a butterfly. That’s a very neat trick. And one that is strangely reassuring. It suggests that perhaps there is no death, just a profound change from one form to another.
The butterfly is a living example of transformation and rebirth.
Embedded within this marvellous phenomenon is a powerful message for us humans if we care to ponder a little. Our path of transformation is not unlike that of a butterfly’s.
As a caterpillar, we wallow around in the larval stage, busy with survival strategies and self preservation, fattening ourselves with all kinds of stuff and eking out a mean existence within the confines of what we think is real and possible.
We rub up against Life in an endless soap opera of experience, gathering information, playing with polarity and exploring the dimensions of matter and sensation.
Once our voracious appetite has been somewhat appeased, there comes a time when the yearning for something of the beyond makes its presence felt. Normal life games no longer seem to satisfy. We start to look within to reflect upon who we really are and to discover our soul’s true purpose.
Once inside the metaphorical chrysalis, the period of incubation begins. However long it takes, while it is happening we are in process. We may not be aware of the changes at first, but aspects of who we once were slowly begin to be dissolved, released, transformed and altered. As the process quickens, our lives can get very uncomfortable. Relationships get put through the mill. You may even lose friends and lovers who are unable to adjust to the shift. But you will attract others who are in resonance with your new frequency. They show up like angels to assist and support you on your path.
Behaviours that once served you as a caterpillar are no longer useful or helpful. You simply cannot continue in the way you once did. You are mercilessly challenged to surrender old patterns and beliefs, especially those you made central to your life story. Because those patterns are so familiar to us and despite the fact they no longer serve us, we often resist discarding them. Leaving the larval stage can be unsettling at best and downright scary at worst.
Relinquishing control, facing your fears and letting go into trust is both joyous and terrifying. However the tension created by these opposite impulses is the harbinger of real change. Dreams, new visions and lofty aspirations start to emerge and quietly seed the deep self with flavours of the beyond and the promise of a new way of being.
We begin to appreciate that Life, even with its struggles and burdens, is a precious gift, a treasure, a mind boggling experience designed to help us evolve to previously unimaginable states of consciousness.
After all, what is a butterfly if not the flowering of a caterpillar beyond its wildest dreams? She is a marvellous demonstration of the power inside trust and vulnerability. Spreading her delicate wings for the first time, the butterfly has no idea whether she will be able to fly. She simply opens them in perfect confidence and joyously embarks upon the spiral dance of graceful flight…and all that remains is the celebration of freedom and participation in the ecstasy of creation.
How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so badly that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar. You reach a point where confinement to that identity is more painful than the risk of flight.
The butterfly’s journey is an invitation to re-sacralise the world by trusting in the process of metamorphosis. We are seeing massive change daily, before our very eyes. However once you surrender to the Mystery, there’s no need for fear and no need to worry. Nature knows exactly what she’s doing, she’s done it a thousand times before. The transformation of consciousness into a higher octave is her specialty, the icing on the cake. We should rejoice because we are lucky enough to be the crucible in which her alchemical genius will come alive.
The butterfly is a worthy symbol for the birthing of a new consciousness and for a world in which the earth can become as heaven….for the manifestation of a new humanity where homo sapiens, released from the chrysalis, can metamorphose into homo celestus… conscious, whole and free.
In such a world, multi dimensional reality and the interconnectedness of all things will be as plain as daylight. And just as the light can never be separated from the sun and the wave cannot be separate from the ocean, so shall we recognise ourselves in one another, rejoicing in the one indivisible heart waving in a vast sea of love, beauty, peace and harmony.
We have a lot to be grateful for in butterflies and flowers…
And just like butterflies, we too shall awaken in our own time.
recently found in Holland, the largest crop circle yet...
