Quote:
"Butterfly: metamorphosis and transformation
Scientific research has shown that the butterfly is the only living being capable of changing entirely its genetic structure during the process of transformation: the caterpillar's DNA is totally different from the butterfly's. Thus, it is the symbol of total transformation.
Butterfly represents a need for change and greater freedom, and at the same time it represents courage: one requires courage to carry out the changes necessary in the process of growth. Its Medicine is related to the air and the mental powers. It teaches us to find clarity in the mental processes, to organize projects or to figure out the next step in our internal growth.
If Butterfly is your Power Animal or if you feel in any way attracted to it, this means you are ready to undergo some kind of transformation. Examine which stage calls your attention the most: the egg is the beginning, the birth of some project or idea. The larva's decision to manifest something in the physical world. The cocoon has to do with "going inside", either through insight or the development of the project or idea. The breaking of the cocoon deals with sharing the splendor of your creation with the whole world.
Once you understand the stage you are on, you can discover which is the next step.Emailed by Standing Elk."
"The most amazing thing to me about the butterfly is in the cocoon stage. The body of the caterpillar totally liquefies. To me that is the ultimate surrender. There is no going back. There is just a period of reconfiguration, that looks like a blob of goo. All you can do is hope and pray everything comes out ok. But there really is nothing you can do to hurry the process. It happens in it's own time.
Even when the butterfly is formed, she has to struggle to come out of the cocoon. If she doesn't struggle and get that exercise her wings wont be strong enough to fly.
To me the butterfly is the ultimate in surrender, trust, transformation and freedom."Joanne
