CREATION
MYTHOLOGY OF PLANET
Impression, Sunrise (Claude Monet)
The mythology of the Rowan tree
While writing in Putnam Valley
Vertumnus: Portrait of Rudolph II (Giuseppe Arcimboldo)
The mythology of the chinese phoenix
The dream of the three white cranes
Prometheus and the theft of fire
Sunday afternoon on the island of La Grande Jatte (Georges Seurat)
SPRING 2007
THE MYTHOLOGY OF BUTTERFLIES
Butterflies. Odilon Redon. 1910
In Mexico, the Nahauatl people believe that Monarch butterflies are the souls of dead children returning to their ancestral home. This interpretation is based on the migration habits of this species. Around November 2 every year (the Day of the Dead celebration) the Monarchs appear en masse in the Oyamel fir forests of Central Mexico. They remain for the entire winter season before returning north to the lay their eggs and die. The massing of these butterflies is so dense that on still days the sound of their wings flapping is quite audible.
The butterfly never meets its mother. It must survive independently and remains a stranger to affection. An animal nurtured by mother's milk, however, is dependent on another for its basic survival. A child who grows up in a cold and detached home environment is similar to the butterfly, in that kindness is sparing. Once an adult, it will be very difficult for that person to show compassion. H. H. the Dalai Lama
In Aztec and Mayan mythology, the god of fire Xiutecutli is represented as a butterfly. Fire, like the butterfly, is a symbol of transformation.
The ancients Greeks originally depicted the soul or spirit as a stick figure with wings. The butterfly/moth as a symbol of spirit and its potential for transformation originated from that source.
In 1600 Ireland it was illegal to kill a white butterfly as it was believed to be the soul of a dead child.
The myth of Psyche and Eros (Cupid) is a mythological metaphor for the feminine journey toward consciousness. Psyche is the Greek word for both soul and butterfly.
Evocation of butterflies. Odilon Redon. 1911. The Detroit Institute of Arts.
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart . . . Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.
C. G. Jung [1875-1961], Swiss psychiatrist
