Symbols of the Butterfly
Departed souls
Round the world, butterflies are seen as the departed souls of our ancestors. Native peoples recognise the chrysalis as the soul trapped inside in the body. The emergence of the adult butterfly symbolises the freedom of the soul upon death.
Metamorphosis
The change from caterpillar though to the chrysalis and the butterfly is the greatest change in the animal world. It symbolises significant change in the course of one’s life or in one’s personality.
The caterpillar with its voracious appetite has been linked to insatiable materialism. The chrysalis stage may represent fundamental changes occurring on the inside, e.g. in one’s mentality or point of view. The adult butterfly stage is seen as the final free expression of these changes in the outside world.
Psyche
The Greeks likened the butterfly’s constant flitting from flower to flower to the restlessness of the mind: constantly changing from subject to subject. Indeed, the Greek word for butterfly is ‘psyche’ from where we get our word ‘psychology’ – the study of the mind.