Hello Every One,

As I was getting ready to start writing this message, I looked outside the window and saw one of the most beautiful sites I've ever experienced in my life!  Two yellow butterflies dancing around in the most magnificent of formations!  They kept going back and forth, fluttering by each other, no more than an inch apart.  They spent a few minutes performing this gorgeous duet for us, until they decided it was time to end the show. They then gracefully flew away leaving us in awe.

Before I became fully aware of what I had just witnessed, Tim wanted to know the symbolism of the two yellow butterflies.

We both knew that butterflies were associated with the process of transformation but neither of us had realized how far back their influence on our world dates.

It turns out that according to Aristotle and the Homeric epics, the ancient Greeks were using the word psyche for the butterfly.  Aristotle writes: 

"The so-called psyche or butterfly is generated from caterpillars which grow on green leaves, chiefly leaves of the raphanus, which some call crambe or cabbage. At first it is less than a grain of millet; it then grows into a small grub; and in three days it is a tiny caterpillar. After this it grows on and on, and becomes quiescent and changes its shape, and is now called a chrysalis. The outer shell is hard, and the chrysalis moves if you touch it. It attaches itself by cobweb-like filaments, and is unfurnished with mouth or any other apparent organ. After a little while the outer covering bursts asunder, and out flies the winged creature that we call the psyche or butterfly."

This is particularly interesting since the term psyche denoted both the living human existence and the postmortem state of existence.  In fact, both the Greeks and the Romans often depicted souls at the time of their departure as butterflies flying out of the body, usually through the mouth.  This makes perfect sense given that the ancient philosophers considered the breath as the most prominent indicator of life.

Today's animal spirit interpretation of the butterfly is not far from what Aristotle was describing, although it sounds a lot more "poetic".  Should you wish to get the book, you can find it here.

"Whether in the darkness before the storm of emergence, the process of coming out of the self-created cocoon, or the full and glorious expression of the new you, it's faith in the wisdom of Great Spirit and your conscious resonance with Source that will be your guiding force.  There's no need to identify with or feel constricted within the cocoon or by the darkness before the light - it's only a phase!"

The outer shell is hard but after a little while it bursts into pieces, as the darkness before the light is only a phase!

But what about two butterflies Vie?  I'm so glad you asked!

The only valid reference I could find on that comes from Zechariah  9:12.  It says:

^"Come back to the place of safety,
 all you prisoners who still have hope!

I promise this very day
that I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles."

So there you go!  The outer shell is hard but after a little while it bursts into pieces, as the darkness before the double light is only a phase!

Do you pay attention to such strange natural encounters?  Whether there is something to them or not, I will be happy to take the placebo effect any day!

Until next time...   Much much love from both of us!
Na’maste Kala! (Which in Greek means, may we all be well!)

-Tim and Vie | Ayurveda Outlaws