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One very striking aspect comes to mind. In many regions and as a norm of this day, the dragonfly is considered to be an agent of change and presumably symbolic of a sense of self realization. Self realization from how the dragonfly uses its power to control its movements and so elegantly. What Does a Dragonfly Symbolize? The Hopi and their ancestors have always venerated the dragonfly. They often asked the dragonfly to confer benefits on their people. Dragonflies are portrayed on alters, pottery, and petroglyphs because the Hopi believe that dragonflies have great supernatural powers and are shamanistic.
They are positive symbols of water, fertility and abundance. The Hopi people actually credit dragonflies with saving their tribe from starvation by using their supernatural powers to grow corn to maturity in four days, at the ancient time when their tribe was migrating in search of their permanent home. Dragonfly song is believed to warn men of danger and resembles the Hopi word for water: With the variety of foods that they stored and prepared daily, and the lack of modern sanitation in their way of living, there must have been a great variety of insects, bugs and lizards, and small animals attracted to their pueblos.
Tom Steinbach, and Peter Steinbach. Reconstructing a Lost Culture through Its Pottery. Museum of New Mexico, The notion is that the snake doctor accompanies the snake, standing ready to offer assistance, if needed. The concern of the amphibious insect for its reptile friend is thought to be so strong and abiding that if one sees the insect, one can be sure that a snake is nearby. It is like the white horse and the red-headed woman- if you see one, you will soon see the other.
In the case of the snake doctor, the darning needle actually gives aid to the injured reptile, according to folk belief, by sewing it back together. Strecker relates this belief in a somewhat more poetic way than I have done, and shall I cite but the last sentence of his engaging account: Damselflies can usually be distinguished from dragonflies by their thinner, needle-like abdomens and by the way they hold their wings when at rest. The large eyes of damselflies differ from those of dragonflies in that they are always widely separated, rather than close together or touching each other.
An old name for damselflies was 'Devil's Darning Needles'. This stems from an old myth that if you went to sleep by a stream on a summer's day, damselflies would use their long, thin bodies to sew your eyelids shut. Naturally there is no truth in the myth; similar myths are found throughout the world. They posses simple metamorphosis, with the aquatic larva or naiad crawling out the water, releasing the winged adult from its skin.
But in the case of the dragonfly, its importance symbolically was probably due less to this dramatic transformation than the fact that this fierce predator was so swift and capable of rapid directional changes, having four independently moving wings. Thus Native Americans equate it to the whirlwind, swiftness and activity; it was regarded as a spirit helper in warfare for Plains Indians, who used its image on shirts and is also used in the jewelry of the Navajo and Zuni.
Anyone observing these life stages would make the association with rebirth, resurrection, immortality and longevity, as had Chinese and Mycenaean Greeks. Butterfly motifs can be found in Mycenaean and Hellenistic adornment. Egyptians incorporated the butterfly in their jewelry but the symbolism is not known. In addition, the butterfly stands for the soul among Greek and some pre-Hispanic cultures. Butterfly imagery is rampant in Chinese adornment, both jewelry and clothing, as well as utilitarian objects, but it does not possess the magical properties of the cicada.
If it entered a guest-room and pitched behind the bamboo screen it. When Taira-no-Masakado was secretly preparing for a revolt Kyoto. The parents died within days of one another in old age, when their son was still a youth. Gentle person that he was, he cultivated plants on which he saw the butterflies liked to settle, and as spring turned into summer he dreamed one night that his parents had come back to the garden and were walking round it together, looking at each plant carefully, as gardeners will.
Suddenly the couple in the dream turned into butterflies and in this form continued to examine each flower. The next morning, the same pair of butterflies were, as usual, in the garden and the boy knew then that the soul of his parents rested in the butterflies and that in that way they still enjoyed their garden. He had lived alone for years and was a recluse, but as the illness which proved to be his last one worsened he invited the widow of his only brother and her son, his nephew, to come to him.
He was fond of both, though he saw them seldom. One day,while sitting with his uncle, the young man saw an enormous white butterfly come into the room. The nephew tried to brush it away but it persisted. Fearing it would make the sick man restless, he went on trying to make it fly out of the house.
At this point the butterfly suddenly, of its own accord, flew straight out the window. His patient was asleep and could be left with safety. The white butterfly flew swiftly straight to the local cemetery, which was just across the road from the house. It went directly to a tomb and then vanished. As it had disappeared, the nephew returned to the house, having noticed that the old but fairly recently tended grave where the butterfly had vanished was inscribed with the name Akiko.
He had been away only a few minutes, but during that interval his uncle had died. He had bought a house near her grave, looked after the tomb carefully for over fifty years, and never spoken of his half century of mourning to anyone. His sister-in-law knew well the cause of his self-imposed seclusion and respected it: The metamorphosis of lepidopterans [butterflies and moths] is profoundly striking, with the obvious intimations of immortality. So it is not surprising that the human spirit or soul assumes the form of a butterfly in many myths across the world. Especially in Eastern religions, with their emphasis on meditation, the utterly still, but profoundly changing pupa seems the very model of spiritual evolution through serene contemplation.
In Japan, the butterfly is symbolically identified with the blossoming of young womanhood, while in China, it is associated with immortality, leisure and the joyfulness of a young man in love. The butterfly was an attribute of Xochipilli, the ancient Mexican god of vegetation.
Its fluttering motion suggested the flicker of firelight. She was a night spirit associated with the stars, which also flicker or twinkle, and a symbol of the souls of women who had died in childbirth. The shortness of life, and the inevitability of death, does indeed give poignancy to the brief beauty of the butterfly. They molt up to 15 times as a nymph before moving out of the water and shedding their exoskeleton to reveal the capacity to fly that was there all along.
In fact, the very water that supported their existence as a nymph becomes the fuel for their metamorphosis. In the world, unprotected, moving from inner guidance, this tender nymph transforms itself. I, too, have used the experiences of my life to learn, awaken and move more fully into my humanity and Divinity adulthood ; to learn to fly as a whole, integrated being. It requires strength and flexibility — the capacity to follow my knowing, face my fears, and do the next indicated thing — just like the nymph and the dragonfly. Anything that triggers an emotional response positive or negative is fuel for transformation.
If we engage with the emotional experience, we transform. If we repress, ignore or project our emotional experience onto others, we stay in the water, often getting sick, depressed or worse.
So I move forward, transforming myself through meditation, yoga, therapy, being with my feelings, facing my fears, being vulnerable, learning to love myself and others, celebrating my successes — essentially by living and engaging with life. We must take the next indicated step, in the dark, while trusting something larger than us of which we are a part. When I reflect on the work I do with and space I hold for clients and workshop participants, I see that I offer a form of dragonfly medicine — sacred space presence, empathy , tools, and wisdom that increase our capacity to fly — to engage more fully with ourselves, our intuition, and those around us.
He was a minister and he performed Heather's funeral and so many people told us what a sweet and touching service it was. I tried to find out what kind it was, to be so large, but was unsuccessful. I love these creatures. It is amazing how I finally have found my real self. And we broke up for good. I had a strange feeling that it was doing what a dog would do when someone is in trouble.
Like the dragonfly, we transform and take flight in the midst of our daily lives. Thank you for this beautiful article, I now know I am a dragonfly. You precious blog touched my morning and opened my heart even more to this delicious journey of life. Miss you Emilah, you are forever in my heart. How beautiful Emilah, thank you! Just this week I encountered dragonflies several times while driving.
Each time, it was more than one. They danced around my car as I drove, then took off. I watched them with wonder, wanted to understand more about them, then today I received your blog with this exquisite description of how they evolve. Although I want to believe they have been hovering around me for a special purpose, it seems that it is dragonfly season in the Northeast. Many others have spoken of their encounter with them lately. Maybe both ideas are true, it is dragonfly season and they are also hovering around me to remind me of my commitment to living conciously.
I think it is true that you do offer a form of dragonfly medicine—a very fitting analogy. It is truly a blessing! Hello Emilah, Thank you for the wonderful blog.
I did not know that Dragon flies feed on Mosquitoes. Dragon flies could be the solution for the eradication of malaria in our country.
Pesticides have failed and are also not good for our health.