Butterfly Soup?
Are We Butterfly Soup?
The Butterfly has recently been appearing to me in visions and life. A black butterfly woman appeared in one of my paintings; a stained glass butterfly in another. At a retreat, I pulled a symbol from a bag and received Butterfly. So I have been pondering the meaning and message of Butterfly.
Primarily, Butterfly is associated with Transformation, because the caterpillar literally transforms into a butterfly. But, as Maya Angelou says,
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
The caterpillar spins its cocoon, disappearing from our sight, and later, a beautiful butterfly emerges. We don’t think about what goes on in that cocoon. In fact, what happens is that the caterpillar dissolves into a soup, and the butterfly forms itself out of that soup.
In other words, letting go of all it has been and dissolving into nothing is what is required of the caterpillar to become a butterfly. And it seems to be what is required of us too. Eckhart Tolle writes:
“Realize your essential identity as formless, as an all-pervasive Presence, of Being prior to all forms, all identifications.”
I think I may be entering the “soup” stage. I’ve recently been finding that when I let go of all my images, assumptions and beliefs about who I am or should be, all the ways I identify myself, then there is this formless Presence that is universal yet still me somehow. It’s a very interesting state of being. There is no agenda or intention, but there is a readiness to serve, a potential to become. I begin to understand why my spiritual teacher says that once we surrender to our true nature, we become shape-shifters: pliable and able to fluidly adapt to each circumstance that arises.
Perhaps Butterfly has been showing me the path to my true nature. Let’s hear what she has to say:
Rahima: Dear Butterfly, thank you for showing up in so many ways. I welcome you and want to know what you have to tell me.
Butterfly: Dissolution. Letting go. Yes. You are becoming something new. Something you have never imagined. It takes great trust. Let go of knowing where you are going. Rest in the sea of darkness and chaos. Let go.
R: That’s hard to do when I have so much to do in the world, so many tasks and projects.
B: Trust. It is happening. You do not have to do anything. It is a time of change on this Earth. Much must dissolve for the new to emerge. You cannot direct the outcome but only surrender to the Flow, and allow yourself to be transformed into a new and unimaginable creature.
R: OK, Wow, here I go, into the soup! Thank you for speaking with me.
