Change

I have been through some serious changes the past two years, so when confronted with the New Year, I find it hard to get excited about more changes.  This past year alone, I have been accosted with changes in my health for the good and the bad.  Friends come and go, and some even changing faces. 

I quit smoking many times, but this year I believe I’ll stick with it, because I have finally been convinced that smoking cigarettes are bad for your health.  No doubt about it in my mind.  I have been forced to come to the realization that I am no longer Superman.  I finally understand that growing old sucks, because I have had to face my own mortality.  A major lifestyle change for sure.

After dealing with 3 surgeries in the past two years, I’ve had to make massive changes in my diet; this year those adjustments continued in some concerning ways.  I can no longer eat cheese like I use to, I had to learn to drink warm tea in the morning and evening, instead of ice water and wine.  I avoid red meat like the plague, but I love hamburgers (excuse me while I droll at the thought). I hardly even drink alcohol anymore, especially beer (my preferred alcoholic beverage).  And I no longer allow myself the luxury of fast food anymore, which provides limited choices; I really don’t know how vegetarians do it.

As a result of the surgeries I find myself a changed person, but those around me do not understand, and most do not care to.  My favorite friend, the one person who would understand, left for the far North. 

But that’s ok, because I learned that I’m never by myself regardless (another one of those lessons learned from a hospital bed). It may get a little lonely at times, but I would not change the changes if confronted with second chances.  There is wisdom in pain, and magic in wisdom.  I like this place I find myself. 

Of course change is constant.  Tomorrow is today and yesterday was tomorrow.   So instead of listing changes I want to make in the New Year, I think I’ll just look forward to a new future with eyes wide and enjoy the ride.  There’s gold in them there changes!

 

 

BUTTERFLIES - The Dance of Joy

(From the book, Animal-Speak, by Ted Andrews)

 

Probably no animal or insect has come to represent the process of transformation and shapeshifting more than that of the butterfly.  For those with this totem, the process of metamorphosis should be studied closely.  With butterflies and moths there are always four distinct stages of change.  (The cocoon is only spun by the moth, and not by a true butterfly, for the chrysalis stage).

 

Swallowtail Butterflies Mating
(Pensacola, Florida)

When a butterfly shows up, make a note of the most important issue confronting you at the moment.  This probably why butterfly has shown up.  What stage of change are you at in regard to them?  To determine that, you may have to examine and determine what you wish the outcome to be, and how best to accomplish it.

 

The butterfly is a powerful symbol in myth and religion.  In early Christianity, it was a symbol of the soul.  In China, it was used as a symbol of conjugal bliss and joy.  In the Hopi tradition, unmarried girls of the butterfly clan wore their hair in the shape of butterfly wings.  In Indian lore are stories of how butterflies come when called by the children of the Nez Perce tribe.

 

To the Native Americans, the butterfly is a symbol of change, joy, and color.  The colors of the butterfly should be examined for its significance and to help you understand its role within your life.  Prior to a workshop on fairies and elves recently in Florida, I was performing a meditation at a nearby nature center in preparation for the workshop.  When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by approximately a dozen black and yellow butterflies (Zebra Heliconius).  There were even several on my lap.

 

This was very significant to me for several reasons.  First, there has long been an association in folklore of a relationship between those of the Faerie Realm and butterflies.  The black and yellow was even more significant.  In traditional angelology, these are the colors often associated with the archangel Auriel in her guise of overseeing the activities of the nature spirits.  It was a wonderful indication of the energy that would accompany me to my workshop.

 

Butterflies appear to dance as they light upon flowers and such.  They remind us not to take things quite so seriously within our lives.  They awaken a sense of lightness and joy.  They remind us that life is a dance, and dance, though powerful, is also a great pleasure.  Butterflies can be reminders to get up and move, you can dance.  Dance brings sweetness of life back.  This is further exemplified by the fact that butterflies actually have taste receptacles on their front legs.  They taste flowers by walking upon them.

 

Butterflies bring color and joy with them.  When butterflies come into your life, look at how much or how little joy is within your life.  Lighten up.  Look for change.  Don’t forget that all change is good.  Butterfly medicine reminds us to make changes when the opportunities present themselves.  Transformation is inevitable, but butterfly will help teach you that growth and change does not have to be traumatic.  It will teach you that it can occur as gently, as sweetly, and as joyfully as we wish.