| A butterfly is an insect of
the order Lepidoptera. Like all Lepidoptera,
butterflies are notable for their unusual life cycle
with a larval caterpillar stage, an inactive pupal
stage, and a spectacular metamorphosis into a familiar
and colourful winged adult form ...
According to the 'Butterflies' chapter in
Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things,
by Lafcadio Hearn, a butterfly is seen as the
personification of a person's soul; whether they be
living, dying, or already dead ... The Ancient Greek
word for 'butterfly' is ψύχη (psychē), which
primarily means 'soul', 'mind' ...
The Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi once
had a dream of being a butterfly flying without care
about humanity, however when he woke up and realized it
was just a dream, he thought to himself 'Was I before a
man who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a
butterfly who dreams about being a man?' In some old
cultures, butterflies also symbolize rebirth into a new
life after being inside a cocoon for a period of time
...
(Wikipedia) |
The butterfly has 4 life stages: egg,
caterpillar, pupa, and imago. The beautiful last stage -
symbolizing the 'soul' or 'spirit' - arrives after a period of
stillness (pupa). The egg stage is also a period of stillness,
while on the other hand the voracious caterpillar eats and eats
in order to grow.
The 4 life stages of the butterfly were chosen
to illustrate how during the yearly cycle of the sun (also
yellow as butter) the beginning comes at winter solstice (egg)
and how at the midstation (summer solstice, pupa) another season
of rest arrives.
When
'in some old cultures' rebirth was likened to the emergence from
a pupa, the pupa - presumably -in turn was likened to the egg.
Birth originates from an egg, rebirth from a pupa.
Spring is like the caterpillar, a season of
growth, while autumn is the opposite, a season of decline.
Spring is a season of life, autumn a season of death. According
to English Etymology:
|
pupa
... chrysalis ... modL. use by Linnæus
(1758) of L. pūpa, doll; cfr PUPPET.
puppet
... †doll; (human) figure jointed and moving on
strings or wires ... lathe-head ...
chrysalis
... form taken by an insect in the stage between
larva and imago ... L. chrysal(l)is ... Gr.
khrūsallis gold-coloured sheath of
butterflies, f. khrūsós gold ...
imago
... (entom.) final stage of an insect ... Mod. use
(by Linnæus,
1767) of L. imāgō IMAGE.
image
... artificial representation of an object,
likeness, statue; (optical) counterpart ... mental
representation ... rel. to IMITATE ... |
The imago stage is just an imitation of the
spring stage. Ghosts are just mirages. The stone
statues on Easter Island are not real persons, only
representations of them.
Why is it forbidden in some cultures to make
images of the god(s)? Answer: Because that would threaten to kill them.