9 - Butterfly - Transformation

Ant flipped out of the deck while choosing today double today's Animal Medicine!!!

9

Butterfly

Transformation

Butterfly . . . that flutters

        In the morning light,

              You have known many forms,

                     Before you  e'er took flight.     

The power that Butterfly brings to us is akin to the mind, and the ability to know the mind or to change it. 

It is the art of transformation. 

 To use Butterfly medicine, you must astutely observe your position in the cycle of self-transformation. 

Like Butterfly, you are always at a certain station in your life activities. 

You may be at the egg stage, which is the beginning of all things. 

This is the stage at which an idea is born, but has not yet become a reality. 

The larva stage is the point at which you decide to create the idea in the physical world. 

The cocoon stage involves "going within": doing or developing your project, idea, or aspect or personality. 

The final state of transformation is the leaving of the chrysalis and birth. 

This last step involves sharing the colors and joy of your creation with the world. 

 If you look closely at what Butterfly is trying to teach, you will realize that it is the never-ending cycle of self-transformation. 

The way to discern where you are in this cycle is to ask yourself: 

1) Is this the egg stage: Is it just a thought or idea? 

(2) Is this the larva stage: 

Do I need to make a decision?

 (3) Is this the cocoon stage: 

Am I developing and doing something to make my idea a reality? 

(4) Is this the birth stage: 

Am I sharing my completed idea? 

 By asking yourself these questions, you will discover how Butterfly is relating to you at this moment.

When you understand where you are, 

Butterfly can teach you what to do next to continue in the cycle of self-transformation, 
(or in assisting others in their cycle.)

Using the air, or mental powers, of this medicine is done with ease. As an example, if you have been feeling exhausted and have asked how to heal your fatigue, take notice of the colors you have been drawn to recently. 

Does your body feel better in green or blue? 

Could this mean that you need to eat more green vegetables? 

This type of thinking is an inspiration from Butterfly medicine

 Butterfly can give clarity to your mental process, help you organize the project you are undertaking, and assist you in finding the next step for your life. 

The main message is that you are ready to undergo some type of transformation.

Contrary If you have drawn Butterfly reversed, your lesson is a simple one. 

There is a need for change in your life that you are not recognizing. 

This could be a possible need for freedom, for a vacation, or for a new job. 

You may believe that change is too difficult, and you may rule it out to preserve the comfort of old habits.

But in ruling out any  possibility of change, you are saying that the courage of Butterfly has been lost.

Why does Butterfly represent courage?

Because there is a totally different world outside the cocoon, where the known realities of the chrysalis are not longer applicable. 

This new world demands that you use your new found wings - and fly! 

Overview

 Butterfly is the keeper and protector of places or power, or power spots in Nature. No negative energies are experienced where they are butterflies, so their presence indicates a place of power free from negative influences.

 The Butterfly is an insect that transforms itself from an egg, to a larva, to a caterpillar, and then to a flying creature. 

As a power animal, Butterfly is emphasizing the importance of transformation in the continuous process of development and spiritual evolution.

It is teaching the significance of enjoying the journey of life, and how you should not be consumed by goals.

A butterfly lives for only three days, so it emphasizes the need to enjoy the Now.

 Butterfly stresses the importance of freedom from self- imposed constraints and the necessity for clarity of mind so that you can view problems and difficulties from a wider perspective.

 Butterfly is a power animal that can help you to accept the pain of change in leaving behind old concepts and attitudes, and to have the courage to launch out on wings of hope to new situations and fresh challenges.

Let the winds of change carry you.

You are changing.

Emerge into your new state of being.

Honor your transformation.

 32

ANT

PATIENCE

Oh tiny Ant...

Your patience grows,

Like the sands of time.

Can I learn to be like you

Or is it too sublime!


Ant can carry a leaf over hundreds of miles just to get it back to the anthill. 

Ants in Africa will strip a forest bare when food is scarce, if it takes them a year. 

Ant's medicine is the strategy of patience. Ant is a builder like Beaver, is aggressive like Badger, has stamina like Elk, scrutiny like Mouse, and give-away like Turkey. 

 Every Ant in an anthill is part of the Ant "group mind," as all the Ants work for the Queen Ant and the colony. Self- ,sacrifice is part of Ant medicine.

 Greater than Ant's other medicines, however, is patience. 

Ant people are active, community-minded folks who see the greater future needs of their town. 

Ant people are planners, like Squirrel, and are content to see their dreams being built a little at a time. 

In today's society this is a rare quality. In the desert, one type of Any will burrow a conical hole with its apex at the bottom. 

The Ant will cover itself and patiently wait for some unsuspecting insect to fall in. 

As the sand crumbles, the prey eventually falls to the bottom, only to find Ant's open jaws. 

 Patience does have its rewards! 

Ant people have a knowing about the sweet victory at the end of the line. 

There is never a concern about "going without" if they are late for the opening of a sale. 

If what they want is sold out, they are sure that something equal or better is available. 

 If you have Ant medicine, you eat slowly and deliberately and are content in knowing that "what is yours will come to you." 

This knowing is good medicine. 

It shows a trust in the Universe to provide. 

If Ant meandered into your spread today, it is time to show a little trust and patience in some life situation. 

You may have forgotten that you will always receive that which you need, at the time you need it most. 

It is not on the horizon or just around the next anthill, you may need to use some strategy. 

How can you put to use your power of creation until "it" arrives -whatever "it" means to you at this time? 

Ant is working for the good of the whole. 

Are you? 

If you are, be assured that the whole wants the same goodness for you, and that it will be provided.

Contrary:  

Watch out! 

Here comes the sting! 

If you are in a hurry, you may fall prey to those who are not working for the good of the whole of humanity. 

Those individuals who make greed a way of life prey on the fear and urgency of those who have forgotten natural and tribal law. 

It's easy money! 

If this warning applies to you, become aware of users and con artists. 

In the contrary position, Ant also teaches you to trust natural law. 

If you do, harmony always follows. 

Your silly impatience will bring Coyote to aid you in sabotaging your plans for the future if you allow your panic to outweigh your rational sensibilities. 

The key here is to honor the will of the Great Spirit, so that mountains are not made out of anthills. 

Overview:

 Be patient. 

Honor present moment. 

Find joy in the now. 

Source: 

Sams, Jamie and Carson, David. Medicine Cards (Santa Fe: Bear and Company, 1988)