It’s been nearly a year since I journeyed through my Butterfly Journal, sharing with all who have visited this blog some of my transformative journey of the past few years. With Neptune, the ruling planet of Pisces, going retrograde today in Pisces for the next five months, I thought this would be a good time for returning into the cocoon and making another journey through Butterfly Journal.

My natal Moon is in Pisces, my 8th house of transformation, metamorphosis, change, and all things deep, occult, hidden, and metaphysical. Pisces and Neptune symbolize the unconscious realm, the Psyche (Ancient Greek ψυχη means spirit/soul and butterfly), the dreamworld, and our psychology and mental well-being.

To re-intoduce my journey through Butterfly Journal, Monthly Contemplations for Spiritual Metamorphosis, I will begin by posting the introduction for you here:

Butterflies are one of Nature’s most beautiful and amazing creatures. They flutter about like free spirits, but only after having gone through a long metamorphic process of growth and change. They are the only known living being capable of changing its DNA entirely during its metamorphosis from caterpillar, or larva, to the adult butterfly. That is, they go through a total transformation. You could even call it a rebirth.

Spiritual transformation, like the physical metamorphosis of the butterfly, is a very difficult and often painful process. Transformation requires growth and change, and so for our souls to fly free, we must embrace the growing pains. Many of us fear change. Change is scary because the outcome is usually unknown, but it is only by stepping into this darkness, like a caterpillar inside the cocoon, that we can in time grow, change, and emerge to fly into the light. Living, healing, and growing physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually require change and transformation.

Art by Josephine Wall

To be reborn like the beautiful butterfly emerging from its burial shroud-like cocoon, our souls need to break free from the illusions of the ego and free ourselves from attachment to the physical body and the material world. When we break free of this mental cocoon, we can spread our beautiful wings and fly free.

The Ancient Greeks’ word for butterfly was ψυχη, psyche. They equated these free spirits with life, breath, and the soul itself. Across Shamanistic cultures the butterfly represents:

• Growth
• Change
• Transformation
• Reincarnation
• Courage to make change
• Mental clarity
• Freedom of the Soul from the Ego

These small delicate creatures have inspired people across the globe to face their own challenges and obstacles and to have the faith and courage to take on the growing pains of spiritually transforming from the inside out. May the butterfly be an inspiration for personal and spiritual growth for all!

If you are interested in embarking on your own journey of transformation, you can purchase Butterfly Journal from Amazon (and international stores), or Barnes & Noble.

To learn more about Butterfly Journal, Click Here. Also check out the Full Color Photo Edition Here which is filled with my own butterfly photography.