Walking through a summer afternoon and observing the butterflies sunning their selves and flitting about being lovely, I was reminded that they began lives as caterpillars. Essentially wormlike, creeping along, eating and doing damage to plants, caterpillars are hardly an enlightened seeming creature. Later, as butterflies these same creatures provide inspirational beauty and joy and assist with the pollination process providing a valuable assist to the plant world they had earlier damaged.
I thought about the metamorphosis that the worm underwent to become the being of light and it led me to a parallel vision of humanity.
I saw that humans, until now, have largely been in that caterpillar stage. We’ve been eating our way through the world, taking what we needed and doing damage to a much greater degree than caterpillars ever could. However, I have a deep respect for life and the higher purpose in all things. I perceive that we are moving into the next stage of our evolution which involves a metamorphosis as dramatic and life changing in every way as what the caterpillar undergoes during its time within the chrysalis.
In the world of spiritual healing this journey of metamorphosis is called ascension and it is happening throughout our lives and our planet, affecting every life form. As humans we are noticing problematic changes in our environment, many of which we could blame on our own behavior, if we felt like blaming, which I don’t. There are also changes going on in our bodies, and souls which if we pay attention could cause us some anxiety. There is an appearance of breaking down on every level including our society and the structures on which we have relied for our security.
An interesting element of the butterfly transformation is that the chrysalis which supports and protects it during metamorphosis exists within the body of the caterpillar. First the caterpillar sheds its skin and underneath is the chrysalis! It is right there waiting to provide a vehicle into a life of beauty, purpose and flight.
Within ourselves and our world is being born our own means of metamorphosis. Looking with spiritual vision, a person can see the new world forming even as the old is breaking down. The new forms which are coming will initially appear the same; a tree will be a tree, a horse will be a horse and a human will be a human. The differences will be that the body we live in will be built on a higher frequency of energy and will be more alive to our eternal and wise spirit and less dependent on that which we can take from the world around. We will move out of the stage of consuming worm and into the stage of light being; filled with purpose, beauty and wholeness. We will be contributing to the well being of the very world we currently appear to be destroying.
When the caterpillar undergoes this metamorphosis, it is a kind of death and rebirth. It is a total surrender to change. The wisdom within the caterpillar understands this process and it knows what to do. I wonder if it feels fear or resists this process, or if it welcomes it with the pleasure of faith in a more beautiful future.
We have the choice to surrender and trust this process in ourselves and our world or to fear and fight it. Either way, we are being reborn.
Within you there is a place of peace and safety, where the means of being reborn is emerging day by day. When you find yourself stressing about letting go of your old skin, try the following exercise. Relax your mind and center within your heart chakra in the middle of your chest. Then step back into yourself until you feel centered along your spine (as though your spine is the middle of you, rather than being the back of you. It is the middle of your aura). Here, deep within yourself you will find a place where you can breathe easier and connect with God and the wisdom present which guides you. Allow your mind to relax and receive peace, stillness and guidance from your inner wisdom. You are eternal, safe and unbreakable and this is an amazing adventure you are on! Trust your metamorphosis; you will emerge into a better place.