The Tale Of The Butterfly
Once upon a time, by the side of a dusty road in India sat an old beggar who was selling cocoons. He noticed that a young boy had been watching him for many days. Finally, he beckoned the boy and asked him: ‘Have you any idea of what beauty lies within my cocoons?’ When the boy shook his head, the old man continued: ‘Every one of them is the home of a beautiful butterfly. I will give you one, so you can watch how it happens. But you must be very careful and not handle the cocoon until the butterfly emerges.’
Enchanted with his gift, the boy hurried home to await the emergence of the butterfly. He laid the cocoon on the floor and while watching it became aware of a curious thing. The butterfly seemed to be beating its wings against the hard outer shell of its chrysalis. ‘The poor little thing will surely perish before it can break free from its prison,’ thought the boy. ‘I have to help it!’
And so he pried the cocoon open. Out flopped a soggy brown and ugly thing that quickly died. After a while, the boy met the beggar again and told him what had happened. ‘Ah yes,’ the old man said: ‘It is necessary for the creature to beat its growing wings against the walls of its cocoon, until they have grown strong enough to support it when it finally emerges as a butterfly. Through its struggling alone can the creature’s wings become durable enough to carry and support it. It dies when this is denied because its only chance of developing the necessary strength was taken from it.’
The butterfly is a symbol of transformation. The life cycle of each one of them represents a microcosm of the macrocosm of humankind’s individual and collective evolutionary process. May the walls of everyone’s cocoon be just thick enough – and no more – to support us in our struggle of breaking free from the mental prison of the false beliefs, prejudices and superstitions about our true nature that have kept us bound to the Earth plane for such a long take. May every one of us at long last take to our spiritual wings to aid our flight of growing and evolving into the beautiful beings we are truly meant to be.
The essence of a teaching from the White Eagle calendar August 2016: ‘Through limitation and suffering human souls emerge into the Divine light and life, just as a caterpillar moves from the chrysalis stage and transforms itself into a beautiful winged creature that enjoys dancing in the warmth and light of the Sun.’
Created by Anon.
Edited by Aquarius
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This article is a chapter from ‘War And Peace Between Nations.
If it has whetted your appetite to read more, please follow the link below:
‘War And Peace Between Nations’
