Butterfly

 

I just love it when our Google alert delivers synchronicity alerts. That’s how I found Lauren’s blog.

Her terrific synchro about a butterfly started with a story about a black butterfly, so I used her photo. I’ve never seen a black butterfly, didn’t even know they existed until I read her story.
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 Perhaps the most dramatic “butterfly experience” I had occurred 10 years ago. Since this experience had to do with both dream and synchronicity, I don’t know if I can tell it very cohesively, but I’ll try.

It began with a disturbing dream. I was on a ship, and on the deck many people sat in deck chairs, all of them playing with masks, taking them on and off. I seemed, in the dream, to be two people at once. I knew that there was, down in the lower decks of the boat, a demon. One of the women that I was was a kind of priestess or missionary – she was about to descend into the depths of the boat, where the demon below would torture and kill her. She thought that if she did so, offering herself as sacrificial victim, she could save the people above.

The other “me” was a cynical observer who thought she was a ridiculous martyr, and knew everyone, especially her, was doomed. I woke up as the “martyr self” began her descent.

Without going into the many circumstantial and psychological meanings of this important dream, I’ll skip ahead in real time. About 6 months after having this dream, I actually found myself, with a lot of actors, and a few masks, on an old decommissioned ocean liner (the “art ship”), which was anchored in the industrial harbor of Oakland. I was acting in a movie, and the writer and director of the film, Antero Alli, had decided to do his filming in the very bottom of this 5 level boat; the old, cold, dark, dank, cargo bay.

Descending into the bottom of the boat brought my dream back vividly, and every superstitious notion of prophetic dreams I ever had came right to the fore. I didn’t like it there! Between shoots, the cast hung out in what must have once been the crew’s cafeteria – located in a middle deck, it had round portholes, all of which were closed because it was a cold day in March. As we waited, the Director offered everyone a card from his own fascinating deck of oracular cards (with his artist wife, Sylvie Alli), and there was lively interest as each person contemplated his or her card.

I took a card from Antero with trepidation, and sure enough, damn if it wasn’t the “DEATH” card.

Not five minutes later, as I stood with the card of doom in hand, a small orange butterfly landed on my shoulder.

There was absolutely no explanation for how that butterfly could have gotten into that closed room. I had lots of witnesses – and after the miracle revealed itself, several of them helped to catch the butterfly and get it upstairs where it could be released.
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Pretty cool. In many esoteric traditions, butterflies represent transformation. I suspect, then, that this butterfly experience portended an important transformation in Lauren’s life.

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17 Responses to Butterfly

  1. Vicki D. says:

    What a beautiful picture, I had no idea there were black butterflies.

    Interesting story too.

  2. Trish and Rob MacGregor says:

    Spooky? In a nutshell, a nut.

  3. Aleksandar Malecic says:

    That (Toumai) is spooky. I've already mentioned in Facebook (The Best Synchronicity Ever) a butterfly synchronicity and here is another one. The only photograph in my album in Facebook is a butterfly crop circle (it's fake, but it still looks nice) with a human body (taken from this blog). I've actually found this website after searching in Google synchronicity, wolf, tiger (seen in the movies 21 Grams and Knowing and in the novel Carigradski drum (Road to Constantinople – it's mentioned my mother's name Vuka (vuk is wolf)). Also, on a website (I used a not-so-nice pseudonym, so I shall not add the link) I've discussed about werewolf's etymology (we say vukodlak (wolf's hair, fur – some nations have dropped that "d")). My comments are too long, so I'll leave you for some time.

  4. Shadow says:

    i too believe that butterflies represent life and transformation, and the opposite of butterflies are moths.

  5. Trish and Rob MacGregor says:

    And thanks again, Lauren, for letting us repost it. Now off to check out your link to butterflies!

  6. Lauren says:

    I'm honored that you shared my story here.I've so much enjoyed finding your site! I'm actually aware, over the years, of many strange butterfly stories that people have told me, and actually found an entire site devoted to "miraculous butterfly stories":

    https://www.butterflywebsite.com/discover/stories08.cfm

    Thanks again for these stories!

  7. Nancy says:

    Great story and lovely black butterfly.

  8. Trish and Rob MacGregor says:

    Yikes, there are two of you…Melecic and Malrcic? Do you know each other?

  9. Aleksandar Malecic says:

    I am Malecic, not Malrcic.

  10. Aleksandar Malrcic says:

    It's interesting that MacGregors' interpretation above is very similar to mine about Gypsywoman's dream about a flood (the post with a flood and Amazing Grace), especially because I've had some kind of butterfly synchronicity. Note the similarity between "its share of mega-egos" and "its share of American dream" (written by me here https://2020.global.gaiaspace.org/global/mod/groups/topicposts.php?topic=12329&group_guid=12220 yesterday).

  11. Anonymous says:

    nothing to add really, just noticed the word verification below the comments was "winguir" and thought it was funny.

  12. Trish and Rob MacGregor says:

    If it were my dream, I would say that Lauren's archetypal story about the self descending to the lower levels to face the demon was about destroying the ego. The cynical self was an expression of the ego that feared its demise.

    The butterfly, as Trish said, was an expression of transformation, possibly victory over the ego…which can be a challenge for an actor working in a field with its share of mega-egos.

    BTY, the Florida state butterfly is the zebra butterfly, which is black with yellow stripes. I often see them flitting around our yard.

  13. d page says:

    Lauren's story is beautiful.

  14. Aleksandar Malecic says:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g3raY1tYm4 I've already posted this link (saw it for the first time a few minutes after I had seen the book's cover with a butterfly – see my comment there). It didn't work then, but it works now. It's lame when you experience something that looks like synchronity and technical problems don't allow you to share it, but now it works (at least on my computer).

  15. JamaGenie says:

    I didn't know black butterflies existed either. Wow…

    Call me dense, but I'd never thought of butterflies as symbols of transformation. I'd also forgotten the delicate butterfly necklace a friend said represented the "true me" and which I wore 24/7 for years until I stopped wearing jewelry altogether.

  16. GYPSYWOMAN says:

    fabulous story – so colorful and rich! loved it – and the butterfly! a touch of divine!

    great post!

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