Butterfly Tatoo Patterns & Symbolism
Classical mythology associates butterflies with the soul. Psyche is often represented as a butterfly. Sylphs, invisible female spirits of the air whose voices are heard in the wind, are named from the Greek word silphe, which means “butterfly” or “moth”.
The Aztecs associated butterflies with women who died in childbirth and warriors who died in battle. In some Chinese stories butterflies represent dead women’s souls, but they more often symbolize Summer, Joy, and Longevity!
For many Native American tribes butterflies symbolize the souls of the dead but also Transformation, because the insects emerge from the chrysalis. They also associate the butterfly with Beauty.
The butterfly signifies Fire to the Aztecs while in Celtic solar festivals the firebrand that rekindled the hearth fire after it had been extinguished was called the “Butterfly.”
From the bland caterpillar to the fantastic winged creature of astonishing beauty, the butterfly has become a symbol for transformation and hope, rebirth and resurrection, the triumph of the spirit and the freeing of the soul over the material world.
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