Butterflies: Sacred Omens of Both Life and Death

Lovely and almost without sound, the black velvet wings flutter delicately as the large and sinister looking black butterfly hovers over the sleeping man’s body. The midnight visitor is seen by his spouse, who panics and throws a book, seemingly knocking it to the ground. But no little crushed body is ever seen and in the morning, the man is stone cold dead.

Was it a bizarre coincidence or a visit by a creepy courier of death?

Legends from several places, including Brazil and Colombia, report that the sight of a black butterfly means that someone is going to die. The Celts thought that if you witnessed a black butterfly at night that death would come to you and the Samoans alleged that anyone who caught and hurt a butterfly would be struck down and die.

Black isn’t the only color these supposed death butterflies appear in, as some folks in Maryland believe that a white butterfly found in the house means the death of someone inside and in Maine, they too associate a white butterfly as a death bringer if it’s the first one you see of the season.

Yet, not everyone associates white butterflies with death, as one of the 33 Chilean miners trapped last year told friends and relatives a short while after he was rescued. He told a story of a tiny white butterfly distracting him and a fellow miner long enough that they were not in the area of the tunnel that collapsed a few feet in front of them. They had been so shocked at seeing the insect 100 meters underground that they had stopped to stare. Then the ceiling of the mine fell in and they would have been in that very spot if not for their little white flying “angel.”

At times, the innocent butterfly is also seen as a ghostly figure. For instance, a ghostly butterfly apparently haunts the Theatre Royale in Bath and has appeared every Christmas season since 1948.

A red admiral butterfly ghost also shows up near the Bournemouth’s Pavilion Theatre. Supposedly someone even tried to kill it by stomping on it, yet the little red butterfly lived and flew off into the night.

So, why would such a seemingly innocent creature be the sign of impending doom or even the sign of good luck, depending on your belief? If you study dreams, you will know that butterflies mean transformation of some sort. This means that the beliefs of butterflies bringing death could be a way to represent the transformation of life to death, which is believed to be a journey or a transformation of a person’s spirit. A good luck butterfly might represent another change of a person’s current situation into a more pleasant or rewarding place.

So, if you suddenly notice a sweet little butterfly fluttering in your direction, it’s possible it could be bringing you luck, good health, or even the possibility of impending doom!