Nature’s Ultimate Transformer

Why does it take so long before the penny drops? When I first wrote about Caroline Myss’ Entering the Castle, I decided to title my blog “The Crystal Maze?” I thought I was just being clever, referring to a UK game show of that name. But, as always, there was more to this reference than I thought at the time.

We were watching the PBS series “American Spring Live” last night and I was struck by one particular image: a chrysalis. Then, the mental lightning bolt…

Up until now, I, along with just about everyone else, has assumed that the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly was a metaphor for life after death: reincarnation, if you will.

It never occurred to me to see it in terms of the mystical life cycle of a human being. That was a leap too far. And yet, when discussing Myss’ book, I made that leap without knowing it.

At some point in its caterpillar life, it decides to withdraw from the world and builds a chrysalis around itself. In other words, it enters its castle. According to last night’s PBS show, the caterpillar turns to liquid in this state, then grows into the butterfly we know and love. And for what purpose? To seed new life for yet another generation.

Have you found your way into and out of the Crystal Maze yet?