butterfly landing on person myth??

[Dave Green]

In article <b3afe38f07021004d14b@[138.23.134.119]>, dyanega at pop.ucr.edu (Doug
Yanega) writes:
 
>Apparently there is an ancient myth (from the Orient I believe) about the
>significance of a butterfly landing on a person. It is apparently
>significant spiritually or something.
>
>Not sure about the myth, though I do recall something in the Tarot (the
>card "The Fool" sometimes depicts a butterfly landing on him, indicating
>spiritual metamorphosis) - but in *reality*, a number of Apaturid species
>here (hackberry butterfly, tawny emperor) and elsewhere commonly land on
>people to drink perspiration. They can be rather persistent, in fact. So,
>at least the phenomenon does occur in nature commonly enough that the myth
>has a basis in fact.
 
   Honeybees will sometimes land on you when you are sweaty. This has lead to a
discussion of possible mineral deficiencies in the bees' diet.
 
   Carpenter bee drones will hover "in your face;"  in fact, they will
sometimes mimic your moves, so you can dance with them.  In the Carribean, when
they do this, they are "bringing you a message."
 
 
Pollinator at aol.com     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
The Pollination Scene:  http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
 
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