Moths and Spirituality

[Fae]

Hi all,

Recently had am experience I wanted to share. I've always believed in the old legends that tell us that moths can carry a message from loved ones. I had one in my house recently, and I set it free, and asked him/her to bring my message of love to an individual that was out of touch for work reasons. 3 nights later I was sitting outside at night, and a similar looking moth landed right on my hand, and stayed for a bit, just folded his wings and took a rest. I was sitting a good distance away from any light source, and the moment it landed it was like I felt this person's presence around me. I thanked the moth as it went on its way.

Then a week or so ago a similar thing happened, where I saved a moth from my familiars clutches and set him free, asking him to send my love again. Again, 3 nights later I was sitting outside, in a completely different location, and a moth sat on my hand. I jumped at first, and he flew off and came back at my face!! After getting my attention he sat on my hand again, and stayed for a few minutes before going about his other business.

2 or 3 nights later (wish I could remember which), the friend in question was able to reach out over the phone after nearly a month of no contact, which was awesome because I was under the impression it would be at least 2 months until we could speak. It was a truly beautiful experience. I'm sure it could all be rationalized away, but I wanted to share it here, because I truly felt a sense of calm and peace both times. I tried to meditate on any deeper meaning to this last night, but didn't get anything. Ill probably try again tonight or tomorrow. Maybe it was my spirit guides, or one of my deities communicating with me not to worry, or maybe it was this person themselves. Once we get more time to talk than just a few minutes, I plan on asking them if they had a similar experience.

Anyhow, I did look up other info on moths, and thought I'd share what I've found. In addition to being believed capable of carrying messages from, and in some cases, spirits between loved ones, they have many other meanings. Moths as a whole can indicate change and growth, especially concerning psychic, spiritual, or mental abilities. It is said that they can be a sign of fertility. As a nocturnal insect, they show a relation to dreams, knowledge, and intuition. Moths themselves can also represent certain characteristics like vulnerability and determination. The females can leave a pheromone scent for miles, and thus they can also represent attraction, love, and lust. On the darker side, I've read some cultures believe them to be omens of death or even spirituality, faith, and the afterlife.

I'm sure there's many other aspects I haven't mentioned, but I'd love to hear if anyone has had similar experiences, thoughts, additional info, etc.

[Yex]

Moths have always been a powerful symbol for me. To me they are mystery and magic and ineffable messages. I need to collect my thoughts and come back to this thread.

I will, however, leave this song here. It's called Cosmia (which is a genus of moths) and is by Joanna Newsom. Here are the lyrics. Below I will post a video, and beneath that, some background information of the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOAfA5SDq50

"...The hammer blow that began this series of hard knocks [the experiences that inspired the album] was the sudden death of Newsom’s best friend, 'one of the loves of my life.' Newsom got the call while she was driving between gigs, during the year when her career was first blowing up. 'So mortality is huge on this record. And there’s more than one type of death, of course, and that’s where the turmoil of the relationship figures in, but not quite as largely as you might suppose.'”


"After the singer gets the devastating news, she walks into a cornfield, and moths almost drown her. Later, she invokes the classic image of moths immolating themselves in the artificial sun of a porch-light—those attractive but dubious goals towards which so many of us so readily plunge. But here wild Cosmia, her form a thing of water and fire, flutters off on a farther flight, towards the possibility of a 'true light' that might even shine back down here, when the night comes in.

"Like the whole record, 'Cosmia' affirms life without offering a wisp of false consolation. 'The thing that I was experiencing and dwelling on the entire time is that there are so many things that are not OK and that will never be OK again,' says Newsom. 'But there’s also so many things that are OK and good that sometimes it makes you crumple over with being alive. We are allowed such an insane depth of beauty and enjoyment in this lifetime. It’s what my dad talks about sometimes. He says the only way that he knows there’s a God is that there’s so much gratuitous joy in this life. And that’s his only proof. There’s so many joys that do not assist in the propagation of the race or self-preservation. There’s no point whatsoever. They are so excessively, mind-bogglingly joy-producing that they distract from the very functions that are supposed to promote human life. They can leave you stupefied, monastic, not productive in any way, shape or form. And those joys are there and they are unflagging and they are ever-growing. And still there are these things that you will never be able to feel OK about–unbearably awful, sad, ugly, unfair things.'”

"Towards the end of high school, when she was eighteen, Newsom went down alone to a wild spot along the river. After asking their assistance, she arranged some stones into a circle, and then sat down within the ring. She stayed in the circle for three days, fasting, facing the river. Her best friend and some pals camped a few miles away, bringing her water and small portions of rice while she slept. She had assigned herself things to do but abandoned them all. She just sat there and watched the river, and, even more, she listened to it.

“'I was a completely different person before I went to the river, and a completely different person after,' Newsom says. When she first got back the girl was a total wreck. She would start crying when she woke up and not quit until she slept. She stopped going to school. She’d pick up the local paper, and read a headline like 'Man Dies in Car Crash,' and then the crash would be in her mind, and the man’s bloody crumbled body, and his pain and dread and fearful exit from this world. 'None of the calluses or borders or walls we put up to protect ourselves from going absolutely insane while experiencing life – none of those stood anymore. They had been worn completely away. I was like infantile and dysfunctional, a weepy, drunk mess.'”

[Yex]

So, after I made that post last night, I listened to the song I posted, and then I fell asleep to some random movie on TV, at maybe 2 AM ish. I woke up a little bit before 4 AM from a very vivid dream, and I thought I'd share it here.

Taken from my dream journal:

I smoke some weed and get high. I go outside and am talking to my mother and [my wife]. I keep leaning on this metal box that is covered in spiderwebs, and asking my mother and [my wife] to check me for spiders, but each time, [my wife] directs my mother to take care of it, and my mother is dismissive and does a terrible job. This irritates me. Eventually, [my wife] and my mother start to walk, and as I start to follow after, I remark that there are spiders everywhere, and I see them all over. I realize that I am too high to be out, and I say that I want to go back in. As I say this, my mother grabs me forcefully by the arm and forces me onward. I almost walk into a spider dangling in its web, and it is inches before my nose; but as my eyes focus and I see it in front of my face, I realize that it is a small hovering Moth. My mother and [my wife] then wrestle me to the ground, and pin me down. Once I'm down, a very large Moth flies in front of my face. I am overcome and overwhelmed by the Moth's beauty. I realize that many of the creatures that I thought were spiders are actually moths. I say, "oh my god", and my mother, referring to the Moth, exclaims, "Yes! This is your God! You call it Jesus or God!"

[Fae]

Hi Yex, my apologies for my late response, my Wi-Fi router gave out.

Thank you so much for posting that lovely song and all of the info about it. I listened to it several times and it truly resonated with me on so many levels, both in this instance and in others that I've had. I read the lyrics and the back story several times, and I'd really like to thank you for posting them.

As for your dream, that's pretty wild!! I'm pretty afraid of spiders myself, but I love how it all turns around at the end and something so terrifying ended up being a beautiful experience. Do you think the spiders turned into moths, or were they moths all along but you didn't notice due to fear or the inability to see? I love how it turns into such a spiritual experience at the end, and without knowing your beliefs, I'd say your god or gods are definitely watching over you with care.

As an update for my own experience, I literally saw moths everywhere for days, and each time it gave me a feeling of hope, and much to my surprise something truly incredible happened...i got to have a few more short conversations with this person via text. I sadly haven't seen a single moth since, and I'm not sure if that means anything. But last night I had a knock on my door, and it was him. He couldn't stay long and wasn't supposed to be around, and when I asked why he risked his job and showed up he had no answer to give me, but it felt so good to be able to see him when I didn't think that was a possibility for at least another month or two. And no, he isn't married or in a relationship, there's nothing nefarious, he just has a crazy job that makes seeing each other impossible sometimes.

I'm still trying to sort out what, if any meaning there is behind any of this, but I'm definitely enjoying the journey. Moths are truly incredible, and I'm sure there is something they're trying to teach me, but I haven't figured it all out yet. Thanks again for sharing your story and dream, it's nice to know I'm not the only one having experiences like these!

[Yex]

I'm glad that you enjoyed the song! Since I posted it, I've been listening to it a lot myself. I actually had an experience of a loved one dying to-day, and afterwards there were a lot of moths flitting about, so the song seemed especially relevant.

Do you think the spiders turned into moths, or were they moths all along but you didn't notice due to fear or the inability to see?

From what I remember of the dream, it was more the latter - the sight of the one large moth made me realize that what my fear had made me see as ugly and dangerous were actually benign and beautiful.

I love how it turns into such a spiritual experience at the end, and without knowing your beliefs, I'd say your god or gods are definitely watching over you with care.

I don't know that my words quite conveyed the surreal feeling of mystery that came with the twist ending. It was as though I was being told: Behold the Moth, the one true divinity! This is the truth behind all truths! All worldly expressions of religion are but imitations of the magic that Moth contains. Submit to the mystery of the Moth, the holiest of holies!

(You can make of that what you will).