There are many strange beliefs about butterflies. In the distant past, they were killed and even thought to be bad omens, unlike the present day where we view them as beautiful luck bringers.
With vast varieties of butterflies going extinct and many varieties that haven’t been seen in years, I do not under any circumstance believe in the killing of butterflies. Our ancestors had no qualms about killing butterflies, and that is part of what I find so fascinating: how the butterfly has been transformed in the minds of people from something to be killed to something to be almost revered in her beauty.
Killing a Butterfly
Talk about awful. In Cornwall, it was believed that killing the first butterfly you saw in the season would bring you good luck and that you would be able to overcome your enemies.
White Butterflies
If you are out and about and spot three white butterflies hanging out together, you will be lucky for the rest of the day. To see one white butterfly flitting about means an infant or young child has just passed on.
Corpse
To see a butterfly flitting about near a corpse is a good sign in Ireland. It means that the soul has gone on to everlasting happiness.
Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt, the butterfly was a symbol of death and the soul. The body, in death, was the chrysalis and the soul would emerge from the body like the butterfly does from her chrysalis.
Collecting Butterflies
Butterfly collectors of the past hold much of the burden for the extinction of butterflies in the past. Native people in different countries and islands would collect their local butterflies and sell them to European collectors. In France and in the United States, it was once fashionable to wear dead butterflies on fancy hats. The wearing of dead butterflies was not only considered attractive, it was also considered lucky.
On the Head
In Pennsylvania it is believed that if a butterfly lands on your head, you are about to receive good news.
In Through the Window
In Maryland, it was believed that if a butterfly came into the house through an open window, a baby or young child would soon pass away. If it would fly in through a door, an adult would soon die.
Unbaptized Babies
This superstition comes from Devonshire. Butterflies are unbaptized babies who are stuck between worlds. As a child, I heard this same superstition applied to moths, not butterflies.
Bite Off the Head
Here’s another awful superstition that comes from the Appalachian Mountains. If you bite off the head of a living butterfly, you will get a brand new dress that is the same colors as its wings.
New Lover
If, while you are outside, a butterfly lands on you, you will soon have a new lover.
Sources:
Cowan, F. (1865). Curious facts in the history of insects: Including spiders and scorpions : A complete collection of the legends, superstitions, beliefs, and ominous signs connected with insects, together with their uses in medicine, art, and as food ; and a summary of th. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott .
Radford, E., & Radford, M. (1949). Encyclopædia of superstitions. New York: Philosophical Library.
Roud, S. (2003). The Penguin guide to the superstitions of Britain and Ireland. London: Penguin.
Thomas, Daniel Lindsey, and Lucy Blayney Thomas. Kentucky Superstitions. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton UP, 1920. Print.
