I love Caterpillars! Doesn't everyone?
We found a Caterpillar crawling across the rug in our hallway yesterday. We have no idea how he got there, it's possible he got inside our fire crate (that's the crate we take into the garden for our fires which is full of kindling, logs, an axe etc) and hitched a ride indoors. The temperature has dropped in the past few days and it was very cold outside so we decided to wait a bit before putting him out. We picked him up and popped him in a tub and then my daughter went into the garden to collect some leaves for him to eat. After he filled up his belly and had a bit more energy, we would pop him back outside.
And boyyyy did that little Caterpillar eat! That little video at the top of the page is him. He chomped his way through some flora and then had a nap. That brings us to our Caterpillar symbolism...
Caterpillars symbolise nourishment and fulfilment. Their soul purpose is to eat, to fill up, that's it. The whole time they are a Caterpillar, they eat and eat and eat. Until they arrive at the end of their time in this form, when they will make their cocoon or chrysalis and morph into a butterfly or moth. So the spent their time just seeking out nourishment and fill themselves up. Many of us will be familiar with the children's story 'The Hungry Caterpillar' where this little guy just eats his way through all the apples and ice creams and watermelons and whatnot.
As a message, they encourage us to fill ourselves up in preparation for what's next. Interestingly, on the same day we had our tiny Caterpillar visitor at home, munching his way through his collection of leaves, I was also munching my way through the house. I'm generally not a big eater. I love food and I eat every day, but I don't eat all day. Yesterday, I was hungry. My body was calling out for food all day long. The only times I usually do this is when my body knows I will need the energy for something ahead. I have sometimes had this feeling before arriving at a big crisis and I've also had it before something big and wonderful kicks off - both of these kinds of events take a lot of my energy. I always trust in this feeling when it happens because my experience has been that this is something I need, that I need the fuel, I need the energy, I need the nourishment.
Caterpillar reminds us to listen to our own bodies and if they are calling out for food or peace or sleep, then listen to it. You may just need that energy for what's to come.
However, Caterpillar doesn't just encourage our physical nourishment. Caterpillar asks the question: What are you hungry for?
Connection? Conversation? Adventure? Intellectual stimulation? Spiritual expansion? Creative expression? Financial abundance? Fun? Joy? Togetherness? Laughter? Love?
What areas of your life need feeding? What experiences are you hungry for that will bring more satisfaction and fulfilment in your life?
There is also one more message that I really get from Caterpillar energy and that is now is the time to fill up on all the life experience available to us - in readying for what's to come. We can allow ourselves to be engorged and made bigger by what we're experiencing right now and know that it's all part of our evolution process. There is no need to rush our phases. The Caterpillar doesn't emerge and start building his cocoon or chrysalis in a hurry to become the butterfly or moth. He will arrive there, it's inevitable, it's the only direction he's going and it is his destination - but being in this caterpillar stage is important, it's his readying and it's valuable and necessary. He won't be in this form for very long but this is the only time he'll be here and there is much to fill himself up with. This can be a wonderful reminder to ourselves to not rush our process, we're going to get where we're going so we may as well fill up on what's here for us - because it's what is here for us now that is exactly what we need for our own becoming.
So if you see Caterpillar, remember to listen to your body, fill yourself up on what you need and know that you can trust in your own becoming. You're well on your way and you're right where you're supposed to be.