Dragonflies and Totems

I believe everyone has a totem of sorts, a particular creature they relate to well or that keeps popping up throughout their lives as a source of inspiration and courage. Some people have more than one, but so far everyone I've come across has at least one. My husband's main totem is a bear, while my main totem is fey (faeries and the like - explaining fey will be a post for another day). Tree Faerie's totem is obviously a dragonfly.

Since the moment of conception, I have focused on dragonflies for Tree Faerie. The online baby journal I started during my pregnancy was done in purple and green dragonflies. The decorations for her nursery are centered around dragonflies. Every time I saw a dragonfly, I thought of my baby.

The moment Tree Faerie was born, a purple and green dragonfly landed on Panda's (a close friend) shoulder across town. While Memphis is in the south, winter is still cold and does not bear dragonflies, so a dragonfly on January 6th is a bit odd. We spent 2 nights in the hospital after birth in a lovely private room. This print was on the wall (that's Mr. Chomps in the photo):

It wasn't until we were packing up that we noticed that the picture contained more than just the pretty tulips. In the upper right corner was our little friend:

See what I mean? They're everywhere! Since her birth, I've had dragonflies fly alongside the car all the way from the grocery store to the house, which is about 2 miles. We've had entire swarms hover over us. We've had dragonflies land on us at various times. While I've always liked dragonflies and taken notice of them, I have never had this much direct contact with them!

My next tattoo (I currently have 2) will be a dragonfly on my left shoulder. I haven't settled on a design yet, but as soon as I have the perfect design, under the needle I will go! That dragonfly will be my tribute to my Tree Faerie. The symbol of a dragonfly different meanings according to different cultures, including luck, freedom, and change. Tree Faerie is all of these things to me.

I leave you with a bit of old-world lore. What creature are you most drawn to and what does it mean to you?

The Dragonfly

Once, in a little pond in the muddy water under the lily pads, there lived a little water beetle in a community of water beetles. They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond with few disturbances and interruptions. Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They knew when this happened that their friend was dead - gone forever.

One day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge to climb up that stem. However he was determined that he would not leave forever. He would come back and tell his friends what he had found at the top.

When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, he was so tired and the sun felt so warm that he decided he must take a nap. As he slept his body changed, and when he woke up he had turned into a beautiful blue tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying. So, fly he did! And as he soared, he saw the beauty of a whole new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never known existed.

Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking by now he was dead. He wanted to go back to tell them and explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been before. His life had been fulfilled rather than ended!

But his new body would not go down into the water. He could not get back to tell his friends the good news. He then understood that the time would come when they, too, would know what he now knew. So, he raised his wings and flew off into his joyous new life!