I was at a butterfly garden this weekend, saw this, and had quite the chuckle. Couldnāt resist sharing it! 
Well, I know what my next spell is going to be! 
All kidding aside- this is the first Iād heard of this! Iāve associated butterflies with spirits for a long time now, but I never knew about this linguistic tie to witches.
It gave me a chuckle- hopefully it gave you one too! 
My favorite butterfly picture for tax 
Blessed be (and Happy Lammas!)
Zuāu ni mindok lahbriine vust jahfur kotin demdriikke! Zuāu laan jahfura kotin demdriik.
I didnāt know that witches could turn into butterflies! Wish I could change into one!
Interesting! Iāve never heard that before either. I might have to dig into that for research a bit more!
Iāve also always associated butterflies with Spirit, usually in the form of a loved one beyond the veil. Itās interesting how things like this shift and change over time.
Hello,
My name is Jackie and Iām a new practicer of the craft even though the craft is hereditary. I have been researching everything āCraftā once I became aware of my powers. I also viewed butterflies as spirits or even fallen angels but this website that I have been using as a sort of guide had a nice article on āButterfly Magickā, the website is called (learnreligions .com). Unfortunately I am not allowed to include the link since I am new. Thank you for the support in advance.
Enjoy!
@SMhechic3ra i included the link for u hon
@Kasandra I didnāt either- and same here! That would certainly come in handy at times 
@MeganB Agreed! I always find it especially fascinating when different cultures or traditions have things in common- like butterflies and their connection with spirits. Little things that tie people together across space and time 
@SMhechic3ra Welcome, Jackie! 
Thanks for bringing up the Butterfly Magick article- LearnReligions is a great site and they have lots of interesting pieces. Thank you for sharing it! (and thanks @Mistress_Of_Herbs for helping with the link!) 
I did find one article specifically on butterflies here:
It has some great cross-cultural information, but I didnāt see any note of witches being tied to the name ābutterflyā- looks like Iāll have to keep digging about that! 
I have heard this before but just laughed it off.
Here are a couple of interesting articles:
I gobbled up those articles- so much to explore there! 
This quote from the first article had me doing a surprised Pikachu moment though:
If a little girl wanted a new dress, she should catch and chew up the butterfly the color of her desired dress.
The last thing I would give my child is what they wanted if I caught them nomming up bugs in the garden 
Certainly got a chuckle though, and both articles are loaded with interesting butterfly folklore and symbolism!
Thank you so much for sharing them, @Amaris_Bane!
You are most welcome! I love reading mythology and folk lore. It is interesting to see what people thought but also to see the connections across cultures, and sometimes time.
When I walked out to my car this morning I had to smile. My sun shade is butterflys!
Thank you so much! This website has been a huge help in my research. 
Butterflies are my thing! My mom and grandmother loved them so whenever I see one I think they are visiting me 
We went to The Butterfly Place in Mass last summer ā it was magical. A huge place where butterflies just flew around and did butterfly things and you could walk with them. They land on you and everything!
Here are few pictures.
@Amaris_Bane Agreed!
@Ostara Hooray- butterflies galore! 
@Silverbear Oh my goodness those pictures are gorgeous! I think the Butterfly Place on the other side of MA is way bigger than the little garden here by the Cape. There are so many types of butterflies in your pictures- I bet you had a blast!
@MeganB
Butterflies, to me, represent freedom and beauty,
You, in turn, addressed butterflies with spirit.
What a wonderful concept!
I donāt mean to sound dumb, but could you expand on it a little more? I find this fascinating.
Thanks for giving me something new to think about
Bless you
Garnet
Sure! So this might get a little rambly and I apologize ahead of timeā¦
Growing up, I was always told that freckles were angel kisses. I know, what does that have to do with butterflies, right? But then as I got older, I also heard that freckles were butterfly kisses. So that gave me the original connection. Thereās also a folk belief that my family holds that when youāre kissed by a butterfly, i.e. a butterfly lands on you or flutters around you, someone from the Otherworld is sending you a message or thinking of you. It could literally be anyone, too, not just someone you knew in your life but any of your ancestors.
Seeing the process of becoming a butterfly also makes me think of Spirit and the Otherworld. Oh, and I guess I need to preface with this ā I use the phrase āSpiritā to mean anything outside of our world, generally something or someone in the Otherworld or higher plane of existence, Gods, ancestors, guides, etc.
So anyway, the process of going from egg to caterpillar to butterfly is a magical one on its own. When the caterpillar creates a chrysalis, it isnāt forming something over itself. Itās actually the caterpillars own body similar to the way a snake sheds their skin. Then when inside, the caterpillar actually liquifies most of their own body to transform themselves into butterflies!
Now, this correlates to Spirit and the Otherworld for me because itās very much a liminal space, a space between worlds, between phases, and literally between beings. The process of metamorphosis is one that we can all go through on a spiritual level and I think the butterfly is the perfect representation of how that can actually happen.
Also, hereās a cool video about what happens inside a chrysalis
Thatās WILD- I guess the version they taught us way back in elementary school was significantly more toned down than what actually happens lol! I learned something new today- thank you, Megan!
Also the possibilities with the liminal space and connection between world of the living and spiritā¦ butterflies are so cool
That first picture looks like a Tupperware server - either way itās brilliant - I have a couple of old ones kicking around here I need to either use or ditch ā itās a perfect use for them, BUTTERFLY and BEE watering station 
Thank you @SilverBear !!!
**TRIGGER WARNING ABOUT SHADOW WORK WITH MY MOTHER **
With my kids when I tucked them in at night, I would lean in and flutter my eyelashes on their cheeks and it was ābutterfly kissesā because we believed that butterflies are spirits here on the earth or represented them / possessed them - Butterflies have always been my spirit ābugā and itās interesting how itās evolved over time. I think you and I @MeganB have similar thoughts on what meanings Butterflies hold.
My mother recently passed away and I have had quite the turmoil in my life for many reasons because of it, and Iāve pulled out my Mother Book of Shadows journal and I will say it has been VERY active! Today, as I recover from my surgery and prepare for the next year of chemo, I meditated towards the east and did a Sun Bathing ritual as the sun rose. Then came inside.
Later as I was picking my daily food harvest in my gardens, I saw the site where I was meditating and a dead butterfly laid in the spot. Now, many thoughts are that a dead butterfly is a cause to reflect on what youāre missing in a transformation or many other things similar - the internet is littered with these pages.
NERD ALERT HERE:
However, this is a specific type of butterfly called the Red-spotted Purple - the Red-spotted Purple (RSP) (Limenitis arthemis astyanax ) (artemis is the Greek goddess of the hunt and of the wild). RSPs belong to the Brush-foot family (Nymphalidae), which is a large family with over 3,000 species worldwide and 150+ in North America (I live in New England). These are found in semi-sunny situations like stream and forest edges, woodland paths, and forest openings. In those habitats, adult RSPs feed on sap, rotting fruit, animal dung, and carrion, but they rarely visit flowers.
My front yard facing east is not in a forest edge although the forest edge isnāt too far away. The RSP total life cycle from egg to death is appx 55 days - thatās under 2 months and with only 40 days from egg to Butterfly and if healthy and not killed by anything it will live from 6-14 total days as a butterfly. They are only seen from around the start of June through the middle of August - my motherās birthday is smack in the middle, July 20.
NERD ALERT OVER.
THIS IS WHERE TRIGGER POSSIBILITY BEGINS:
Therefore this Red-spotted Purple butterfly died exactly where I was Sun bathing and meditating this morning - thinking about my mother after a torrent of shadow work after her death - I realized that although both of these beings are both deceased - that the 82 years my mom was on this earth plus 9 months in her motherās womb and only 56 years of me knowing her ā and the 40 days the butterfly lived is only the part of their journey that we see. That we know. And we only know the very little of what we experience of that piece of the journey as well, not privy to everything. I realize I know my mother better now than when she was alive in that there is so much more to her than I ever understood. I donāt know if that butterfly was sent to me, was actually her telling me my shadow work is done, or her saying I have more to do. I will know once I meditate more and focus on everything, however these are the actual occurrences I would put in my Muse Journal daily and the thought provoking portions in my BoS for my Mother journey - and thought Iād share. The pics are of my dead butterfly which I will preserve and save for more shadow work with my Mom. 
Iām always open to comments and your thoughts and insight, coven! 
As someone who also believes that butterflies are connected with spirits and those who have passed, I completely feel that there was meaning in you finding this particular butterfly in the very spot where you were meditating about your mother.
As for what it could mean, it sounds like you have some very viable answers. You know your mother best and felt the message when it appeared, so I would trust your intuition about where it is pointing you 
Really beautiful story and a lovely reminder of someone special to you, Jan 
I absolutely believe that butterflies are connected to loved ones & those that have passed.
Whenever I am having a bad day, I will see 1 orange monarch butterfly over my back porch & in the backyard. It comes down over me & swoops over the rail. Every day since my mother passed away, I see one when I am having a rough day.
Since we put my dog down in June, there has been a yellow āmonarchā butterfly flitting around, if I am really having a good day, I will see orange, yellow, white, & now a black butterfly over in our yard. My neighbor has a butterfly plant, but they donāt usually come over to our yard & rarely do we see them in our backyard. So I know itās someone visiting me I always get a sense of calm or itās going to be okay when they appear.
