The Butterfly
Butterflies of Good and Evil Omen
"In Japan the butterfly was at one time considered to be the soul of a living man or woman.
If it entered a guest-room and pitched behind the bamboo screen it
was a sure sign that the person whom it represented
would shortly appear in the house. The presence of a
butterfly in the house was regarded as a good omen,
though of course everything depended on the individual typified by the butterfly.
The butterfly was not always the harbinger of good.
When Taira-no-Masakado was secretly preparing for a revolt Kyoto
was the scene of a swarm of butterflies,
and the people who saw them were much frightened.
Lafcadio Hearn suggests that these butterflies may have
been the spirits of those fated to fall in battle, the
spirits of the living who were stirred by a premonition
of the near approach of death. Butterflies may also be
the souls of the dead, and they often appear in this
form in order to announce their final leave-taking from the body.