Why a Butterfly

Butterflies are a symbol of The Compassionate Friends, and are seen as a connection to Renewed Life ~ Hope. The Compassionate Friends embrace the butterfly as a sign of hope that our children and siblings are living in another dimension with greater beauty and freedom. For many it is a belief that we will join with them in renewed life after own our passing from the earth.


The butterfly doesn't begin by being a butterfly. It emerges after a first life, a “changing death” and a metamorphosis into something free and beautiful. Symbolically, the caterpillar has been thought to be LIFE ON EARTH; the cocoon, DEATH; and the butterfly, EMERGENCE INTO A NEW, BEAUTIFUL FREER EXISTENCE.


Native American legends say that if you have a secret wish, hold a butterfly and whisper your wish to it. Since butterflies cannot speak, your secret is ever safe in their keeping. Release the butterfly, and it will carry your wish. When we release our butterflies during a remembrance ceremony, we send our whispers to our children and siblings, carried on the wings of the butterflies.