The Meaning of Dragonflies

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When Franchescha was designing my new blog page we picked this lovely scrapbook set.  I didn't notice the set contained a dragonfly until Fran put together my blog header and there it was!  I loved it so much and it just struck a chord with me.  I wasn't sure why at the time but I loved this little dragonfly.  It reminded me of Aiden....beautiful, small, flying free.  So the dragonfly got added to all the sidebar titles as well.  I wanted to see more of it on the blog :) And of course Fran made it look perfect!

Yesterday I was doing a search for dragonfly symbolism and I found this story.  Some of you may have seen/heard it before but yesterday was my first time.

The Dragonfly Story

Down below the surface of a quiet pond lived a little colony of water bugs. They were a happy colony, living far away from the sun. For many months they were very busy, scurrying over the soft mud on the bottom of the pond. They did notice that every once in awhile one of their colony seemed to lose interest in going about. Clinging to the stem of a pond lily it gradually moved out of sight and was seen no more.

"Look!" said one of the water bugs to another. "One of our colony is climbing up the lily stalk. Where do you think she is going?" Up, up, up it slowly went....Even as they watched, the water bug disappeared from sight. Its friends waited and waited but it didn't return...

"That's funny!" said one water bug to another. "Wasn't she happy here?" asked a second... "Where do you suppose she went?" wondered a third.

No one had an answer. They were greatly puzzled. Finally one of the water bugs, a leader in the colony, gathered its friends together. "I have an idea". "The next one of us who climbs up the lily stalk must promise to come back and tell us where he or she went and why."

"We promise", they said solemnly.

One spring day, not long after, the very water bug who had suggested the plan found himself climbing up the lily stalk. Up, up, up, he went. Before he knew what was happening, he had broke through the surface of the water and fallen onto the broad, green lily pad above.

When he awoke, he looked about with surprise. He couldn't believe what he saw. A startling change had come to his old body. His movement revealed four silver wings and a long tail. Even as he struggled, he felt an impulse to move his wings...The warmth of the sun soon dried the moisture from the new body. He moved his wings again and suddenly found himself up above the water. He had become a dragonfly!!

Swooping and dipping in great curves, he flew through the air. He felt exhilarated in the new atmosphere. By and by the new dragonfly lighted happily on a lily pad to rest. Then it was that he chanced to look below to the bottom of the pond. Why, he was right above his old friends, the water bugs! There they were scurrying around, just as he had been doing some time before.

The dragonfly remembered the promise: "the next one of us who climbs up the lily stalk will come back and tell where he or she went and why." Without thinking, the dragonfly darted down. Suddenly he hit the surface of the water and bounced away. Now that he was a dragonfly, he could no longer go into the water...

"I can't return!" he said in dismay. "At least, I tried. But I can't keep my promise. Even if I could go back, not one of the water bugs would know me in my new body. I guess I'll just have to wait until they become dragonflies too. Then they'll understand what has happened to me, and where I went."

And the dragonfly winged off happily into its wonderful new world of sun and air.......

Thank you God, for the story of the water bugs and the dragonflies.

Please remember________who left the pond we live in...and remember me...

STICKNEY, D. (1997). Water Bugs and Dragonflies. Explaining Death To Young Children. 
The Pilgrim Press.

Wow. After I read this story my heart started beating faster and I paused for a moment.  What an amazing story......what a perfect way to describe what happens when a loved one passes away. This story is meant to explain death to a child but I think it's a great adult story as well. Excitedly I gave the computer to Nygel and told him he had to read it.  He smiled when he finished and said that it was such a good story. Dragonflies....Aiden.....Wow.....

I did some more searching and found the following words that the dragonfly symbolizes:

Prosperity

Good Luck

Strength

Peace

Harmony

Purity

These words speak to me because the dragonfly represents so much. My son- peace, purity. My journey to a normal life without him- strength, harmony.  I pray that this also symbolizes prosperity and good luck for us as we continue this journey to expand our family.

I love that the dragonfly has found me....I really believe Aiden sent this to me to help me in my grieving process. I have done more research on dragonflies and I'll discuss them and their symbolism more in another post.....

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Thank you Aiden for always being in my life even though you are not here with me on earth. I pray that you are enjoying your wings and that you have fun every day in the sun and air.  I know that when the sun comes out and the breeze blows in my face that it's you telling me you love me.  I love you too my little angel.  Forever and ever!

Love Mommy