Some years ago (2005), I conducted a proving of a butterfly, the blue triangle butterfly or Graphium sarpedon choredon. The difference with this remedy to most other remedies was that we used a live butterfly. It had not undergone the death process and was set free afterwards. The remedy was made with the live butterfly, using a radionics box, 6c, on 17 April 2005, before freeing it into the rain forest. (Full methodology of process and proving links at end of article).
Ethically, it was very important to me to not harm the butterfly. But it wasn’t just that, I wanted to capture the living essence of the butterfly. I had noticed in other provings conducted with, for example, road kill animals, that they had big wounding or accident symptoms and wondered if this overlaid the actual essence of the animal. After all, the death of an animal would supposedly imprint quite strongly on the vibration of its being, especially if it was a violent death. In some of the other butterfly provings, car accidents seems to be a common theme, yet this was completely absent in the Blue Triangle proving.
What struck me about this remedy, was that there was an evolutionary aspect to what was going on. Yes, all homeopathy is evolutionary, but this was different. People were moving forwards in a big way, change was a keynote and prominent in everyone’s life. They were moving into uncharted territory, not just healing old symptoms but actively experiencing the new.
Like gemstone remedies, the butterfly has already undergone a huge transformation to become what it is, so it is not too surprising that this should come out in the proving. They are masters of evolution already, having undergone intense shifts of their being, having undergone an inner alchemy to become what they are now.
Some excerpts from the proving:
Peace,calm; stillness, awareness, being in the moment; acceptance.
I was amazed that the remedy brought complete stillness in my mind. 01, 6c. (Prover, potency)
Woke early and my mind was really still (never happens to me). 03, 200c.
Doing things that are all signs of coming back to the moment and myself. 04, 200c.
Having tiny flashes of being in the here and now, and that my actions have a meaning, a purpose, a wholeness, not just scattered actions here and there. 06, 1M.
In meditation, went immediately deep into my body, I was fully aware of sensation. 09, 30c.
Feel much more peaceful, haven’t felt this peaceful for a very long time. 06, 1M.
More calmness and peace in my body since taking this remedy. 08, 30c.
Have had more lightness and peace since taking the remedy. 10, 30c.
I’ve surrendered and accepted what’s going on around me finally, the reality of the situation has clicked in. 03, 200c.
Feel strong, happier to go with the flow. I have really accepted something about myself. I’m accepting the here and now and am just happy to be, more accepting of the moment. 06, 1M.
Awareness of a higher meaning or power; synchronicity; receiving guidance.
Whatever I’ve been thinking has almost happened straight away, lots of synchronicity things happening. 03, 200c.
Dreamt of a Holden. When I woke I saw the car, same colour and everything.06, 1M.
Connections in my daily life with things in my dreams. Felt it was a confirmation that I’m in the right place and doing the right thing. 08, 30c.
There’s been a little leap, totally not of my volition, feels like it’s from somewhere else. While taking remedy it felt like something was helping me, subtle but profound, like someone just flicked a switch and I got this surge of energy and strength. 06, 1M.
Usually very overwhelmed by my business responsibilities, but yesterday afternoon it just switched, like some little angel came in and swept the energy around and said to me ‘you are going to be so busy now’. 10, 30c.
Seeing the problems around me now as a gift at times, seeing them as a push from the universe to do something better living-wise. 03, 200c
Feel everything has a meaning, that even the small things, like passing moments with strangers, are significant. 06, 1M.
I am trusting my intuition more, learning to let the impulses get stronger. 08, 30c.
A deeper look at the Blue Triangle Butterfly:
It seems obvious on looking back that this would be a transformative remedy. Butterflies after all, are a big symbol of transformation, birth, death and rebirth. However this doesn’t seem to come through as clearly in other butterfly provings.
The Blue Triangle butterfly (Graphium sarpedon choredon) is common along the East coast of Australia, feeding mainly on Camphor. As a caterpillar, it puts out a camphor-like smell as a warning when threatened. Compared to more fluttery butterflies, it looks like it is flying in fast forward, and has a very pointed, directed flight – it seems to know exactly where it is going. Ideally, the adult butterfly lives four to six weeks. Like all butterflies, the Blue Triangle goes through a series of transformations in its life. As a caterpillar it eats and grows, shedding its skin six times. Then it hangs upside down harnessed by a few strands of silk, and begins to liquefy in some quite nauseating (to watch) spasms, which shed the final skin leaving a hardened chrysalis underneath. The alchemy has begun, the base metal of the caterpillar has shut down externally so that internal change may occur to form the butterfly, the inherent ‘gold’. Interestingly, the word “chrysalis” comes from the Latin “chrysos” meaning “gold”, and butterfly collectors used to call themselves “aurelians” (Latin for gold – “aurum”). As the caterpillar cells die and putrefy, special cells join together to release the butterfly DNA. Nothing is lost, but all is put together differently, transformed – a potent symbol of the possibilities and potentials that we all contain. This often involves going deep into the underworld, to die to the world for a time in a pupation stage. The transformation process in life is often not an easy one, especially when we are attached to the old in our lives. But without ‘liquefying’ the old, the new cells cannot create their new form. Faith, courage and continual surrender may be needed at these times so we can stay open even without knowing what the future holds. It may be at these times of change and letting go, that the butterfly as a remedy is most pertinent.
Other Major Proving Themes:
Alone and quiet vs. social
Desire to be alone, enjoying and feeling nurtured by doing this.
Desire to wrap up, be cosy and quiet.
Very social, enjoying company.
Feeling more connected to people.
Clear mind vs. restless, obsessive mind
Clearness and sharpness of mind.
Great focus and concentration.
Restless and distracted.
Neurotic, desire to run away.
Obsessed with themselves and own health.
Change
From clearing out old papers, moving house, to changes in relationships, and letting go of old habits, provers seemed to find themselves ending cycles and moving on to new ones in different areas of their lives.
Desire to change.
Ready to move on and forward.
Making firm decisions to change.
And with this: letting go, grief, sadness, cleansing, clearing out the old.
Being true to self, boundaries
Most provers experienced feeling they had stronger boundaries:
Feeling strong in self, standing up for self, more assertive.
Not trying to please others or society so much. Speaking own truth.
Being true to self rather than sacrificing or martyring and then resenting it.
Feeling more objective and able to detach from others, not taking things personally.
Not getting caught up in negativity within themselves or others.
Seeing through layers of denial, image or expectations to the truth underneath.
PHYSICAL MAIN THEMES:
Fatigue, sleep
In the proving, many noted fatigue, feeling quiet, slowing down, and heaviness in body. Tired, drained, low energy, drowsiness, apathy, and meaninglessness.
Perhaps these are symptoms of going into a pupation, wanting to make a change in our lives that forces us to go within and be internal for a time of inner processing. This may appear nothing on the outside, especially in a world that places much emphasis on achieving in a more external way, but much is going on within, quality sleep is very healing. One prover had had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for a number of years, and during the proving started to recover. She felt that this came from gaining perspective and understanding of how and why she had it and how she needed to change. Now, one year later, she feels she has totally come out of her chronic fatigue.
On the other side of this: high energy, enthusiasm, and increased libido – like the butterfly that never seems to stop moving. But we may need the quiet internal times of pupation first – to be still and centred, and then can come out and be a social butterfly.
Sleepiness, deep sleeps, and difficulty waking in morning all played a part in the proving, as did interrupted sleep, sleeplessness, and restless sleep. Most provers had vivid, colourful, memorable dreams, some connected to daily life. (The Blackfoot Indians believed that butterflies bring dreams and visions during sleep).
Case: Male, age 52. Not sleeping properly for last three years. Wakes 3 or 4am, and can’t sleep again until dawn. Agitated, random thoughts of odd things, mind flitting all over the place. Then when it gets light can sleep again, but have to get up, so feels haggard in the morning, not wanting to get up. I was dreading going to sleep each night. Graphium sarpedon 30c. Now I am sleeping through the night. Feel much more refreshed in the morning than I have done in years. Have also started recalling my dreams, which I haven’t done in ages. My energy levels have improved, and my temper is better too, I am more at ease.
Hot flushes
This remedy has been great for hot flushes in menopause (‘the change of life’). Three provers experienced relief from their hot flushes, some for quite a long time afterwards, depending on how much they took (some aggravated first). This has been clarified with a number of cases since the proving.
Case: Woman, age 54. Hot flushes, day or night, last a minute or two, may wake bathed in sweat. < head, shoulders and back. Perspiration on forehead and between shoulder blades at worst. Very debilitating, just want to peel off clothes, get outside in the cool. Also. an overwhelming, urgent desire to escape and get away from whatever she is doing at the time. On HRT for awhile, but whenever stopped it, the hot flushes came back within a day or two and were so bad she would go back on it each time.3/10/05. One dose Graphium sarpedon 30c for three days, and stopped HRT cold turkey (her decision). 11/10/05. Has had no flushes. Feel warmer in general than before, but not too bad. January 06. Had the occasional flush but so mild they don’t bother me anymore.
Influenza
Nose blocked, runny, sneezing.
Eyes watery and itchy.
Throat sore, raw, burning, swollen, hard to swallow, constricted.
Dry mouth.
Hoarse, croaky voice.
Dry, tickling cough, paroxysmal coughing, retching cough, worse after dinner, coughs up green phlegm.
Chest constricted, heavy, painful.
Difficulty breathing.
Symptoms accompanied by:
Headache, especially in morning.
Nausea or discomfort in stomach, belching.
Fatigue, lethargy.
Fever, shivery.
Case: Boy, age 5 ½. Feels sick in tummy, then fever, sore throat, lethargic, weak legs, cold all over, couldn’t get warm, headache, phlegmy barking cough in throat. Graphium sarpedon 30c, one dose. He perked up straight away, felt better immediately, energy came back. No further doses. Two days later, all symptoms gone, energy back, feels better.
Female, age 53. Cough that lingers for months. Tickling, suffocative, deep, irritating, catches in throat, with dryness. Had it for over a month, after getting exhausted from travelling and cold exposure, but no cold with it this time. < talking, cold air, fatigue, > lying down, hot drinks. Bothers her all day until sleeps. Very fatiguing sort of cough, with diminished appetite.
Two doses of Graphium sarpedon 30c over two days. Cough disappeared, have tried lots of other remedies and nothing really got it before. My libido also increased and my vaginal dryness cleared up, my juices came back! Also felt my energy coming back in the evening, normally fades and doesn’t return so go to bed. Feel I’m overcoming the habits of my everyday life. Have definitely increased my creativity output, always having creative visions, but now I’m bringing them down to earth – networking happening around them and being supported in the world to bring them down into reality. All these ideas I’ve had over the last few years are finally coming together since taking remedy. Dream soon after taking the remedy – I made peace with a previous partner (which I hadn’t been able to do, it was an unresolved relationship in my life). Felt like the dream was a completion and a letting go of the relationship.
Digestion
There was a marked action on the stomach and digestion in the proving:
Discomfort, emptiness in stomach with desire to eat, but < after eating.
Nausea, fullness, bloating, anxiety, indigestion, acid stomach, lots of belching, gurgling in tummy. Vomiting, retching, continual retching, especially at night (from 11pm), with belching, acidity. Heaviness and nausea, after eating.Appetite increased, wants to eat constantly.
Desires cheese, dairy, bread and butter, apples, healthy things, sweets.
Averse to avocados, mayonnaise.Stools more frequent.
Case: Female, age 28. Headache through night, a little better in morning, but then worse after meditating. Nausea and diarrhoea from the pain, cramped up and went to bed. Pain was an intense pressure in head, left sided, worse around eye, occiput and temples, going into shoulders and neck.
Graphium sarpedon 6c one dose. Calmed down and went to sleep, had a dream. When I woke again I felt nice, my headache was still there but I felt calmer and more able to deal with it, the nausea was gone and I felt hungry. One month later: Headache during day. At around 11pm started retching and eventually vomited. Better after vomiting. Wide awake, couldn’t sleep, though body was dead, exhausted. An hour later started retching and vomiting again, and again, and again, continual.
Graphium sarpedon 6c. Nausea passed off each time, no more vomiting or retching. Slept.
Headaches
Headaches, especially in morning on waking; with flu; left sided; with nausea.
Case: Woman, age 47. Left sided headaches a lot recently, stabbing, tightness, when stressed or can’t control situation. Menopausal, just the rare hot flush. Pain in little fingers on left side. Tired a lot, achy body.
Graphium sarpedon 30c once a day. A week later: no headaches. Got first period in 6 months. Sleeping more during day, feels nurturing to do this. Feel achy like I’m going to get a flu, more localised in the morning. Have more clarity. Feel more strength in my self and my identity. Seeing how I pick up thoughts of others and am weighed down by that, and how I’m unable to say no to people, have more clarity around that. It’s like something – a healing energy, is trying to make a change in me and go back to how I was before (clearer, happier, positive), as have been quite down for the last year.
Woman. Left sided migraines with nausea every day for the last few weeks since selling business. Trying to lose weight, lost 10kg. Termination a year ago, lots of guilt and grief around that, put on weight since then. Just bought a house and sold the business, planning to start a family. Selling the business strained friendship, migraines since then. Graphium sarpedon 30c. No more headaches. 6 months later, still no migraines.
Generals:
Left sided symptoms.
Heaviness.
Worse at night.
Worse on waking.
Worse for eating.
Sensation of heat.
Lassitude, lethargy.
Summary
This remedy is for those who want or feel ready to make a change in their lives, ‘to step up to the next level’ as one person put it. Or for those going through a change and not quite coping with it – stuck in the limbo of pupation where they are not quite able to make the change (maybe chronic fatigue). Or for those who are finding it difficult to let go of something. It may become relevant during pregnancy (morning sickness), menopause, and any growth stages in life. Perhaps it is during times of change and new growth that we’re most likely to get influenza, where a letting go or clearing needs to happen.
It is NOT for those who want to keep the status quo and can cause a lot of trauma when change is not needed or wanted!
It may be thought of for those flighty, social beings who don’t give themselves enough quiet time alone, and who give so much of their own energy away to others. They take on other peoples’ problems easily without realising, and then suffer from this. A number of people who have taken this remedy started bringing their ideas into the world and reality, taking the steps necessary to move forward in their process. So it may be useful for those who can’t ground themselves or their projects – for the intellectual who is full of ideas that never get put into action (butterflies are always ‘up in the air’). Or the scattered, dispersed, and restless, who desire to run away – it may help bring them back to the moment, to peace, stillness and what really matters.
The Blue Triangle butterfly seems to somehow allow a peace of mind and acceptance of present circumstance, from which a detached, bird’s eye perspective comes. From this viewpoint, there is a recognition of what is really going on beyond our normally limited sphere of vision. This included becoming aware of often in-built family (genetic) or social patterns that we move in (usually more out of habit or unconsciousness, than choice). Becoming conscious of these things allows us to decide to move out of them, rather than continuing to act them out unconsciously.
A Case taken in retrospect (this woman took the remedy of her own volition).
Woman, age 45. Before remedy: I was feeling as though I didn’t matter, pointless, no one would miss me sort of feeling. Living in my house with a big mortgage, unsure whether to build a house with my partner who had sold his house, but I was unsure about my place, and my partner was a bit cranky that I didn’t want to jump into it. Then one day, a friend of mine rang and told me about the butterfly remedy and how so much was changing in her life. I was also wrapping Christmas presents in butterfly paper. And then this other friend of mine from overseas rang and she is a real butterfly lady, looks after and saves them all the time. So with these three incidents I figured it was time to take some.Mid December 2005. Graphium sarpedon 30c one dose.A friend rang and asked me what I was doing, why was I holding back, triggered me into it, realised I didn’t have to be on my own (lived without a partner for many years). Within one month I had made a decision to sell my house and commit to my partner and build a house together. The first day it was on the market someone wanted to buy it. Four weeks later it was sold on the same day as my partner sold his house. Now I am building a house with my partner and our relationship has blossomed.
Graphium sarp 200 second dose. This time I took it thinking I wanted a new home and a new happy family situation. The same friend as before rang immediately and said she knew a place. Two weeks later I found a great house to live with my partner, came out of the blue in perfect time.
Between last December when I first took the remedy and now (June 2006) my life has changed a lot, everything shifted very quickly, energy just shifted, my circumstances have improved a lot. Lots of synchronicities. For me, it helped move me into a totally new reality. Before I didn’t know what my future was about, was living alone with my daughter, wasn’t willing to shift. Now all that I want and all that I need is here for me. I felt brave enough to move in with my partner and everything is working out so well.
I also gave it to my eldest daughter, age 22. There’s magic around it, as she would normally never take anything like this. She is a rebel, had post traumatic stress, gambling problem for 4 years, has two children in foster homes. Graphium sarpedon 200 one a week for four weeks. Three months later she has started counseling, and is now talking of reconciliation with her children, there are still issues there, but things are changing.
My son, age 20, also took it, and he stopped hanging around my eldest daughter so much, so his life has become less filled with dramas. My youngest daughter also took it, age 19, and she moved out of home, and is writing a fantasy novel.
Ebook of Blue Triangle Butterfly: A Homeopathic Proving (2006)contains numerous cases and the full proving, and is available via email:
Full proving without cases is also available at
www. bluetrianglebutterfly.yolasite.com
Bibliography
- Armstrong, E.A. “Insects” in Man, Myth and Magic, Vol IV. Purnell.
- Braby, M.F. (2000) Butterflies of Australia: their identification, biology and distribution. CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne, Australia.
- 3. Collins Latin Dictionary plus Grammar, (1997). Harper Collins Publishers: UK.
- Gagliardi, Ronald, A. (1997) Leptidopteral Symbology, Cultural Entomology Digest, 4th issue, www.insects.org/ced4/butterfly_symbology.html.
- Reed, A.W. (1993) Aboriginal Myths, Legends and Fables. New Holland: Australia.
- Sherr, J. (1994) The Dynamics and Methodology of Homoeopathic Provings. B.Jain Publishers: India.
- Wedd, H. (2006) Blue Triangle Butterfly: A Homoeopathic Proving. N.S.W., Australia.
