A Butterfly Sign From The Universe

After almost two weeks of being sick at home with a viral infection I decided to take a walk in the woods nearby, breathing fresh air and enjoying nature for recovery. As always when I do forestbathing I take my camera with me because I often capture special moments and encounters with nature. I also use these walks as my personal connection with the universe, saying thank you for being alive and healthy, for the people in my life and the things that I own. But on this day it wasn't just a session in thankfulness, because I had a request. And how the universe answered to my question was simply stunning.

It was very hot and the sun burning relentlessly. As always I took not the usual ways but walked cross country. On some kind of clearing I did my usual "Thank you"-routine and then asked the universe for help. Some weeks ago someone I knew had passed from a long term illness and that'd struck me harder than I'd thought. Since then I kept asking myself if working in a job that didn't fulfill me, but at least paid the rent was worth wasting my limited time on earth. A feeling of being trapped had evolved since and it'd grown bigger and bigger each day. I wondered if that was the way my life was meant to be and than asked the universe for a sign that everything would go well.

As I was already on my way home, no special encounters and no sign that the universe had heard my request (although I hadn't expected that in an instant) until then, I took a way I'd never seen and taken before. On the left side were some high plants and on the plants was a huge butterfly. His wings were black and white with some orange eye at the lower end of the wings. When he moved, his black wings suddenly gleamed in a beautiful purple, which meant it was a male Purple Emperor. I took my camera and wanted to take pictures but the butterfly perceived me and immediately started to fly around. Strangely he was not afraid of me and fluttered around me like in a movie, until he landed several times on my back and head. I was overwhelmed because I hadn't experienced anything like that before. He did not seem to be afraid at all. Luckily I was able to take some pictures but had to take them blind because the butterfly was on top of me. Then the Purple Emperor flew to the ground and I recognised that he was desperatly looking for food, his yellow proboscis eagerly searching the ground for a small puddle. I instinctively reached out and he immediately flew on my arm. In this moment a jogging couple passed by. I asked them for some water for the butterfly and indeed did the lady pour some water in my hand and arm. Unfortunately it dried faster than the butterfly could sip it and soon I'd run out of liquid again. But the butterfly stayed on my arm and hand the whole time. Out of necessity I whiped the sweat off of my face and put some drops in front of the Emperor, He soacked it all in without hesitation. I didn't know if that was right but it felt like he needed just something liquid, no matter what. While he sat on my arm I managed to sit down in the shadow of a tree and watched him feeding. When I'd finally stopped sweating the butterfly still searched my arm and hand for more food. Again I acted instinctively and offered him some of my saliva. As I know now that was indeed the right thing to do because Purple Emperors seldomly feed on flowers but on other liquids. We then sat there for approximately an hour and while I constantly 'fed' the little beauty I enjoyed his special company and took some more pictures of him. As you can see he was not afraid of me at all. When he was finally saturated he took off and flew away.

I kept sitting there for another fifteen minutes and let this special encounter sink in. How could it be that a wild butterfly was so trustfully to a human? And hadn't I just asked for a sign two hours ago? While thinking about that I was getting up... and just in this moment the butterfly returned, fluttered again around me and then vanished again, this time finally.

I swear that this happened as I described it and not only do I feel honored that I was given the chance to help this Purple Emperor, but now I'm sure that it indeed was a sign. Because when I got home and looked through the pictures, there was one catching immediately my eye. It is one of the photos where the butterfly is sitting on my head. And while he's sitting there the sunbeams are shining on us both from above and one sunbeam looks a if someone is putting a hand on my head, like a caring mother does to her child...

I'm not a native speaker so I hope my English is understandable for you.