I’m walking with my girlfriends in late July. We’re exploring my friend’s new apartment complex and catching up after months apart. We come upon a scenic little pond, and a bug flies directly towards me. I catch a glimpse and ask, “Is that a dragonfly?” as it slips out of my view.
“Yes. And it’s landed on you.”
I feel the slightest tickle in the center of my forehead. I am not prone to dragon-fly encounters, but I am well versed enough in creative-energy to know that it settling directly on my third eye—one of the energy centers of our bodies—probably means there’s a message trying to get my attention.
Two nights later I’m on my front porch, fumbling with the lock on a hot summer night. I look toward my porch lamp and perched on its edge is a giant dragonfly. I live nowhere near water. I’ve never seen a dragonfly at my place in the eighteen years I’ve lived here. I let myself in the house and ask, “What do you want me to know.”
A few days later I’m scrolling through Instagram and a person I’ve never seen before pops onto my feed, with the caption Do you know the spiritual significance of dragonflies? “Are you seeing dragonflies everywhere, too?” Why, yes. Yes. I am. She then goes on to explain dragonflies spend up to the four years underwater as nymphs. Until one day they decide to come out of the water. Within hours they transform. Their wings emerge, and they continue flying for the last years of their life. The transition from living entirely underwater to a whole new world happens in a matter of hours. As a symbol they can mean you’re at a pivotal transformation point to a whole new existence.
Ok, message received. I was in the midst of a massive transition. But, it appears I was supposed to receive the message crystal clear, because over the next four weeks the dragonflies came again, and again, and again.
The barista at the coffee shop has one tiny line tattoo on her clavicle. A dragonfly.
Walking in a park with a friend, a dazzle of dragonflies (I like dazzle better than swarm, so that’s what I call them, but science calls them swarms.) follow alongside us. I tell her about all my dragonfly sightings, and ask her, “Aren’t they normally only by water.” She laughs, “Yes, but not for you I guess.”
My birthday week rolls around. I’m trolling around a lake on a little fishing boat and another dazzle flies alongside us. This time four dragonflies alight upon me and enjoy the ride. Yes, little dragonflies I see you.
My actual birthday rolls around in late August, I’m out at my friend’s farm and we’re with her nephew feeding fish. There they are two dragonflies playing with one another, flying high, swooping back towards us. A little Happy Birthday to me.
The dragonflies slow down a bit over the next few months, but they still show up occasionally. Then last week a lamp I had behind my writing chair starts smoking and smelling like burning. It’s a lamp I’ve had since my first years of college and has served me well. I’m sad to see it go but am not willing to risk my entire house going up in flames so I haul it out of the house and begin looking for a replacement.
The replacement lamp is important, because it goes behind my writing chair. It’s the light I wake up under each morning as I sip my mushroom “coffee” with a cat on one leg and a writing journal on the other. It has to be the right height, fit behind the chair, and give me enough illumination to read.
I flip through Etsy and a Tiffany lamp catches my eyes. It’s not my usual style, but the colors are great, vibrant greens and golds that would look great against my purple paint. There’s a pop of red… I enlarge the image… for the dragonfly’s eyes? I take another look, and sure enough. There, tucked in the design, are six dragonflies.
The lamp arrived yesterday. I wrote under it this morning, with my stained-glass dazzle crowning my head. I’ve known a transformation has been in the works for a while, but now I’ve welcomed it into my home, fully embracing it.
I don’t know what happens next, but like a dragonfly I trust I’ve got the intuitive skills and ability to live a really exciting, completely new chapter.
This week’s 7 cards is up. Planetarily, it’s a big crossroads moment with the super full moon on the 4th. If you’re not into planets, still go look at the moon that night cause it’s gonna look crazy cool!