Butterfly Symbolism

In the spring when everything is growing, k’aalógii (butterflies) are everywhere across Dinétah (the Navajo homeland). Butterfly wings are covered with tiny scales that rub off on your hands like powder. In Diné (Navajo) belief, rubbing this powder on your body can bring peaceful feelings. When rubbed on your legs, it will bring you the swiftness of a butterfly. And when butterfly scales are rubbed on female livestock, it will help them produce healthy, beautiful young. Butterflies, however, also represent destructive beauty that distracts people and leads them astray. For example, the Butterfly Way tells the story of how the Maiden That Light Does Not Touch was lured out into the light by a beautiful butterfly sent by Jóhonaaʼéí (Sun Carrier) who wished to seduce her. Butterflies remind the Diné of the duality of beauty, that most everything we encounter in life has both positive and negative aspects.