Module 6
Mastery: Rites of Passage
Handouts
The Widow as Butterfly: A Story of Renewal
Long ago, there were two Caterpillar people who loved each other
very much. But one day the Caterpillar Man died, and this broke
the heart of his widow. The Caterpillar Woman didn't want to be
around anyone; didn't want to talk to anyone--she
wrapped her sorrow around her like a shawl. She walked, and all
the time she walked she was crying.
For a whole year she walked, and because the world is a circle,
she returned to where she had started. The Creator took pity on
her, and told her, "You've suffered too long. Now's the time
to step into a new world of color, a new world of beauty."
The Creator clapped hands twice, and she burst forth as the butterfly.
And this is why for many communities, the butterfly is a symbol
of renewal--that relief
can come at the end of suffering.
--Traditional Warm Springs
story
Continue to next handout.