This touch drawing is one of a series of three I did as part of some shamanic work looking at integrating a recently retrieved soul part.

I was working with a particularly delicate and significant piece for me that had left a long time ago during my childhood. The work had a distinct feel of ‘Butterfly medicine’ to it, and I kept coming across this theme of birth – death / transformation – rebirth.

I realised that (for this soul part) to fully emerge I still had some things that I needed to shed that where preventing this from happening.

Like Butterfly, Moth and Serpent, it is the shedding, the dying to the old and letting go of the familiar that is key to being able to step into a bigger and more luminous dream for ourselves. But we can only do this if we approach it whole heartedly, fully committing our energies and our intent (that means no back doors!)

It is very often Fear that prevents this last stage from happening and we can get stuck, neither in the old nor in the new, stuck somewhere between a caterpillar and a butterfly but not really able to function as either.

Trust that you are dreaming a bigger and more luminous life for yourself…. and just let go!

I would like to leave you with one of my favourite quotes by Guillaume Apollinaire that always helps me:

“Come to the edge, He said. They said, We are afraid. Come to the edge, He said. They came. He pushed them… and they flew.”

Happy and effortless shedding!

Gabrielle x