Transmutation

We have one of those screened, cylindrical butterfly habitats that are very common in preschool classrooms.  This Fall we put several caterpillars in there and watched them form cocoons.  The children have been especially interested in caterpillars, roly poly bugs, and ladybugs this year.

On  Friday I was playing with some kids in our playhouse when I heard very excited voices screaming my name from the other end of the playground.  They wanted to show me that one of the butterflies had hatched!

We set it free in the garden and a big group of kids observed the beautiful butterfly for quite some time.  One of the teacher assistants remarked to the children, "Isn't it amazing?  To start out as a caterpillar, wrap yourself in a cocoon, and come out as a completely different creature?"  It is amazing, and it was certainly amazing for the kids to see that transformation.  Then I followed up her comment with, "It's kind of like how you all are kids now, and then you'll change into adults someday."

Writer Daniel Pinchbeck recently gave a talk in Mexico on the subject of climate change called "Planetary Initiation" in which he used the caterpillar to butterfly analogy,
         

        
"In the chrysalis, the caterpillar doesn't just sprout wings. Its entire body melts down into a biotic goop. The code for the transmutation of the organism is held by a handful of "imaginal cells" that start to propagate as the caterpillar dissolves. Although attacked at first by the dying caterpillar's immune system, the imaginal cells install the program that produces the butterfly. Our modern civilization is now in the process of melting down and decomposing, and we have to become the imaginal cells engaged in the process of its transmutation."

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, it is more clear than ever that our planet is going through some major changes.  As a teacher of young children, I find it difficult to reconcile my pessimism about the state of the planet with my desire to prepare them for a future that looks increasingly bleak.  Our modern civilization truly is melting down into some kind of biotic goop.  However, I trust that these children are ready to become the imaginal cells that will program the next phase for humanity on Earth.  Nature has given them a perfect example of this process in the transmutation of the caterpillar into a butterfly.