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✨ A tiny dragonfly with big questions.
🌿 A magical valley untouched by humans.
🦋 A journey full of challenges, wisdom, and hope.
The Extraordinary Journey of an Ordinary Dragonfly by John Fuller @spiritualjourneyofadragonfly is a tender and meaningful story for young readers, but also for anyone who wonders about life, love, and purpose.
It reminds us that even the smallest creatures can ask the biggest questions and find answers that light the way. 💫
The Mantis
🌿 Who is the Mantis in the Willow? 🌿
Across the world and through the centuries, the praying mantis has been honored in myth, religion, and folklore.
Its name comes from the Greek mantis, meaning “prophet” or “seer.” In Ancient Greece and Egypt, it was seen as a guardian of the afterlife and a guiding light for lost souls.
The mantis carries deep spiritual meaning—faith, self-awareness, and a connection to the divine. Its still, prayer-like pose calls us to pause, breathe, and listen for the quiet guidance within.
It embodies:
🌱 Connection to Nature
🌱 Balance & Harmony
🌱 Stillness & Patience
🌱 Courage & Fearlessness
🌱 Protection & Guardianship
🌱 Focus & Clarity
🌱 Mindfulness in Action
🌱 Intuition & Inner Guidance
🌱 Transformation & Growth
🌱 Spiritual Awakening & Connection to the Divine
The Mantis reminds us that this same divine connection lives in each of us—waiting to be found in moments of stillness. ✨
The Butterfly
🦋 The Soul of the Butterfly 🦋
Butterflies, with their delicate wings and vibrant colors, have long captivated human hearts. Beyond their physical beauty, they carry profound spiritual meaning across cultures.
Their life cycle—from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly—mirrors transformation, rebirth, and spiritual growth.
In ancient Greece, the word for butterfly, psyche, also meant “soul,” linking these creatures to the eternal journey of the spirit.
Across traditions, butterflies symbolize:
✨ Divine Guidance
✨ The Soul’s Journey & Eternal Life
✨ Transformation & Personal Growth
✨ Rebirth & Renewal
✨ Spiritual Awakening
✨ Freedom & Liberation
✨ Resilience & Endurance
✨ Love & Connection
✨ Hope & Optimism
✨ Joy & Lightness
✨ Creativity & Expression
✨ Beauty & Grace
But in our story, we must ask—how does a creature with so much beauty and potential become the beautiful, yet narcissistic, butterfly? What changed her? 🦋
The Red Dragonfly
✨ The Deeper Meaning of the Dragonfly ✨
More than just a creature of natural beauty, the dragonfly has held deep spiritual significance since ancient Egypt. Across cultures, it symbolizes transformation, self-discovery, and the lightness of being.
Whether seen skimming the water’s edge or appearing as a recurring sign, the dragonfly invites us to:
Embrace change and personal growth
Trust our inner wisdom
Live fully in the present
Find strength in challenges
Stay adaptable and free
Reconnect with nature’s balance and harmony
Carry hope forward
The red dragonfly, in particular, stands for courage, strength, mysticism, and transformation.
But in the story… how does a creature with such beauty, depth, and spiritual power become the egotistical and power-hungry red dragonfly?
What changed him?
The greedy and gluttonous toad
The Toad: Not So Ordinary After All
The toad is often overlooked these days—just another common creature. But across ancient Egypt, Mesoamerica, and China, the toad has long been seen as a powerful spiritual symbol. It shows up in folklore and stories as both hero and villain, and like many symbolic creatures, its meaning starts with transformation.
Toads represent:
🌀 Transformation & renewal
🌿 Wisdom, patience & resilience
🌱 Fertility, abundance & healing
✨ Hidden beauty & inner worth
🍀 Prosperity, luck & opportunity
All that… in a humble toad.
If that surprises you, you’re not alone. But once you read more about their symbolism, it starts to make sense. The toad has its own kind of beauty.
So, here’s a thought:
How does a creature with so much potential become the greedy, gluttonous toad in the story?
I think we’ve all met a few like that along the way.
What do you think?
THE LOTUS
🌸 The Lotus Flower: Ancient Symbol, Timeless Wisdom 🌸
Did you know lotus flowers have existed for over 145 million years—and even survived the Ice Age? Their seeds can lie dormant for more than a thousand years without water.
In many Asian cultures, parts of the lotus are consumed or used medicinally. But beyond its practical uses, the lotus has held deep spiritual significance since ancient Egypt and throughout many Eastern cultures and religions.
🌿 This sacred flower symbolizes spiritual growth, renewal, and rebirth. It encourages us to release what no longer serves us and trust in the universe’s support.
🌿 It represents our inner sanctum—a sacred space of self-awareness and divine connection.
🌿 It reminds us that fragile strength is not weakness, but a badge of honor earned through life’s trials.
🌿 It embodies cosmic harmony and balance, guiding us toward peace, clarity, and purpose.
🌿 And it helps us transcend the ego, opening the door to soul freedom and a deeper consciousness.
Let the lotus inspire your journey of personal growth. 🌺✨
The friendly grasshopper
🦗 Grasshoppers have been around for 250 million years.
One of the oldest herbivorous insects, they go through powerful life stages—just like dragonflies.
They’re not as trendy in today’s culture, but grasshoppers carry deep spiritual meaning. Across cultures, their symbolism is rooted in their behavior and life cycle.
That’s why there’s a grasshopper in the story. 🧡
🌀 They represent:
• Personal growth
• Transformation
• New beginnings
• Trusting your intuition
• Balance, patience & presence
• Death & rebirth
• Prosperity and luck
We all carry pieces of each character in the story. The grasshopper reminds us that change is powerful—and necessary.
I found so much meaning in their symbolism, and this is just a small glimpse. Go look them up—you might be surprised what resonates with you.
The hungry but empathetic bird.
The bird in the story was modeled after the Bittern. They're part of the heron family, with many species living in different parts of the world. Their usual habitats are reed beds and other wetlands.
A Bittern doesn’t carry spiritual meaning like many of the other characters in the story. What he does represent is all of us who are in survival mode. We often get so caught up in our daily lives, challenges, and stresses that we lose ourselves and forget what’s truly important—our soul. We forget to nourish it. We lose our inner peace. We have to remember to open our eyes and see the good and the beauty that still exists in the world. It is there—we just sometimes forget.
When the little dragonfly encounters the bird, he reminds him: “There is more to life than just eating or being eaten.”
I think we all have the potential to be any—or all—of the characters.
A little about dragonflies.
✨ Why the Dragonfly? ✨
Most people know what a dragonfly is—but do you know why they’re so loved and symbolically powerful across cultures, since even ancient Egypt?
Here are a few fascinating facts that also connect deeply to the story in The Extraordinary Journey of an Ordinary Dragonfly:
🪷 They’ve been around for millions of years.
Talk about staying power.
🌊 They start life in water.
Dragonflies begin as eggs, then live as nymphs underwater for up to five years, depending on the species—before finally transforming into what we recognize as a dragonfly.
🕊 Their adult lives are brief.
Once fully transformed, they typically live only 1 to 8 weeks. But what they do with that time is… extraordinary.
🚁 They can fly in 6 directions.
Up, down, forward, backward, left, and right—making them one of nature’s most agile fliers.
⚡ They’re fast.
One of the fastest flying insects, with wings that operate independently.
👁 They see almost everything.
Their massive eyes give them a field of vision close to 360 degrees, and they can perceive around 200 images per second (humans see about 60).
💔 They’re under threat.
In 2021, the IUCN reported that 16% of dragonfly and damselfly species are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss in wetlands and rivers.
✨ Their journey is short, wild, transformative, and deeply symbolic. No wonder they represent change, resilience, and purpose—just like the story.
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