Caterpillar Symbolism & Meaning

Going through difficult changes in life? Need to learn how to pace yourself? The Caterpillar, as a Spirit, Totem, and Power Animal, can help! Caterpillar teaches you how to evolve with grace and in your own time. Delve deeply into Caterpillar symbolism and meaning to find out how this Animal Spirit Guide can enlighten, aid, and support you!

Caterpillar Table of Contents

• Caterpillar Symbolism & Meaning
• Caterpillar Spirit Animal
• Caterpillar Totem Animal
• Caterpillar Power Animal
• Native American Caterpillar Symbolic Meanings
• Hawaiian, African & Greek Myth & Symbolic Meanings
• Caterpillar Dreams
• Back to all Insects
• Back to all Spirit Animal Meanings

Caterpillar Symbolism & Meaning

The life cycle of Caterpillar symbolizes times when you’re dealing with potential and transformation. Caterpillar’s cocoon stage takes it into a new and glorious life. It’s akin to an inner search where everything else endures a pregnant pause until you emerge anew.

The Caterpillar Animal Guide embodies fresh ideas, renewal, and unexpected outcomes. Caterpillar doesn’t wrap itself up in warm solitude while expecting to awake with wings: This natural process whispers of the glorious order of the Universe. Metamorphosis is evolution at its finest and loveliest. Caterpillar is not elegant beforehand. Be patient: The best of you is yet to be!

The soft, tiny nature of Caterpillar may seem without defense. Their colors make it hard for many predators to find them, while other hues are off-putting; their color attributes make them teachers of when it’s time to camouflage one’s self and when it’s time to shine. Caterpillars sample potential edibles to see if they like them. But they carry the lesson that some things appearing delectable are not always good for you.

Caterpillar, in Butterfly form, is an omen of good luck, health, and joy. Like a baby, the Caterpillar’s new form opens new horizons. If you are starting a new endeavor, seeing a Caterpillar is a presage to experiencing strikes of creative inspiration. However, slow change is lasting. “Haste makes waste,” in Caterpillar’s reality.

Caterpillar symbolism reveals something about your willingness to let go of the past. Caterpillar cannot grow in its current form. They must bravely shed their former body; this is a great act of trust driven by Caterpillar’s natural instincts.

In nature, the Caterpillar grasps food with strong jaws. They treasure what nourishes them and will not release it without good cause. What is in your life you want to latch onto with such gusto? Also, Caterpillars use their antenna for sensing the environment. Likewise, you might need to fine-tune your intuition to sense the non-verbal and non-physical things around you.

Woolly Bear is the Groundhog of insects! Folklore tells of the Woolly Bear’s ability to let you know how bad the winter will when you examine the bands of color in its fur. Wide bands mean cold, nasty weather. The fur on Woolly Bear is not for protecting it from the cold. Instead, akin to bears, it helps them freeze and hibernate! Here the creature symbolizes a period of waiting before making a big transition.

If Caterpillar comes inching into your life today, it heralds a time of change. You need to break out of your cocoon and embrace your personal and spiritual inheritance as a child of the Universe; this can be scary because you can’t see beyond what is around you. The outside world is hazy until you liberate yourself.

People who feel stuck in old thought forms will find Caterpillar Spirit Animal, a helpful companion. Caterpillar knows the development of something we’re hoping for seems to take forever. Caterpillar says, “Everything in its time and season.”

Caterpillar Medicine helps you discover all the little things you’re overlooking that make every moment something magical. You cannot judge life or others in one glance. There is so much in the world you must experience with more than your five senses. Open your inner eyes; breathe in energies–taste the truth.

The creature often crawls into your awareness with good news. A surprise is coming like a financial win or promotion; the rewards are the wonderful bits of serendipity for which you should give thanks. Let it warm your heart and soul!

Caterpillar warns of “bugs” in your life too: It may be people who lie or give you false hopes. If you feel like Caterpillar’s fur is “up,” take a step back. Don’t rush into any fast decisions, especially in business. Let things evolve.

In England, finding a Caterpillar and placing it in the garden brings good luck, and carrying the Caterpillar in a neck pouch protects you against colds and cough. Likewise, in the Hindu Upanishads, the Caterpillar brings good fortune for travelers because of its graceful movement between leaves.

Caterpillar Spirit Animal

If Caterpillar comes inching into your life today, it has one of several potential messages for you, depending on your circumstances. By far, Caterpillar heralds a time of change. You need to break out of your personal cocoon and embrace your personal and spiritual inheritance as a child of the Universe; this can be a little scary because you really can’t see beyond what is around you currently. The outside world is hazy until you’ve liberated yourself and dried those wings in the sunlight.

People who feel totally in a rut and stuck in old thought forms will find Caterpillar Spirit Animal a very helpful companion. Caterpillar knows that it sometimes feels like the developments and modifications for which we hope take forever in the making. Caterpillar’s motto is, “Everything in its time and season.” For some, that span is but a few months; for others’ it’s years. Caterpillar is undauntedly patient and steadfast. Keep your eyes firmly on the horizon and move onward.

Individuals who tend to see things superficially also benefit greatly from Caterpillar Medicine. You cannot judge life or people based on one moment or one glance. There is so much in the world that you must experience with more than your five senses. Open your inner eyes; breathe in energies – taste the truth. Discover all the little things that you’ve overlooked that make every moment something magical. That includes yourself!

In some cases, Caterpillar crawls into your awareness with good news. A very unexpected surprise is on the horizon, and it’s a grand one. It could be something like winning sweepstakes that you’d wholly forgotten about; or, perhaps you’ll get a promotion. In either case, these are the wonderful bits of serendipity for which you should give thanks. Let it warm your heart and soul as a novel dynamic form, giving you improved positive energy.

Note, however, that Caterpillar can warn of “bugs” in your life too. These are people who lie and give you false hopes. If you feel like Caterpillar’s fur is proverbial “up” take a step back. Don’t rush into any fast decisions, especially in business. Let things evolve more naturally.

Caterpillar Totem Animal

Those with a Caterpillar Totem Animal have a very paced approach to everything they do. They feel no need to rush, but maintaining progress is essential. Such individuals adapt to change on a dime. Nothing really seems to shake them because they know that transformation is simply part of nature’s plan.

If this is your Birth Totem, you have a knack for sensing the weather both figuratively and realistically. If the winds are fair, you know. If a storm approaches, you prepare. And in either case, you simply keep-on-keeping’-on with those things deemed important.

Patience is the Caterpillar Totem Person’s middle name. You know that you have a lot more inside than what most people see (or what you LET them see). You also trust that, with time, all your talents gain momentum until they evolve into distinction. It never really occurred to you to question this, which other people find a bit odd, but also comforting.

When you walk with Caterpillar energy, there is a tendency to keep certain plans to yourself. There is magical power in secrecy. When that butterfly is ready, the whole world will see it clearly, but not until then. Caterpillar people also lean heavily on their instincts. In nature, Caterpillar has 12 eyes but does not see actual images. Light guides them along with other senses. So, it’s not surprising to find you just going with your gut for a decision rather than reviewing 20 pages of information with footnotes.

Your Caterpillar Totem has an urgency about quality living. This creature lives for a very short time before the transformation, and again after that. So, the time you have is quite precious. You make efforts toward protection so that every sweet moment can be savored with the least amount of worry.

Some born with this Totem can be a little irritating, but thankfully it’s usually only toward people with an unhealthy agenda. The hairs on Caterpillar’s body creates “itching” like a secret weapon to defend against predators. So, if someone seems irked by you for no apparent cause, be wary of them.

Many born with the Caterpillar Totem Animal gravitate toward vegetarian lifestyles since this creature is herbivorous. That doesn’t mean you have a tiny appetite, however! Caterpillar is ravenous, but at least it’s healthy fixings.

Caterpillar Power Animal

Call on Caterpillar as a Power Animal when you want help safeguarding your creative domain. At the same time, Caterpillar Medicine can help you when you are looking to step back, heal, and make changes in your life. Just as Caterpillar protects itself inside a cocoon during its metamorphosis, it can help you protect your ideas when you choose to work with the creature’s Energy and Medicine.

When you are ready, you can invoke Caterpillar as a Power Animal for the moment when you want to reveal that bold, new idea in all its glory. Remember, when Caterpillar emerges from its cocoon, it’s an exquisite Butterfly! The fact the creature makes such a magnificent transformation also makes Caterpillar suitable as an Animal Ally when you are reaching for that figurative brass ring, or you want to understand your true potential.

When Caterpillar enters the pupa stage and forms a chrysalis, it is a time where it isolates itself from the outside world; this makes Caterpillar the ideal Power Animal to call on when you are looking for some solitude, or you’re searching for a clearer perspective. Caterpillar Energy supports you in finding freedom from whatever may distract you from essential tasks. Working with Caterpillar as an Animal Ally lets you take the time to make crucial decisions so you can put plenty of forethought into conditions before acting.

Native American Caterpillar Symbolic Meanings

Caterpillar is not a frequent visitor to Native American folklore. When it does appear, it represents humility and meekness. Among the Navajo, the Caterpillar or Tobacco Horn Worm drives away water monsters from the tribe and also cures poisoned hero. As a result, the Hornworm has sacred ties with Navajo Tobacco Medicine. This tie appears in a story called The Second World.

Beings climbed up to the Blue World from the first world to avoid quarreling. Here they found Hawks, Herons, and insects. Before man could move completely, however, he had to gather light into bundles and take them along. Tobacco Hornworm blew smoke at the bundles, so they expanded again in the Second World into pillars of light.

Hawaiian, African & Greek Myth & Symbolic Meanings

In Hawaii, there is a Divine figure called Kumuhea, who is the God of Caterpillars and son to the God of War. He married a human woman but could only see her at night as he remained in Caterpillar form during the day. Sadly, his wife was terribly curious, and when she learned of Kumuhea’s true form, it frightened her. Kumuhea, in anger, ate all the foliage of the jungle until he had to be dismantled into thousands of tiny Caterpillars so their hungry nature would not destroy all the world’s leaves.

African stories tell us of Kalahari, a creator God who made the moon from a shoe, and who was also the God of natural phenomena. His favorite form of manifestation was a Caterpillar. He, his wife, and sons made their home in the sky.

Then too, there is the Io Caterpillar so named after the Greek Goddess IO, Priestess of Hera. Io is sometimes called the Hera of the Corn or Queen of the Corn; this is because the Caterpillar uses corn as a host plant.

Caterpillar Luck: In England, finding a Caterpillar in your garden is good luck. One should take it gently out and toss it over your shoulder (again gently so as to not hurt the creature). Carrying said Caterpillar in a neck pouch protected the bearer against colds and cough.

People in the Upanishads see Caterpillar as bearing good fortune because of how gracefully this insect moves between leaves. Seeing one moving thus is especially good for travelers.

Caterpillar Dreams

Dreaming of Caterpillars can sometimes call your attention to people in your waking life who are deceitful or gossips; the dream is pointing to those you do not see as they truly are. If the Caterpillar is in a cocoon, this is a very good sign. Things are moving in a better direction. You will see success, new friends, resolutions, and feel far more positive about the future. Caterpillars falling around you like rain imply that you have been selfish and given up a chance at personal transformation because you wanted things differently, but not necessarily better.

Gathering a cocoon may signal luck in love or a developing relationship filled with harmony. When Caterpillar is on the move, it means that you too may be wandering or moving (either into a new home, a new job, or traveling abroad).

A yellow Caterpillar denotes improved personal energy, keenness of mind, and a sense of peace. Red Caterpillars reflect passion; blue is tranquility, green – being one with nature, brown – grounding, etc. Also, if the Caterpillar has unusual markings, see if the pattern is recognizable (if so, compare it to a tea leaf pattern interpretation).

If you are the Caterpillar inside a cocoon trying to get out, you feel trapped. Should the Caterpillar in your dream never transform its a sign of immaturity. Watching a Caterpillar’s transformation and feeling wary about it reflects your uncertainty about changes coming up in your life. When the Caterpillar turns into a butterfly, things in your life that you’re worried about will turn out fine.

Caterpillar Symbolic Meanings Key

• Appearances
• Creativity
• Cycles
• Determination
• Goals
• Hope
• Inner Beauty
• Longevity
• Luck
• Metamorphosis