#9

By measuring sound vibrations, scientists know that the caterpillar in the cocoon is shrieking. Screaming in pain as its body changes form from the caterpillar -- a lowly creature, in most senses -- to the beloved and beautiful butterfly. The butterfly is used in many traditions as a symbol of transformation and especially transmutation through death. Yet, in our highly romanticized versions, we do not acknowledge the transformation as a painful process. Painful, but not fatal.

-Deborah Morris Coryell, "Good Grief: Healing Through the Shadow of Loss"