Monarch Butterfly on Butterfly Bush

Buddleia davidii

Butterfly Bush Butterfly Bush outside my door just twenty paces away— five more on Montecito Ave I pass by every day taking Bus #40 to Foothill College— three to the left by giant redwoods two on the right by fire station— their purple conical flowers attract butterflies more than any other plant, hence its name. Aristotle called butterfly "psyche" the Greek word for soul & Plato's Timaeus 35b tells how God used Λ to form "Soul of the Universe"— amazing the Butterfly Bush flower has the Platonic Lambda Λ shape! I love Gérard's painting of "Cupid Kissing Psyche" with a butterfly hovering over her head— no wonder Venus was jealous of her beauty. Chuang Tzu's "Butterfly Dream" makes us ponder what is real when awake— Emily's butterflies waltzed upon a Farm and rested on a Beam like Liang Shanbao & Zhu Yang-tai "Butterfly Lovers" of Chinese opera— but the oldest butterfly motif is the "Great Mother" from Mycenae 1500 BC showing her as a symbol of eternal return— confirming a butterfly is beautiful because it is holy.     — Peter Y. Chou         Mountain View, 4-24-2020

Butterfly Bush outside my door François Gérard Cupid Kissing Psyche (1798) Chuang Tzu Dreaming Butterfly Butterfly Lovers statue Great Mother Goddess Mycenae (1500 BC)