Butterfly Tattoo Meaning

What are the different meanings of Butterfly Tattoos?
The primary meanings associated with butterfly tattoos include serenity, nature, and composure. The butterfly not only has a beautiful appearance, it flutters to and fro from one beautiful flower to the next, patiently gathering food. It is not surprising that butterfly tattoos are thus a common form of self-expression for women.

The butterfly may also be associated with beauty emerging from a life of uncertainty and change. This is the life cycle of the butterfly, beginning as an often unsightly, gorging caterpillar and becoming a fluttering beauty of nature that can travel freely from one beautiful thing to the next. All of this takes place without the butterfly giving up its appearance of graceful femininity.

In the hands of a skilled artist, the butterfly tattoo can be formed and colored to focus on any of the traits associated with the butterfly. The variation of meanings coinciding with a variety of contexts also allows that tattoo artist to choose from a variety of drawing styles.

Some take the butterfly tattoo a step further and make it a representation of mind, body, or spirit. This is not a stretch, as ancient Greek culture used the butterfly as a symbol of a spiritual epic. Some took it as far as to make the butterfly the literal ideal carrier of the human spirit rising up from the earth to the heavens. Much of the mysticism attributed to the butterfly comes from its seemingly miraculous ascent from a plant eating pest to a flying beauty.

Not only do butterfly tattoos have self-expressive and religiously expressive purposes, they can also provide a cultural identity. In the West, it is thought of as symbolizing growth from someone of little value and ability to someone with beauty and independence. It is the essence of western values.

In other parts the butterfly is seen as a sort of fairy. It is a small, beautiful, feminine creature that travels around innocently bringing happiness to others as they witness its beauty. Women who idealize this sort of culture may get butterfly tattoos to symbolize their own life and social purposes and hopes. It is not uncommon to even see butterfly tattoos with fairy bodies, showing the merging of these two ideals.

People get butterfly tattoos for a variety of reasons to fit a variety of contexts. Whether symbolizing change, independence, spirituality, social values, cultural values, beauty, femininity, or nature, butterfly tattoos remain popular. In fact, many people get them simply because they think butterfly tattoos are cute.

For more butterfly tattoo images see Butterfly Images Gallery