“Shine your light inside”
Were the final words from my teacher on the last day of my month-long meditation retreat on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. In my time there I had managed to strip back so many layers, that I could actually see my light inside, and I trusted it. I now just needed the confidence to shine it. Taking my time to leave, thinking about what she had said, I missed the last boat to where I was staying. I decided to walk to my friend’s hostel, a little further along the shore of the lake, to sleep there for the night. It was now dark and there were no lights. I hadn’t walked the path in the night before and trod carefully along the lake’s edge in the quiet darkness. After a moment, suddenly, hundreds of tiny lights surrounded me from the trees, the bushes and were skimming along the lake’s surface. They floated in the night, like ethereal lights that didn’t belong to this realm. I stared for a very long time, in wonder of their glow. The firefly magic of the natural world whispered to me very clearly.
Symbolically, (and I love the below site for explaining the symbolism of animals and insects), fireflies mean this:
“When fireflies come into our lives they are there to guide us to ways of living that are more earth-friendly, and soul-friendly. Fireflies teach us the value of living simply, and relying on our own inner voices for illumination. Fireflies also come to us with a message of creativity, and remind us that our paths are made lighter by the beauty that we allow into our lives.”
You can read the full explanation here.
In their language, fireflies use their lights in mating ceremonies. When I first saw this video, I wished it were that easy in human life. To speak love in the language of light, simple.
This lady has been studying fireflies for years. She calls them truly wondrous creatures. And they are.
Shine your light inside. Take note of the lessons of the fireflies.
This post was written by Kim Booth