Butterfly necklaces are becoming increasingly popular as gifts or staple pieces in peoples’ jewelry collections, and for good reason.

These pieces are associated with multiple positive meanings, from transformation to growth.

Ahead of browsing butterfly pendants from Mera, such as the elegant Emerald Wings green butterfly pendant or the classic Diamond Butterfly Pendant, why not explore their deeper meaning by reading on?

Key butterfly jewelry meanings

Transformation and growth

When observing the butterfly’s life cycle from an egg to an adult, with eye-catching wings, people recreate these creatures in jewelry and wear such pieces as talismans for their personal transformation. They are also gifted to people going through life-changing events such as pregnancy.

Hope and renewal

People will often pair butterfly jewelry with healing crystals to bring in renewal energy and hope for a new chapter. The butterfly emerging from the chrysalis serves as an important reminder of the power of rebirth and new beginnings.

Freedom

Butterflies are effortlessly linked to the concept of freedom, as they fly and move with ease across the skies. Taking this idea further, people associate butterfly necklaces with feelings of liberation and release from any challenges or restrictions they have faced.

Love and happiness

Butterflies are a symbol of love and happiness due to their carefree nature and the joy they bring when watching them. They serve as a reminder to find joy in simple pleasure and to go through life with positivity and lightness in your heart.

Cultural significance of butterfly pendants

Ancient Greece

The butterfly was seen as more than just an insect in ancient Greek culture. They used the same word, psyche, to describe butterflies and souls. They believed butterflies represented the part of a person who would live on after death and travel between worlds.

Native America and Celtic

Many tribes in native America would see butterflies as messengers that were capable of carrying prayers or wishes to the spirit world. Elsewhere, Celtic folklore represents butterflies journeying between the physical world and the Otherworld. In some Irish stories, the soul takes butterfly form during sleep or after death.

Mexico (Day of the Dead)

In Mexico, monarch butterflies in particular carry a powerful spiritual meaning. Each year, millions of these butterflies migrate from Canada and the US to Mexico. As the timing matches, many Indigenous groups believe the monarchs are the returning spirits of the dead.