Just like its other manifestation – the butterfly – the colorful caterpillar lends itself well to a realistic and richly colored type of tattoo design. The symbolic associations that it has are with transformation, and it is directly linked to its life cycle of the larva, chrysalis, as well as the butterfly.
Even though crawling creatures can sometimes be feared and insects sometimes viewed as ugly, the caterpillar usually offers something that is both visually and symbolically attractive regarding life change.
Symbolic caterpillar meaning deals with pure potential. It also has to do with the promise of new life in dwelling on their bodies. Eventually, that caterpillar will go into a cocooning stage, after which it is going to birth into an entirely new creature, often moth or butterfly.
Caterpillars are a blessing on new ideas. They indicate promising outcomes to some projects in their initial stage and usually good juju regarding fruitful completion of goals.
“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly. “
- Richard Buckminster Fuller
The meaning of caterpillar tattoo is associated with the senses too. Did you know that they are fussy about what they eat? They use their feet to test food to make sure they have got a suitable, as well as a tasty treat.
Because of their dynamic process of metamorphosis, the moths and butterflies are most often connected with the symbol of transformation. By association, the caterpillar is a symbol of evolution, as well as transformation too. Specifically, they are very patient as they go thru to the process of transformation. Once they begin the process of transformation into a winged beauty, there is no turning back. In essence, it is a symbol of never looking back on the old versions of ourselves. Rather, it encourages plowing forward with ever-evolving, as well as more brilliant versions of our beauty and potential.
Some other symbolic caterpillar meanings are luck, caution, promise, renewal, potential, patience, creativity, sensitivity, as well as metamorphosis and transformation, which we already mentioned.
