What is the story or lore about the Dragonfly?

Question

The meaning of giving a Dragonfly memento to someone.

Answer 1

When a dragonfly lands on you, you will hear excellent news from someone far away from home. A dead dragonfly symbolizes sad news. Dragonfly symbolism crosses and combines with that of the butterfly and change. The dragonfly symbolizes going past self-created illusions that limit our growing and changing. Dragonflies are a symbol of the sense of self that comes with maturity.



They are fantastic flyers, darting like light, twisting, turning, changing direction, even going backwards as the need arises. They are inhabitants of two realms - starting with water, and moving to the air with maturity, but staying close to water. Some people who have the dragonfly as their totem have had emotional and passionate early years, but as they get older they achieve balance with mental clarity and control. They gain an expression of the emotional and mental together.



Dragonflies are old and adaptive insects, and are most powerful in the summer under the effects of warmth and sunlight. Their colors are a result of reflecting and refracting the power of light. As a result, they are associated with color magic, illusion in causing others only to see what you wish, and other mysticism.



The are often represented in Japanese paintings, representing new light and joy. To some Native Americans they are the souls of the dead. Faerie stories say that they used to be real dragons.



Dragonflies are reminders that we are light and can reflect the light in powerful ways if we choose to do so. "Let there be light" is the divine prompting to use the creative imagination as a force within your life. They help you to see through your illusions and allow your own light to shine in a new vision.

Answer 2

Story Of The Dragonfly

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.



RE:

What is the story or lore about the Dragonfly?

The meaning of giving a Dragonfly memento to someone.

Answer 4

Legend Of The Dragonfly

Answer 5

No, I don't think the family lore is too impossible or improbable to believe. My dad was the teller of family stories and a few of them were very disturbing. I did believe my father was telling the truth as he had heard it. A great aunt verified one story about an axe murderer in the family. If I knew how to check newspaper stories from the early 1900's in that part of the USA it would be there I'm sure. On the other side of the family we have clay marbles that were won by a great-great-grandfather from the "Indians in Ohio" or so the story goes. A nephew has the marbles and they are authentic.

Answer 6

For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/avOXy



My family ( grand parents and my father ) can communicate with dwarves. Its been known that my dad has a dwarf friend invisible to the naked eye but you can see broom sweeping the front porch when no one was holding on to it. My sisters also have shared stories that when they drop chips on the floor, you won't find the chip coz he ate it. My grandfather talk latin to the dwarves. We were brought up to show respect on certain area of our property and say "excuse me" when we're passing the area.

Answer 7

In Europe, dragonflies have often been viewed as sinister. Some English vernacular names, such as "devil's needle" and "ear cutter", link them with evil or injury. A Romanian folk tale says that the dragonfly was once a horse possessed by the devil, and Swedish folklore holds that the devil uses dragonflies to weigh people's souls. Another Swedish legend holds that trolls use the dragonflies as spindles when weaving their clothes (hence the Swedish word for dragonfly trollslända, lit. "troll's spindle") as well as sending them to poke out the eyes of their enemies. The Norwegian name for dragonflies is "Øyenstikker", which literally means Eye Poker. They are often associated with snakes, as in the Welsh name gwas-y-neidr, "adder's servant".



The Southern United States term "snake doctor" refers to a folk belief that dragonflies follow snakes around and stitch them back together if they are injured. The Lithuanian word "Laumžirgis" is a composite word meaning "the Lauma's horse", while in Dutch, Aeshna mixta is called "Paardenbijter" or "horse biter". In some South American countries, dragonflies are also called matacaballo (horse killer), or caballito del diablo (devil's horse), since they were perceived as harmful, some species being quite large for an insect.



In East Asia and among Native Americans, dragonflies have a far better reputation, one that can also be said to have positively influenced modern day views about dragonflies in most countries.



For some Native American tribes they represent swiftness and activity, and for the Navajo they symbolize pure water. Dragonflies are a common motif in Zuni pottery; stylized as a double-barred cross, they appear in Hopi rock art and on Pueblo necklaces. It is said in some Native American beliefs that dragonflies are a symbol of renewal after a time of great hardship.



In Japan dragonflies are symbols of courage, strength, and happiness, and they often appear in art and literature, especially haiku. In ancient mythology, Japan was known as Akitsushima, which means "Land of the Dragonflies". The love for dragonflies is reflected by the fact that there are traditional names for almost all of the 200 species of dragonflies found in and around Japan. Japanese children catch large dragonflies as a game, using a hair with a small pebble tied to each end, which they throw into the air. The dragonfly mistakes the pebbles for prey, gets tangled in the hair, and is dragged to the ground by the weight.



Vietnamese people have a traditional way to forecast rain by seeing dragonflies: "Chuồn chuồn bay thấp thì mưa, bay cao thì nắng, bay vừa thì râm" (Dragonflies fly at low level, it is rainy; dragonflies fly at high level, it is sunny; dragonflies fly at medium level, it is shadowy).

Answer 8

Dragonfly myths and folklore spread from Europe to the Americas. The dragonfly was given the name of “Devil’s Darning Needle” because of an almost comical superstition about the dragonfly sewing the mouths shut of lying children, scolding women and cursing men as they slept. The Navaho Indians believe the dragonfly to be symbolic of water purity and reflect it in many of the textiles and jewelry they design. One of most delightful stories about the dragonfly is a Zuni myth about two children who were left behind by the villagers when the corn crop failed. The little boy constructed a toy dragonfly from corn husks to cheer up his sister. The dragonfly eventually came to life and appeased the corn maidens who created a bountiful harvest of corn to welcome the villagers back.



http://www.ponddoc.com/WhatsUpDoc/WildLife/HorseStingers.htm



In most cultures dragonflies have been objects of superstition. European folklore is no exception. Many old myths have been lost during the history, but fragments of these old myths are still living in old local names for dragonflies. Only in Germany dragonflies have had over 150 different names. Some of these are Teufelsnadel ("Devil's needle"), Wasserhexe ("Water witch"), Hollenross ("Goddess' horse"), Teufelspferd ("Devil's horse") and Schlangentöter ("Snake killer"). Also the name Snake Doctor has been used in Germany. In England the name Devil's darning needle and Horse stinger have been used. In Denmark the dragonfly have got such different names as Fandens ridehest ("Devil's riding horse") and Guldsmed ("Goldsmith"). Different names of dragonflies referring to them as the devils tools have also occurred in many other European cultures, some examples are the Spanish Caballito del Diablo ("Devil's horse") and the French l'aiguille du diable ("Devil's needle").



The Swedish name for dragonfly is trollslända, which means "hobgoblin fly" in English. Long time ago people in Sweden believed that hobgoblins, elves, brownies and such creatures lived in our great woods. In that folklore the dragonflies was considered to be the hobgoblins twisting tools. During the history the dragonflies even have been connected with love and female, the names damselfly (England), Demoiselle (France) and Jungfer (Germany) are some examples of those nice associations. An old Swedish name for dragonfly is Blindsticka ("Blind stinger"), this name comes from the opinion that a dragonfly could pick out your eyes. Other people thought that the dragonfly could sew together your eyelids. The same name appears as well in Norway ("Öyenstikker") as in Germany ("Augenstecher").



In certain parts of Norway, the dragonfly is also known as "ørsnildra". The exact meaning of this word is unknown to me but the part "ør", does obviously refer to the Norwegian word for "ear", as people (and especially children) often thought that the dragonfly would poke holes in their ear-drums if it got inside their ears!



An other old Swedish name is Skams besman ("Devil's steelyard"), this name probably depends on the dragonfly's body shape that, with some imagination looks like the weighting tool. In the folklore this was interpreted as that the Devil used the dragonfly to weight the people's souls. When a dragonfly flew around your head, your soul was weighted and you should expect seriously injury as punishment. It is very interesting that, despite of those ideas that the dragonfly should be the Devil's tool, the dragonfly have been a holy animal in Scandinavia. In the Æsir cult the dragonfly was thought to be the love goddess Freya's symbol.



http://www.petzon.se/dragonfly/folklore.html



Attitudes towards odonates vary enormously from country to country, the Far Eastern perception differing markedly from that of the European. The folklore of many western countries holds that they are snakes’ companions. In America, a superstition was that dragonflies were capable of stitching the mouths, and sometimes the eyes and ears, of lying children, scolding women and cursing men. Satan is often said to have sent dragonflies into the world to cause mischief; in Italy and among the Dakota Indians, the insects are known as witches’ animals. If the witch is the devil’s creature then, by association, so are dragonflies. This is in sharp contrast to the Orient, where they were never considered evil.



To the Chinese, they are an emblem of summer – but also a symbol of feebleness and instability. In Japan, they are revered and respected, being symbolic of happiness, strength, courage and success. To the Japanese, the dragonfly (Tombo) is an important cultural symbol and was believed to be the spirit of the rice plant and a harbinger of rich harvests. Akitsushmi, which means Dragonfly Island, is an alternative name for Japan.



http://ecoevo.uvigo.es/WDA/folklore.htm