Metamorphosis

The previous articles focused quite a lot on some concepts like Dreams and Chaos, loosely connected to insects like moths and butterflies.

This one will be all about metamorphosis… Are you ready for the transformation?

The other winged insect I was wearing in the Canary Wharf photo session with Maciej is the dragonfly.

This skirt from BlackMilk goes well with a sheer top I was wearing in my first photo session with Olaf. I really like dragonflies especially as they remind me of His Dark Materials.

But dragonflies actually have what is known as an incomplete metamorphosis.

The larva is called a nymph, which makes for quite a nice mythological reference as nymph are deities linked to a specific location, like rivers. Dragonfly larvae can spend one year underwater before emerging!

You can see some moths on the skirt as well, which have a complete metamorphosis.

I’m also wearing my dear snake necklace. Snakes are known for shedding skin. While we also shed old skin regularly, the process in snakes is more noticeable as they completely let go of their old skin in one piece, to allow for more growth.

But the animal which is difficult to miss on this skirt is the spider.

The other spider I am wearing is my beloved 3D printed spiderhug ring by Rogue And Wolf.

Do you know Arachne and Anansi? They both embody a different sort of metamorphosis into spiders.

Anansi is a character present in West African and Caribbean tales. He can look like a man or a spider, and is considered as a master storyteller, as well as a symbol of slave resistance and survival in the Caribbean. Anansi’s name comes from the Akan word for spider, Ananse.

As Mr Nancy, Anansi is a character in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods – as well as the very good TV series adaptation – while his sons are the main characters of Anansi Boys by the same author.

Orlando Jones is amazing in the TV series.

Another deity is Arachne, whose name means spider in Greek. After Arachne, then a human woman, challenged the goddess Athena to a weaving contest, she got metamorphosed into a spider. Arachne is a huge and kind sentient spider that leaves in Hampstead Heath in the Alex Verus book series by Benedict Jacka and often creates some magical clothing for the main characters. I wish she would make me some, but I haven’t found her lair in Hampstead yet.

Since we are talking arthropods and transformations, another more metaphorical reference worth mentioning is The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

Arguably, this novel is about Existentialism as a philosophy. In the linked presentation, the authors argue that as a human, Gregor was “choosing” to be unhappy, staying in a job he didn’t like and trying to please his family. As a consequence, he got transformed into a bug, which in turn makes him question his life and then do things he actually enjoys.

I find quite difficult sometimes to mitigate my own fears, and I know I am not alone, but I do try when I can to challenge a few things and in the process metamorphose myself. This is partly why I started this blog. This is also why I’m trying to learn how to swim or to do parkour. I might write a larger article about it later but in the meantime, here is a five minute presentation I gave recently at a tech conference, the awesome PyCon UK: