What Are Some Superstitions Relating to Butterflies?

Some believe if the first butterfly a person sees in the year is white, she benefits from good luck for the rest of the year. While many superstitions regarding butterflies pertain to good luck, others involve butterflies as souls, weather predictors and omens of death.

Some cultures believe that butterflies are the souls of unborn children, while others believe butterflies take on the souls of people destined for hell. Zuni Indians believe that butterflies that appear early in the season indicate fair weather and that if the first butterfly spotted is yellow, sunny weather is on the way. One superstition indicates that an early-season dark butterfly spells thunderstorms. Some superstitions hold that a black butterfly is an omen of death or that a white butterfly that enters a home and circles an occupant’s head is signaling an imminent death.