Moth myths....

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine and I were trading insights on the effects of losing a loved one on one's perspective in life. You see, this friend of mine lost his father less than a month ago when he succumbed to kidney failure. I can only imagine how sad he felt.

Its not just the emotional or psychological aspects of death that we talked about. We also discussed how one charts the course of the rest his or her life after losing a symbol of stability the presence of which he or she has been so used to. While I may be fortunate enough not have lost a loved one, it's an inevitability, and it happens to everyone. Needless to say, it's never an easy transition I would imagine, and we all should be prepared in case the unthinkable happens to ourselves as well.

Strangely, while we were engaged in deep conversation over puffs of cigarette smoke, I couldn't help but notice that there was a huge moth with a wingspan of more than eight inches just hanging still in the recess of our terrace's ceiling. I mentioned it to my friend, and he suggested that I take a picture of it. Here it is:

Interestingly enough, it seems that there are a lot of myths surrounding the presence of moths in relation to death. On a whim, I tried browsing for some on the internet. Here are the most common myths that I found:

A big black moth in the house means a deceased one is just visiting reincarnated through that moth.

Hmmm... The moth was indeed big, but as you can plainly see, it's brown. Does that qualify?

A white moth inside the house or trying to enter the house means death.

A rather morbid superstition. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be applicable. The moth isn't white, it isn't in the house, nor is it trying to enter the house.

To find a moth in your house means that a spirit is present.

A bit too general. Who knows?

According to folk legend, when there is sickness in a house and this moth [Black Witch Moth] enters, the sick person dies. According to more recent superstitions, if this moth [Black Witch Moth] lands above your door then you will win the lottery.

The moth never did enter the house. It hardly even moved. I like the part about winning the lottery, but it hung on the ceiling a number of feet away from the main door. The question is, was the moth we saw even a Black Witch Moth? It doesn't really resemble the Black Witch Moth in the picture below. But I'm not taking any chances. I'm buying a lotto ticket. :-)

That's about all the myths about moths that I could find on the internet. It's interesting to know that a lot of cultures seem to consider moths to be "harbingers of death." It's also odd how one would show up at exactly the same moment that death would be the main topic of conversation between my friend and I. Coincidence? Perhaps. But then again, who knows? It may just be that his deceased Dad was just checking up on his son...

Postscript:

After curiosity got the better of me, I attempted to identify the type of moth that we saw that night. I was able to positively identify it as an Atlas moth (Attacus atlas) which are also known to be the largest moths in the world. Look at the picture below and you will see the similarity: