The meaning and symbolism behind popular butterfly tattoo designs

Butterfly tattoos are among the most popular tattoos today and the most frequently requested tattoo designs especially among women. This shows the major growth of women in the tattoo industry as a whole. Butterfly tattoo designs of course are popular among females just for their beauty! There is also a deep symbolism behind the butterfly that comes forms its short and amazing life.

A butterfly of course starts life as a caterpillar and goes through a major change as it becomes a butterfly. It makes a chrysalis or cocoon and then emerges as a beautiful butterfly. This lead many ancient cultures to regard the butterfly as a symbol of the impermanence and instability of earthly life. The amazing process of change from a caterpillar to a butterfly also captivated many ancient cultures that believed this was similar to the process of a soul's journey from an earthly body to a heavenly body. In fact the ancient Greeks often symbolized the human soul or psyche with butterfly wings in art.

It is easy to instantly see the beauty that a butterfly tattoo holds and the deeper meaning and significance of a butterfly and its life process make for a very popular tattoo design for women.