I have always been fascinated by lightning bugs – would catch them as a kid every summer. This summer I even tried to lure them with a spoon of hot fudge to amuse my little cousin. Yet, after all these years, I never had one visit me……that changed last night.
Reaching for your light
I got up sometime in the middle of the night………not a light on in the house and I noticed an iridescent glow the size of a minute point of light on the hall floor. Still I did not turn on any lights but bent down to touch the glow. It came onto my figure and looked like a dark star with a central point of glowing green light. Still I had no idea what this could be and was now forced to turn on the light. In my slumber stupor I panicked and realizing it was a bug, I tossed it. Then I noticed a strange sensation on my fingertip where the glow had been…….it began to tingle but eventually faded away after I ran it under water.
Awakening today, I became obsessed to learn about these fireflies, these lightning bugs, and what an education I received. There is a legend in the Philippines that Bulan-hari and Bitu-in, a husband and wife which ruled in the valley of Pinak in the Central Luzon, had a daughter. They named her Alitaptap for on her head was a twinkling star. She was a beautiful maiden but had a heart of stone. One day an oracle warned her parents that unless she married and bore a son, the people of the Pinak would be overcome by warriors of the La-ut.
Alitaptap could not feel love and did not acquiesce despite her father’s urging. Out of frustration to save his people, Bulan-Hari struck his daughter with his sword and she died on the spot, the sparkling star on her head shattered into a million pieces. The Pinak was overcome with sorrow and destruction and the once lush land became a swamp. The only things which brought a glimmer of hope to the darkness were tiny sparkles of light in a starless night…..the tiny sparkles from Alitaptap.
Fireflies in a Jar by Anthony Morrow
Fireflies are said to symbolize that our true beauty lies within and that our creative spirit is illuminated to light the path to our perfect mate. While fireflies of both sexes use their light to attract a mate, the male also uses his light to shine into the female during sex so that she is so blinded she can’t see any potential competitors to the male who is enjoying her. Is that what it means to be blinded by love? Now, what I want to know, was it a male or female bug who paid me a visit last night?
