Monarch

In Ten Fingers Touching, Martak, the Master of the Forest has the ability to communicate with animals.

After rescuing his beloved, Marianna, Martak takes her to a secluded valley. He summons butterflies and swarms of the beautiful winged creatures magically appear. They nestle together forming a soft blanket as the lovers sleep beneath the stars. In the morning, the butterflies that had warmed and comforted Marianna during the night meld together into a magnificent shimmering gown. Upon awakening, she looks as radiant as a fiery opal.

Butterflies have always been important to me. They symbolize beauty, freedom and a touch of magic in the real world! Sadly, the monarch butterfly is at risk. The population has declined by an alarming rate of 90% over the past two decades.

The monarch’s annual migration goes from Canada to “wintering” in the mountain forests of Mexico. The long journey requires four generations of butterflies to complete one roundtrip.

During the breeding part of their migration, the only plant that the monarch caterpillar can eat is milkweed. In Mexico, tens of thousands of monarchs stay warm by clustering on trees.

Thousands of monarchs clustered on trees

Reasons for the monarch’s disappearance include: Loss of milkweed due to chemicals used in modern agriculture, climate change, land development, and deforestation from logging that destroys their natural habitat.

We can help save the monarch! To learn more about monarch conservation and butterfly gardens see monarchjointventure.org