Free as a butterfly: symbology and palliative care

AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between butterflies and palliative care. A qualitative ethnographic study was performed, based on participant observation in two Oncology Palliative Care Services in Brazil and in Portugal. A literature review on the etymological and symbolic meaning of butterflies, followed by discussions with experts who have studied this insect and its presence in art, books and movies, was undertaken. Butterfly symbols vary from place to place and from people to people, and the semantics and representation of the insect are associated with various forms of life, culture, religion and belief. The constant and intriguing presence of butterflies on the walls and windows of the hospitals studied has a significance for palliative care. The metamorphosis of butterflies is symbolically associated with radical changes in human lives, with death perceived as a possibility for renewal. Therefore, the breaking of the cocoon is the death of the body, when the soul achieves freedom in the image of the butterfly. Thus, palliative care, in its theoretical philosophy and applied practice, assists and eases this process of change in the lives of patients and their families, without denying the death, pain nor suffering experienced by the elderly during an advanced disease.