There is a love affair with butterflies that has captured both our imagination and attention. And though the sight of one brings joy, there is a deeper reason we are so deeply drawn to them. I have come to call it “the butterfly phenomenon”: the intriguing fact that the perfect timing of a butterfly’s appearance has been used to comfort someone after a loved one has died, delivering a message of hope and comfort in their greatest time of need. In fact, people have described the perfect timing of a butterfly surrounding them with such an undeniable presence of a loved one that they are moved to ask, “Is That You?”

Perhaps it is no coincidence that grieving groups have chosen butterflies as their logo. When a person is close to death, I recently learned of a Hospice Care Center in RI that puts a butterfly keepsake on the door, and when that person dies, the butterfly is given as a gift for the family to take home. It is a beautiful symbol, as the very nature of a butterfly is a tangible way to understand our own spiritual metamorphosis: a caterpillar spends its entire life on the ground until it is finally ready to enter into the chrysalis, which can be compared to a tomb. Inside, an amazing, mysterious change takes place; a caterpillar uses all of its body parts but changes them into a totally different being that emerges with the ability to fly! No wonder a butterfly has been chosen above all signs to whisper messages from heaven that our loved ones are okay and safe with God!

Each of the true-life stories in this book recounts an incredible sign God used to communicate with someone. Innumerable people have experienced a butterfly encounter, but don’t know that they’re part of a club. My book gives a name to this shared experience and has helped others to be more aware that signs find you and patiently wait for you to make the connection! Welcome to The Butterfly Club!

The book is available for purchase!

Author Phyllis Calvey shares fun facts about the Monarch butterfly and how these magnificent beings inspired her new children's book, “Caterpillar’s Search for the Perfect Halloween Costume".

Butterflies Bring Comfort in Time of Grieving

Herb Weiss
Published in the Pawtucket Times on February 18, 2019

Susan feels “joy in her heart and complete happiness” whenever she sees a butterfly. A butterfly came into her life as she mourned her brother’s death in 1990. Before he died, she remembers her brother saying that he would come back as a butterfly. The 62-year-old Pawtucket resident says “he meant it” and she believes he has sent messages to her through butterflies each year for over 30 years.

She believes that butterflies that play in the garden during the late spring and summer every year could possibly be other family members (deceased husband and father) and friends that have since departed. “Most of them knew the story of the butterfly and perhaps they too wished to come back as a beautiful butterfly. I know I would love to come back as a beautiful butterfly if I had the chance,” she says.

Significance of Butterflies Brings Sign from Beyond

Looking back, Susan remembers meeting her future husband, Stephen, after the death of her first husband. She was introduced to him by her close friend, Jackie. As the three dined at an outdoor restaurant in Tiverton, Jackie quickly pointed at a beautiful monarch butterfly sitting on a purple butterfly bush not far from their table. As they gazed at the lovely sight, a text message came into Susan’s cell phone from her next-door neighbor who had sent a photo of a monarch butterfly sitting on a purple butterfly bush in Susan’s backyard in Pawtucket. Both sightings of the monarch butterfly were at the same time of day, both directed to Susan- one in Pawtucket and one in Tiverton.

“I knew what was happening here. My brother, maybe my husband and my Dad (both deceased) were telling me that Stephen is the man for me. That’s why I married him! Well, besides he’s a good man too,” said Susan.

Like Susan, Phyllis Calvey,68, a writer, speaker, educator, and storyteller, sees the significance of the butterfly and how it can bring comfort in one’s darkest hours after the death of a loved one. “It’s a book that people can pass onto someone they know who has lost a loved one,” she says.

In “The Butterfly Club: “Is That You?”’ the Bellingham, Massachusetts writer shares her inspirational true-life stories of how God can, and does, use signs to communicate His presence to “those in need.”

Read full article

Find us on Facebook!ß

A Halloween story for any time of year; friends helping each other, kindness, and the rewards of patience!

If you would like your book signed please email Phyllis with the name of the recipient.

Learn more!

Phyllis Calvey is a writer, educator, storyteller and former Pastoral Associate. An accomplished speaker who has presented programs at conferences, conventions, and retreats for over 25 years, Phyllis is also a previously published author. She has written three books and six workbooks, as well as a monthly column on family rituals for NCR Publishing and JMH Associates for 10 years. She and her husband, Brian, currently live in Bellingham, Massachusetts, surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and her bountiful garden.

Phyllis Calvey is also the Administrator of the Facebook group, For the LOVE of Butterflies, a group where members share their love of butterflies through photos and information, as well as stories, quotes and words of encouragement and inspiration that are butterfly related.

The author is available to speak at bookstores, libraries, grieving groups, book clubs or other gatherings and presentations, including a children’s Halloween program with book reading for 3 to 7 year-olds!

Please contact Phyllis to schedule an event.

Book mentions!

What an honor that Carol Pasternak, recognized as an authority in the world of butterflies by butterfly experts and enthusiasts alike, chose to include my book in her chapter on The Spirituality of Butterflies. Thank you, Carol, for giving me the chance to introduce The Butterfly Club and share the emotional butterfly encounter that touched the hearts of everyone watching as this 8-year-old boy got up to bat shortly after he lost his mother to cancer!

I was so pleased that Herb Weiss, an award-winning journalist, whose 40-year body of work is a treasury of information on everything you need to age boldly, featured my book in his chapter on Spirituality and Helping Others. Thank you, Herb, for affirming how the inspirational stories I share bring comfort and healing when dealing with great matters of life and death. Two people in the equation – one wondering if their loved one will be okay and one soon to be on the other side wondering the same.