The other week my daughter was working with the kids at her camp when she sent me a text telling me that she found this enormous moth in the parking lot. It didn’t take me long to identify it as the Polyphemus Moth.
This is the one that she found. The moth is one of the largest and honestly the prettiest members of the silk moths, having a wing span of about 5 inches. They are enormous. They have a brood up here from May to July so that would be the reason that my daughter found it when she did.
This moth is named after Polyphemus.
Polyphemus is from Greek mythology and is known for having one single round eye in the middle of his forehead. Earl and I just saw this bust on display at the Boston Museum of fine arts. Polyphemus is the son of Poseidon the God of the Sea and the Nymph Thoösa. He is one of the best known one eyed Cyclopes. He was defeated by Odysseus when he was looking for home and found the island that Polyphemus was living on. There are several versions of the story and some while he is often portrayed as a villain there is debate on if he was actually a villain or just trying to protect the place he lived.
The Polyphemus Moth is best known for the beautiful spots on it’s wings that look like eyes. When naming the moth they chose this name because of what looks like eyes on the moth’s wings. This moth is pretty common in all of North America.They love forests, areas with hardwood and orchards.
Moths are known to help you discover what you have hidden in yourself and what you may hide from others. They bring you hope and optimism. I’ve known them to illuminate the way on more than one occasion in my life, especially the Luna Moth which is quite similar.
Have a magickal day!
Much Love and Many Blessings,
Jasmeine Moonsong