the hell moth

though i know its not advised to research on such stuff i sorta am researching it.

the question?

why do moths always appear at funerals and what do they symbolize?

my "research" has told me that usually moths appear at funerals but not all of them and its always only ONE moth that appears and it is usually perched on the wall nearest to the coffin. why so? if you say its because of the lights, i cant agree because that in turn would attract more than one moth and moths are not territorial creatures. Until now i have no explanation why only one moth will appear at each funeral.

strangely, many people believe that the moth is a form of the deceased coming back to its final resting place to see his/her family once more before moving on. Also, it appears moth do not appear at all funerals, hence people believe only those who have lived and did good things in their life can come back for their final farewell. This moth will stay at the same place throughtout the funeral wake but on the day of the sending off it will vanish.

it is true that not only us chinese believe in this, our close relative japanese also believe in such. but what they believe in are not moths but are known better as Hell butterflies, this butterflies serve the purpose of bringing the souls of the departed to the other side and are not the departed themselves. some anime has also used the hell butterfly in them etc: death note, bleach.

just wanna share this story with you if you are still skeptic. according to my mother, when my uncle died, there was this huge moth at his funeral about the size of 2 palms. forgot to mention that the moths that appear also have the size of the personality of the person. because my uncle had a strong personality, his moth was really big. that night when my mum was sleeping in his house she awoke to find a whole lot of moths in her bedroom and one distinct one which resembled my uncle. according to my mum, my uncle had alot of good buddies and hence that moth may be inviting all his "friends" to his house just like what my uncle usually did. like all other funeral moths, it dissappeared right after the wake on the day they coffin is sent off.

until now, from most of the replies i have received at the many forums, many others also have the same experience of this moth. what do you think?

i value your opinion, seriously.

-RomE