So one grasshopper might be chance, two is curious and three, seemed to me to have some significance.

Off I went to investigate the meaning of the grasshopper and I found a most reassuring message which I hope reflects Jung’s synchronicity theory, which incidentally, I first read at Cambridge.

My early morning visitations appear to have some or all of the following meanings:

The grasshopper represents:

Good fortune
The need to push out creative boundaries
The path of the true artist (I wish…)
Taking a leap of faith and trusting in the higher powers

They signify abundance and wealth and good health, which I take is the “wisdom” of the grasshopper. Free spirits, they encourage us to think out of the box. When we find them in the house, they are a sign to reach out to new opportunities; in the bedroom, to release toxic relationships.

Apparently, catching a grasshopper is indicative of change for the better, youth, health, rejuvenation and new beginnings! As they can only jump forward, not back, they encourage us to understand that dwelling on the past is fruitless. Their gentle message is that we are stronger than we think, we should abandon negativity and embrace growth.

All this in the space of 20 minutes! What is most curious is that since our beloved Ellie’s death (our lurcher… see here….), I have been trying to focus on the future and finding new directions for my work and professional life and it seems most extraordinary that three grasshoppers come along at once, and impossible to ignore, if I am to be a true Jungian!

When I was little, my mother used to sing that poem to us, but she always would remind us that grasshoppers do not store up provisions for the winter, so they are unlikely to survive, unlike other some other insects. I also found this rather sad and very worrying. In fact, I found it so worrying that in my adulthood I wrote a story about a little squirrel who had no confidence because she was worrying about her provisions. (Read the first chapter of A Heart As Wide As The World here.)

Well, it seems that the poem did not mention that lack of foresight at all, and the message of the grasshoppers is, “Don’t worry be happy and trust in your intuition”.

Only yesterday was I casting around for a new subject for a post, it seems nature intervened in the nicest possible way.

What a great way to start the morning: I only hope they all landed on their feet!

It seems there is more to the grasshopper than being a comical chap all in his coat of green.

Download The 1st Chapter ofA Heart As Wide As the World