Signs

The signs Julian sent me since his transition to the afterlife might fill an entire book. I will share a few of these instances of unexplained synchronicities that left me speechless and deeply moved.

Butterfly in the Sky

On June 24th, 2025, my soul sister Franziska and I practice so-called ‘speed mediumship reading’ for about an hour via Zoom. Franzi has just spent a week training with psychic medium Pauline Mason on the Channel island of Guernsey. Pauline made participants do these speed readings as exercises, to teach them to get information from those in Spirit at a faster pace. Franziska and I decide we are up for a challenge and make our exercises even more specific. We ask each other: “Who do you want to connect with?” and we also ask for specific information, such as “Please, put an object in my hand and tell me what it means”, “Give me a memory of you and the recipient and give me a message for her”. In the third speed-reading practice, I ask Franziska to connect with Julian and ask him: “What do I need to know now?”

This is the information Franziska received:

When you walk outside, look up. There is a sign. Above the trees. Something will fly around. Bird or butterfly. Tomorrow, when you look up, there will be a sign. The sun is shining through the trees. It’s a magical moment. In these moments I am closest to you. When you are really in the moment, I can come closer.

The next morning, I decide to do my morning sun salutations in our nearby park. As I get on my bicycle, I see a white butterfly dancing on the lush lavender bush in our front yard. While I am putting down my yoga mat on the grass, there is another white butterfly flitting around. I also notice the sun behind a thin veil of clouds. I am reminded of the reading with Franziska from last night and I get my iPhone to take a picture of the clouds beyond the trees.

What I cannot see in the sky with my myopic eyes is revealed on my iPhone screen: I see a butterfly with golden edges on its wings in the clouds. What pure magic! I start my first sun salutation and tears well up in my eyes and nose. I am talking to Julian out loud now, “I sense that you are so very happy with our book. I feel in my body that this is your sign, a golden butterfly in the sky”.

I send the picture to Franziska in our Soul Champions WhatsApp group.

She replies: Holy cow!!! That looks like an angel 😍🥰🥰🥰.

Soul sister Aartee responds as well: Omg 😱😱😱😱 I even see a big heart.

After my yoga practice, I return home and my dear Ferko welcomes me with fresh fruit, tea and coffee. I show him the picture, and he also sees a heart.

What is the difference between a butterfly, an angel and a heart? All are symbols of love and transformation.

A Black Butterfly Visits

I have never seen a black butterfly in the Netherlands. Most butterflies here are the white cabbage variety with occasional visits of peacock and red admiral. This life experience expands greatly on July 18th, 2024. I am correcting student papers on my laptop in my home office. It’s a warm day and I have opened the windows. As I look outside into the street, I see a huge black butterfly coming from outside through the open window. I term it ‘huge’ because it is much bigger than the garden variety I am accustomed to. The butterfly dances in front of me, very close to my computer screen, then it draws a circle around me, before returning outside through the same window it entered a minute ago. I get the goosebumps…Wow!

I look up the spiritual meaning of a black butterfly. It turns out many cultures connect black butterflies to deceased loved ones. In Irish folklore, black butterflies are viewed as the ghosts of loved ones who no longer walk this earth. When we see a black butterfly, we are reminded that our loved ones are still with us, even after death.

Being visited by a black butterfly may also occur because you are going through a major transition in life. Positive changes are on the horizon, and you have the power to spread your wings and fly.

I sense that Julian sent me this black butterfly to let me know, once again, that he is still right here.

*If you would like to learn more about signs and synchronicities, I recommend Laura Lynn Jackson’s book:

Signs: The Secret Language of the Universe, Piatkus- An imprint of Little, Brown Book Group, 2019.