Butterfly effect: weeping and flying; llorando y volando: mariposas monarcas
Mar 24, 08:44 PM
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"The butterfly effect: weeping and flying; llorando y volando: mariposas monarcas
"What is the sound of butterflies?
What is the sound of butterflies? What is the sound of millions and millions of monarch butterflies as they open wings and ascend into the air? What is the sound of zero monarch butterflies?
"Monarch butterflies have been part of my life for over 30 years in two places in North America that I have called home (both places of migration from my childhood home of Britain). I have experienced eastern monarcas in their tens of millions in the high forested mountains of the state of Michoacán, Mexico, where the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve is located. I have experienced a few western monarchs in the eucalyptus trees on the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean, in Goleta, California, where the Ellwood Monarch Butterfly Reserve is located. Both the State of Michoacán and the City of Goleta use the gorgeous orange and black form of the monarca butterfly as their logo.
"In Michoacán, Mexico, these multitudes of eastern monarcas follow a migratory pattern across many generations, encompassing the three countries of North America: Mexico, United States and Canada. In Goleta, United States, these tiny numbers of western monarcas follow a short migratory pattern from the coast to the Rockies. In December 2024, the official count was zero. As pollinators, monarch butterflies contribute to healthy ecosystems across North America.
"In the 1990s, as a researcher, creative artist and violinist, I had the privilege of learning from the wisdom and lifeways of Indigenous P’urhépecha peoples in Michoacán, whose presence spans many centuries. I learned from my experience of being a visitor to El Rosario, in the high forested mountains, where millions and millions of monarca butterflies blanket every trunk and branch. This is the World Heritage Site of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. Known only to local villagers and landowners until 1975, now a global tourist attraction and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"Before sunrise, with closed wings, their motionlessness and quietness radiate a profound tranquility. In their fragility and robustness, they are breathtaking. As earth turns, moment by moment, a transformation unfolds as the sun’s rays bath each tree, causing warming, waking, stirring, and movement. Bark and trees seemingly come alive, as millions and millions of wings open, rise and cascading upwards, forming ascending and fluttering clouds of orange and black.
"Why do you cry, little human baby?
¿Porque estás llorando, pequeño bebe humano?
Are you crying for your soul? ¿Estás llorando por tu alma? Por tu futura? For your future?
What have we humans done to this planet? ?Que hemos hecho a esta planeta -
"Listen, Escucha, listen, escucha,
to infinite sounds of millions and millions of monarch butterflies in Mexico
a los sonidos infinitos de millones y millones de mariposas monarca en México
"Listen, Escucha, listen, escucha,
To the sound of zero monarch butterflies in Goleta, California
al Sonido de zero mariposas monarca en Goleta, California
Silencio, silence, silencio, silence, silenco, silence –
"In Michoacán, Mexico, the Indigenous Purhépecha grandmothers tell how their ancestors walked from the cold lands to the centre of the country. When the children and old people could go no further, they covered their bodies with the orange resin of the trees and the yellow pollen of the flowers to keep themselves warm. The pollen and resin transformed them into monarch butterflies, and they flew together to the lands of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.
"En Michoacán, Mexico, las abuelas Indigena P’urhépecha dicen como sus ancestros caminaban desde la tierra fria al centro del pais. Cuando los niños y la genta vieja no pudieran caminar mas, cubrieron sus cuerpos con resina anaranjada de los arboles y el polen Amarillo de los flores para mantenerse calientes. Y el polen y la resina los transformaron a mariposas monarcas y volaron juntos a la tierra de la reserva biosfera de la mariposa monarca.
"weeping and flying; llorando y volando/ monarch mariposas–butterflies monarcas
"But what is the sound of monarch butterflies? The field recording by renowned Mexican sound recordist Erick Ruiz Arrellano intrigued me. What did Erick record in this most extraordinary of locations, El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Michoacán? I was overwhelmed by the sound of a human baby crying. I decided to use the human baby crying as the core sound, in all the repetition, alarm, which seems to come at once from the depths of the ocean and crosses through all of human time.
"In this most extraordinary of ecosystems, biospheres and heritage places, where millions and millions of fragile beings, here a human baby cries.
Why are they crying?
Are they crying for their future?
Are they crying for the disappearance of earth’s heritage, the heritage of monarcas who have inhabited this planet for so much longer than humans?
Are they crying because we tourists and visitors, in our quest to hear and see earth’s transitions and journeys, disrupt and impose our own desires before our ancestor-beings?
Are they crying because we humans cause devasting loss of habit, through so-called development, through massive farming complexes, herbicides, insecticides, shopping malls…
"And do they hear us ? Yes – they hear us through veins in their wings
¿Y las mariposas nos escuchen? Sí – nos escuchan através de las venas en sus alas."
El Rosario butterfly sanctuary reimagined by Ruth Helliert.
———————
This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world’s most famous sights.
Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage
"What is the sound of butterflies?
What is the sound of butterflies? What is the sound of millions and millions of monarch butterflies as they open wings and ascend into the air? What is the sound of zero monarch butterflies?
"Monarch butterflies have been part of my life for over 30 years in two places in North America that I have called home (both places of migration from my childhood home of Britain). I have experienced eastern monarcas in their tens of millions in the high forested mountains of the state of Michoacán, Mexico, where the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve is located. I have experienced a few western monarchs in the eucalyptus trees on the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean, in Goleta, California, where the Ellwood Monarch Butterfly Reserve is located. Both the State of Michoacán and the City of Goleta use the gorgeous orange and black form of the monarca butterfly as their logo.
"In Michoacán, Mexico, these multitudes of eastern monarcas follow a migratory pattern across many generations, encompassing the three countries of North America: Mexico, United States and Canada. In Goleta, United States, these tiny numbers of western monarcas follow a short migratory pattern from the coast to the Rockies. In December 2024, the official count was zero. As pollinators, monarch butterflies contribute to healthy ecosystems across North America.
"In the 1990s, as a researcher, creative artist and violinist, I had the privilege of learning from the wisdom and lifeways of Indigenous P’urhépecha peoples in Michoacán, whose presence spans many centuries. I learned from my experience of being a visitor to El Rosario, in the high forested mountains, where millions and millions of monarca butterflies blanket every trunk and branch. This is the World Heritage Site of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. Known only to local villagers and landowners until 1975, now a global tourist attraction and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"Before sunrise, with closed wings, their motionlessness and quietness radiate a profound tranquility. In their fragility and robustness, they are breathtaking. As earth turns, moment by moment, a transformation unfolds as the sun’s rays bath each tree, causing warming, waking, stirring, and movement. Bark and trees seemingly come alive, as millions and millions of wings open, rise and cascading upwards, forming ascending and fluttering clouds of orange and black.
"Why do you cry, little human baby?
¿Porque estás llorando, pequeño bebe humano?
Are you crying for your soul? ¿Estás llorando por tu alma? Por tu futura? For your future?
What have we humans done to this planet? ?Que hemos hecho a esta planeta -
"Listen, Escucha, listen, escucha,
to infinite sounds of millions and millions of monarch butterflies in Mexico
a los sonidos infinitos de millones y millones de mariposas monarca en México
"Listen, Escucha, listen, escucha,
To the sound of zero monarch butterflies in Goleta, California
al Sonido de zero mariposas monarca en Goleta, California
Silencio, silence, silencio, silence, silenco, silence –
"In Michoacán, Mexico, the Indigenous Purhépecha grandmothers tell how their ancestors walked from the cold lands to the centre of the country. When the children and old people could go no further, they covered their bodies with the orange resin of the trees and the yellow pollen of the flowers to keep themselves warm. The pollen and resin transformed them into monarch butterflies, and they flew together to the lands of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.
"En Michoacán, Mexico, las abuelas Indigena P’urhépecha dicen como sus ancestros caminaban desde la tierra fria al centro del pais. Cuando los niños y la genta vieja no pudieran caminar mas, cubrieron sus cuerpos con resina anaranjada de los arboles y el polen Amarillo de los flores para mantenerse calientes. Y el polen y la resina los transformaron a mariposas monarcas y volaron juntos a la tierra de la reserva biosfera de la mariposa monarca.
"weeping and flying; llorando y volando/ monarch mariposas–butterflies monarcas
"But what is the sound of monarch butterflies? The field recording by renowned Mexican sound recordist Erick Ruiz Arrellano intrigued me. What did Erick record in this most extraordinary of locations, El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Michoacán? I was overwhelmed by the sound of a human baby crying. I decided to use the human baby crying as the core sound, in all the repetition, alarm, which seems to come at once from the depths of the ocean and crosses through all of human time.
"In this most extraordinary of ecosystems, biospheres and heritage places, where millions and millions of fragile beings, here a human baby cries.
Why are they crying?
Are they crying for their future?
Are they crying for the disappearance of earth’s heritage, the heritage of monarcas who have inhabited this planet for so much longer than humans?
Are they crying because we tourists and visitors, in our quest to hear and see earth’s transitions and journeys, disrupt and impose our own desires before our ancestor-beings?
Are they crying because we humans cause devasting loss of habit, through so-called development, through massive farming complexes, herbicides, insecticides, shopping malls…
"And do they hear us ? Yes – they hear us through veins in their wings
¿Y las mariposas nos escuchen? Sí – nos escuchan através de las venas en sus alas."
El Rosario butterfly sanctuary reimagined by Ruth Helliert.
———————
This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world’s most famous sights.
Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage