Frogs and Toads

Last night I had a string of vivid dreams.  The memory of them is fuzzy now, but each one somehow led into the next.  At one point there was a bright green frog or toad in my dream.  I can’t remember why it made an appearance, but it stood out as some 3D vision within the string of dreams.

My husband and I both sat down with our computers this morning, he with his coffee, I with my chai.  I look over to see what he is looking up and it is frogs.  That is when I suddenly remembered the brilliantly green frog in my dreams, which I told him about.

He was looking up frogs as a more or less permaculture thing.  We have plenty of frogs where we live.  I don’t know the types.  That was something he was also looking up.  They can be incredibly loud at times, and for the most part, I’ve learned to tune them out.  I think tuning out country life is something you learn.  At other times you truly appreciate it and let all the sounds harmonize.  It’s somehow a part of me.  On the other hand, when I go into the city, I can find the noise quite deafening, the kind of noise that city folk learn to tune out.

But, back to frogs.  Considering the synchronicity of the dream and my husband’s interest in them this morning, I was prompted to look up what this might mean.  The first word, fertility, considering my age, scared me.

In many cultures the primary symbolic meaning of frogs deals with fertility. This is largely because these cultures observed Frogs laying enormous quantities of eggs, therefore making it a fertility symbol as well as a symbol of abundance.

Taken from the following website:  http://www.whats-your-sign.com/animal-symbolism-frog.html

A quick-list for animal symbolism of the frog includes:

Luck

Purity

Rebirth

Renewal

Fertility

Healing

Metamorphosis

Transitions

Dreaming

Opportunity

Intermediary

In Egypt we see the Frog-headed Heket who is an Egyptian goddess of birth(ing).

As a Celtic symbol meaning, the Frog was deemed lord over all the earth, and the Celts believed it represented curative or healing powers because of its connection with water and cleansing rains. More Western and European views focus on the Frog’s three stages of development (egg, tadpole, fully formed amphibian) to symbolize resurrection and spiritual evolution. For these same reasons it is also a common Christian symbol for the holy trinity and resurrection. It is often seen in Christian art to express this symbolism.

In China the Frog is an emblem of Yin energy and thought of as good luck. Feng Shui practices recommend putting an image of a Frog in the east window of your home to encourage child birth and/or happy family life.

Frog energy is also considered to be a link between the living and the dead. An interesting ancient Asian custom was to place a jade frog in the mouth of the deceased to insure his/her spirit would pass safely into the spirit world. This custom was believed to allow the spirit of the deceased to speak more clearly to loved ones still living.

Frogs are also good luck symbols in Japan – especially for travelers. Images or charms were worn during long voyages to assure safety (particularly across water).

Ancient Hindus viewed the animal symbolism of frogs on a more cosmic levels, as they believe Frogs projected the world into orbit in space, and the frog was also thought to signify darkness.

Call upon the energy of the frog when:

You need to easily swim through some tough life-transitions

You need a little assurance while traveling

You are working to enhance your intuition, and strengthen your connection with the spirit world

Synchronicity never ceases to amaze me.  They say things come in threes. I just picked up my phone to play Words with Friends and on the first game I opened someone had played “toad.”  Then a little later a second person played “toad.”  I’m thankful for all these coincidences.

One other thing I googled is what is the difference between frogs and toads.  The basic answer was that all toads are frogs.