Whenever the Blackfoot Indians incorporate a butterfly symbol on one of their lodges "it signifies that the designs and colors adorning that lodge are not those of the mortal Indian who painted them but were shown to him in a dream by the Great Spirit." The same butterfly symbol is interpreted differently depending on where it is placed. If it appears embroidered on a piece of buckskin and tied in a baby's hair it means dream-or sleep-bringer. If seen on a lodge it signifies divine inspiration, the Butterfly is about transition and metamorphosis.

Dream Carrier, Bringer of Sleep, Bringer of News

According to a Blackfoot Indian:

"You know that it is the butterfly who brings us our dreams -- who brings the news to us when we are asleep. Have you never heard a man say, when he sees a butterfly fluttering over the prairie, 'There is a little fellow flying about that is going to bring news to someone tonight.'? Or have you not heard a person say after the fire burns low and the people begin to make up their beds about the lodge, 'Well, let us go to bed and see what news the butterfly will bring?' "

The Indians use a cross, similar to a Maltese cross, as a sign for the butterfly. Woman embroider it on buckskin which she ties to her baby's hair in the hope it will induce sleep. George Grinnel, who did some research into this topic before the l900's said "More recent inquiry leads me to suspect that the influence of the butterfly is not confined to dreams, but to sleep as well. " Grinnel also stated, "I have not been able to learn why or how the butterfly brings dreams or sleep. It is stated merely that it is soft and pretty and moves gently. And that if you look at it for a long time you will go to sleep."

Wisdom, truth, patience. The Mescalero [native Americans] believe that Owl carries the souls of the recently deceased, a death messenger. Owl is the totem of clairvoyants and mystics, is a symbol for the pyschic and mystical worlds, and wisdom, of course.

"The symbol of the owl also brings good luck, especially to all persons born under an Earth sign: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn. Believed to have great supernatural powers on the Northwest Coast [US].  It is associated with wisdom, foreknowledge and perception, and is strongly associated with the spirit world."

In Aesop's Fables, the owl is portrayed an intelligent and capable of recognizing the connections between certain events and their consequences. Thus, the owl advises the other birds to root out the oak trees, as one day mistletoe--which produces poisonous birdlime--will grow on them. The owl also knows that the nets for bird catching are made of flax and encourages the birds to eat flaxseed. The birds make fun of the wise owl but later pay for their shortsightedness with their lives. 
        
Owl images from ancient Greece emphasize the large, "intelligent" eyes. Some coins show Pallas Athene, the goddess of wisdom and science, on the side and the owls that nested in great numbers in the Acropolis on the reverse. (The owl, as symbol of Athene, in turn represented good fortune and victory.) In coins and vases, the owl is portrayed holding a twig or wreath from the olive tree as a proclamation of victory.

The owl is said to have favorably influenced the Battle of Salamis by alighting on the rigging of the Attic ships and cheering on the sailors. Since the time of the ancient Greeks, therefore, the owl has symbolized intelligence, sensible power, and learning and thus is considered as possible omen of good fortune. These ancient perceptions were revived in the Renaissance.

The most famous sword is Excalibur, symbol of Arthur who started the Quest for the Holy Grail [divine knowledge].

Given Buddhism's emphasis on non-violence it may seem incongruous for a sword to be a key Buddist symbol. In Buddhist art, the sword represents wisdom which has the capacity to cut through ignorance and delusion. The Bodhisattva Manjusri, who embodies wisdom, is often depicted wielding a sword, sometimes five-pointed.

The sword is a symbol of wisdom because its sharp edge can cut through ignorance and destroy evil, both of which interfere with the attainment of enlightenment for Buddhists, "the Sword is the cutting away of the extraneous and also honing and using the intellect and represents the "Writer"."

The base of the sword has four prongs which form a shape known as a thunderbolt and symbolize unshakable power.

In the Tarot, another magic weapon is the sword that appears in most of the accounts of the Grail procession. In some versions, it seems to have been the sword, rather than the lance, that injured the Maimed King, or felled the dead knight, so causing the wasting of the land. The task of the Quester, whether Gawain or Perceval, may be to ask a significant Question, or it may be to mend a broken sword.

"As students are well aware, the Sword of the Grail romances is a very elusive and perplexing feature. It takes upon itself various forms; it may be a broken sword, the re-welding of which is an essential condition of achieving the quest; it may be a 'presentation' sword, given to the hero on his arrival at the Grail castle, but a gift of dubious value, as it will break, either after the first blow, or in an unspecified peril, foreseen, however, by its original maker. Or it may be the sword with which John the Baptist was beheaded; or the sword of Judas Maccabeus, gifted with self-acting powers; or a mysterious sword as estranges ranges, which may be identified with the the preceding weapon."  J.L.Weston, The Quest of the Holy Grail.