This is from an article I wrote a few months ago:
The Global MovementImaginal are the cells that accumulate in a caterpillar's body toward the end of its adolescence and trigger its metamorphosis into a butterfly. Here's a description of the process:
When a caterpillar nears its transformation time, it begins to eat ravenously, consuming everything in sight. Tiny cells, that biologists actually call “imaginal cells,” begin to appear in the caterpillar's body. These cells are wholly different from caterpillar cells. At first, the caterpillar’s immune system perceives these new cells as enemies, and attacks them. But the imaginal cells are not deterred. They continue to appear, in ever greater numbers, recognizing each other and bonding together, until the new cells are numerous enough to organize into clumps called "imaginal disks".
When enough imaginal disks have appeared (which is only a few percent of the caterpillar's body weight), the caterpillar’s immune system is overwhelmed. Attaching to a branch, it forms a chrysalis—the enclosing shell within which the caterpillar's body then becomes a nutritious soup for the growth of the butterfly.
We who are awakening, whether our awakening is spiritual, social or ecological, are humanity's imaginal cells. Our role is to catalyze the change. The rest of the cells in the body of the caterpillar of humanity are the medium in which the transformation will occur. What we do in the next five years is crucial to the future of the human race and all the other species that share this planet. I know it feels hard, and we all want the darkness to lift. It will, but to get there we need patience, courage and compassion. To make the process easier and faster, find other imaginal cells and clump together...