Macroglossum Stellatarum a.k.a Hummingbird Hawk-moth: Another Insectoid Sentient Messenger?

I went to the beach today, and I saw this:

Macroglossum Stellatarum

I was soaking up the sun, and felt so thankful to be there.  I needed the heat of the blazing sun and the smell of salt water.  I was also thankful that I could breathe, no allergies, no asthma attack.  As I was paying tribute to the experience, I heard a buzzing noise.  I turned my head to the right, and literally came face to face with that ^^^

I had no clue what I was looking at.  I said to it, "What are you?"  And it continued to hover in front of me for a few more seconds like it was thinking the same thing before flying away. 

I did a google image search as soon as I got home, thus began my trip down yet another rabbit hole.  Okay, bear with me, my interpretation of reality is not for everyone.

If you checked out yesterday's post you'd recall that Ms. Matthews' regards Raphael as the angel presiding over the 4th day of the 9th Wave.  When the allergies and the asthma started kicking my butt I asked and thanked Raphael for his help.  That was last week, and everyday since then I've been suffering, sometimes gracefully, most times like the proud cry baby I am deep down inside  (special thanks to my friend, Dubman for the times he's there to laugh at me when I feel sorry for myself, it really does help me feel better... no, that's not sarcasm, it really does).

So, when I found out about this strange creature, and considered what I was thinking about when he appeared to me - asthma.  I became interested in what he eats - Rubiaceae, family of flowering plants which are rich in alkaloid compounds.  "They often have pharmacological effects and are used as medications, as recreational drugs, or in entheogenic rituals."  I liked everything about that last sentence.

Ephedrine is an alkaloid, and an anti-asthma therapeutic, that can be extracted from Ephedra Distachya (Efedra svizzera in Italian), which just so happens to grow in Sicily, I'm planning to go there next month.  Maybe I'll find some!  In the meantime, I'm headed to the pharmacy.

Here's some fun facts about Ephedra Distachya from Wikipedia:

It is sometimes identified with the legendary drug soma, as described in the Avesta and the Rig Veda, the respective ancient sacred texts of the Zoroastrian and Hindu faiths.

Ephedrine, the salt of an alkaloid, is obtained from its dried branches and is used as a stimulant, often to control asthma. It was isolated from the plant by Nagayoshi Nagai in 1885 . All parts of the plant contain up to 3% ephedrine.

(1 + 8 + 8 + 5 = 22 = 2 + 2 = 4 ----> 4th Day of the 9th Wave)