I found this, is very interesting:
Quote:
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In Japanese folklore there are tales told of people who turned into snakes after death because of their evil ways and their miserly habits. A male becomes a serpent because his desires are not satisfied in life. A female snake appears as an attractive woman who marries a human: if rejected by her lover, her jealously will cause disaster. Women are often associated with snakes because of tales told of them being fierce and possessive towards their lovers. [...] Some people are reborn in the guise of snakes after death when they wish to avenge wrongful deeds. [...] Snakes were not always thought of as symbols of evil, but also of love with no bounds. "Long ago in Keicho era, there lived a beautiful girl in Senju in the province of Musashi. A bachelor called Yaichiro fell in love with her and sent her many missives of love to her; but she did not respond. Yaichiro died of sorrow, and the girl married someone else. On the morning after the wedding, the couple didn’t emerge from their room. When the bride’s mother entered, she found the bridegroom dead, and a snake crawling out of one of the bride’s eyes. The villagers believed that the snake was none other than the heartbroken Yaichiro." [...] Immortals are also depicted carrying a three-legged frog, or pictured riding on a giant carp or a horse.
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Is Ayu the snake? If this is true, Ayu is also the butterfly... then, who killed the butterfly? Who's the mantis?
I think maybe she was deeply sad about an old love and she felt died, but now her new love make feel reborn.
She=Butterfly
Old love=Mantis
Reborn=Snake
Immortality=Horse?
Ayu turn to nature like the butterfly turn to snake, and the horse is the symbol of these immortality.