Have You Ever Heard of Grandmother Spider?
So there's this spider outside of my house; she's been there for well over a month, perhaps several months (I've lost track). I suspect she's probably going to die tonight during the time frame for our frost advisory. In the early days of her being here, I tried twice to kill her because I'm absolutely terrified of spiders. I thought both times that I had killed her, but both times she reappeared in the exact same spot. After her second reappearance, I just couldn't try to kill her again. I figured if she had managed to survive both times, it just wouldn't be right to kill her. Now an odd thing has happened: instead of being afraid of her, I've actually become somewhat attached to her, and I find myself saddened that tonight she'll probably die.
Anyway, my attachment to this spider led me to look up stuff about spiders in general. Did you know that some shamanic traditions believe that the spider is the weaver of the web of fate, that wisdom, creativity, and divine inspiration are all attributed to spiders? I also note that the shamanic traditions consider the spider the "female energy for the creative force of life," and I have to wonder if that isn't part of the reason why our patriarchal culture has conditioned us to be afraid of spiders, just as we have been conditioned to fear other animals who have previously been looked upon as powerful symbols of the feminine, such as the serpent.
Many First Nations (Native American) peoples had a lot of respect for the spider, because they believed that Grandmother Spider (sometimes called Spider Grandmother) created the world and the stars in the sky. According to this mythology, she spun a web and laced it with dew, and when she cast the web into the sky the dew became the stars. The Choctaw of Tennessee and Mississippi believe that Grandmother Spider taught them how to make fire, how to make pottery, and how to weave and spin. The Cherokee apparently have a similar myth. The last myth that I want to mention is the Hopi creation story, which says that Grandmother Spider was sent by the Creator to teach lower life forms the meaning of life, which she did repeatedly until these lower life forms evolved into human beings.
It's believed among the First Nations peoples and throughout shamanic traditions everywhere that specific kinds of animals and insects will often appear to deliver a message. I can't help but wonder if this spider that I've become attached to was sent to deliver me some kind of message. We might notice a lot of messages that the world around us is trying to convey if we weren't so wrapped up in the patriarchal Christian and Secular Rational systems that our culture has always been so enamored with. We could probably learn a lot from the First Nations people and from what's left of our own pre-Christian ancestral traditions, if we would bother to listen. It's something to think about.
Anyway, my attachment to this spider led me to look up stuff about spiders in general. Did you know that some shamanic traditions believe that the spider is the weaver of the web of fate, that wisdom, creativity, and divine inspiration are all attributed to spiders? I also note that the shamanic traditions consider the spider the "female energy for the creative force of life," and I have to wonder if that isn't part of the reason why our patriarchal culture has conditioned us to be afraid of spiders, just as we have been conditioned to fear other animals who have previously been looked upon as powerful symbols of the feminine, such as the serpent.
Many First Nations (Native American) peoples had a lot of respect for the spider, because they believed that Grandmother Spider (sometimes called Spider Grandmother) created the world and the stars in the sky. According to this mythology, she spun a web and laced it with dew, and when she cast the web into the sky the dew became the stars. The Choctaw of Tennessee and Mississippi believe that Grandmother Spider taught them how to make fire, how to make pottery, and how to weave and spin. The Cherokee apparently have a similar myth. The last myth that I want to mention is the Hopi creation story, which says that Grandmother Spider was sent by the Creator to teach lower life forms the meaning of life, which she did repeatedly until these lower life forms evolved into human beings.
It's believed among the First Nations peoples and throughout shamanic traditions everywhere that specific kinds of animals and insects will often appear to deliver a message. I can't help but wonder if this spider that I've become attached to was sent to deliver me some kind of message. We might notice a lot of messages that the world around us is trying to convey if we weren't so wrapped up in the patriarchal Christian and Secular Rational systems that our culture has always been so enamored with. We could probably learn a lot from the First Nations people and from what's left of our own pre-Christian ancestral traditions, if we would bother to listen. It's something to think about.