I Never Kill Spiders

I met a spider on June 27th on the Canopy Walkway in the Galien River County Park in Berrien County, MI. I never kill spiders. And I certainly would not have killed this one, sitting on her poison ivy leaf throne. I was, after all, a visitor in her kingdom.  

But even in my home. I never kill spiders. I may gently remove them like that daddy long legs in the bathroom, too large to hide from the interest of curious cat Merlin the Magician. The small butterfly net I keep handy swooped Daddy Longlegs out of harms way and into the forest that surrounds my home.

As I sit on a forest bench writing this I am visited by brown, long legged spiders. Surely a sign that I am on the right track about arachnids.

After all, aren’t they supposed to bring good luck and prosperity? That is what I was taught. A statement made by who? Family, friend? I do not remember. But the belief has stayed with me all these years.

And now another spider visits. This one a long-legged red. Yes, I am on the right track.

What kind of spiders were these? Daddy Long Legs? Cellar Spiders? My attempt to identify my spider friends did not lead me to a definite conclusion. Whatever they are—they are marvelous, magical beings.

The Symbolism

I decided to explore the symbolism of my arachnid friends. My google search led me to Spider Symbolism & Meaning.

Yes, the spider can be the trickster of Anasi tradition. However, it is the more inspiring aspects of spider that I resonate with. After all, in my mind, spiders mean prosperity. Here is the information that make me feel even closer to these arachnid beings of light:

• The spider’s spiral net or web converges into a single point in the center. Thus, the spider sitting in its web is the ultimate symbol of the center of the world or universe. This is the reason why the spider is considered as the master of Illusion or Maya – the Hindu word for illusion. 

• The spider spins a beautiful web that conforms to Sacred Geometry. 

• Spider symbolism is very deep and symbolizes constant transmutation. Based on this, many theorists believe that death is also the winding up of old life to create or spin a new one.

• Native American clans looked to the animals to be their teachers, to serve as symbols for them to live strong lives. In some Native American cultures, the spider and its web bring the message of continual weaving of patterns, the infinite possibility of creation, and the importance of recording the complexities in our lives. 

• The Navajo Indians believed that the spider’s web is very similar to the sun and its rays. And spiders also always spin their webs in the morning. This is to remind the people about the sun and to feel more grateful for it.

• The spider descending by its thread is emblematically ‘bringing in heavenly gifts.’ A spider always spins a dragline behind itself as it moves and when threatened, it drops to safety with the dragline suspending it. Thus, the spider is always protected by its Maker.

• Early Celts believed that spiders symbolized good luck. Small spiders were believed to be money spinners, so killing them was considered negative. 

• The cobweb also has symbolic importance in Celtic literature. The cobweb is much like a piece of fabric. Its spiral shape embraces the idea of creation and development. 

• In wicca and witchcraft, spiders connect the past and the future. They represent creativity, the pattern of Life, and the Web. 

• When you dream of spiders, you are dreaming of webs, ancient knowledge, language, intricacy, and creativity, the circle of life, transmutation, feminine power, and creation. 

• Finding spiders on your body means good fortune; the red spider indicates money and fortune. Killing a spider is a bad omen and will bring bad luck. Seeing a spider going across a wall is good luck. Spider spirit animal indicates a web of connection. The spider is asking you to cast your web far and wide and see what it brings. Let the spider guide you into making new fabrics of connection. It will guide you into weaving your life and personal space into a strong and beautiful pattern. A spider spirit animal tells us that everything is connected and we are all just a collective consciousness. Spider’s web is spiral and the creature is a master of circularity of energy. 

• Ask a shaman what spider spirit animal signifies and this will be his answer: “Humankind has not woven the Web of Life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the Web, we do to ourselves.” 
• And then there is Indra’s net, an infinitely large net or “spider’s web” of cords owned by the Vedic deva Indra, which hangs over his palace on Mount Meru, the axis mundi of Buddhist and Hindu cosmology. Indra’s net has a multifaceted jewel at each vertex, and each jewel is reflected in all of the other jewels. In the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism, the image of “Indra’s net” is used to describe the interconnectedness of the universe.

Ah, now I know where my belief that spiders bring prosperity and wealth come from. It’s the Irish heritage on my father’s side! Spiders ARE good luck and they DO spin money! That is my story and I am sticking to it!

And let’s not forget the magic of the spider web. It is the Dream Catcher. I regularly receive dream catchers from the Native American groups I support. They hang in my bedroom and other locations in my home. And I like handing them out to friends and particularly to children. 

In many Native American tribes, dream catchers are handmade willow hoops with woven webs in the middle. They can include feathers and beads, and they are traditionally suspended on cradles as a form of armor and protection. Today, adults like me use them too.

According to PowWows.com, each part of the dream catcher has meanings tied to the physical world. One notable meaning is the dream catcher has a round shape that represents the earth’s physical shape. The web absorbs terrible dreams at night and discharges them during the day. The feathers act like ladders allowing good dreams to descend on the infant or adult who is sleeping.

As I sat on that Galien River Park bench with spiders scurrying around at my feet, I started to pray. I said, as I usually do during my Spiritual Traveler adventures, The Prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;Where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.

Then I sat in silent meditation, soaking up the divine energy of the forest, of the river—and of the spiders.

I wonder if those dream catchers work for daydreams too. For, as I sat there on that bench, I surely was daydreaming about the mystery and meaning of spiders. And the dream catcher that I carry always in my heart absorbed the negative, fearful arachnid connotations and only let the good spider magic and inspiration enter my daydreaming mind.

Then prayer and meditation complete, but still enveloped in this spider connection, I slowly walked the path leading to the parking lot and my car. And there at my feet were spiders, at least a dozen crisscrossing in front of my feet during the short journey. And I acknowledged each with a heart filled with gratitude and love for their existence in the world and in my life.

Gallery:

Resources:

Apps:
AllTrails. Download it on the App Store (Apple). Get it on Google Play
AllTrails is an excellent guide to the outdoors. As a Spiritual Traveler, I consider AllTrails an essential tool for planning some of my spiritual adventures. Discover the best hiking, running, and biking trails in your own backyard and around the world. Explore 200,000+ hand-curated trail maps plus reviews and photos crowdsourced from millions of hikers, mountain bikers and trail runners. Find that dog-friendly or kid-friendly trail that you’ve been searching for. Whether you’re a hiker, biker or trail runner—whatever your spiritual traveling style—AllTrails will help you find the way.

Locations:
Galien River County Park
17424 Red Arrow Highway
New Buffalo, MI 49117
http://www.berriencounty.org/1297/Galien-River-County-Park
Galien River County Park trails include a variety of surfaces, views and destinations. Explore the river, walk the woods, or experience the canopy walk.

YouTube:
Guided meditation with Spider medicine 
by Kristian Cloud
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o2RY9eTzGk

Websites:
A Guided Meditation With Spider 
by Pixie Lighthorse
https://insighttimer.com/pixielighthorse/guided-meditations/a-guided-meditation-with-spider

In this Guided Meditation, Spider’s invitation is to journey through the watery west and allow her to consume your past. Spider represents infinite Being and can take what you’ve experienced thus far in this life and past lives, devour it, and reweave a more harmonious web containing only the elements that you wish to carry forward on your soul’s journey.

Spider Symbolism & Meaning
https://www.worldbirds.org/spider-symbolism/

PowWows.com
https://www.powwows.com/what-is-a-dream-catcher/