Spider Medicine

 The theme for me this month is Spider Medicine.  Two mornings in a row I saw a little spider in the corner of the bathroom.  At first I thought it was a little black dot and then I saw it move and realized it was just a sweet little spider.  I said hello and went about my day.  The second morning I was soaking in the tub and I looked up to see if the spider was still there.  As soon as I looked up it, it moved.  It did not move much, just enough to let me know it was still there.  While I soaked in the tub that day I remembered my first Monsoon Season in Sedona, Arizona.  The spiders were coming out everywhere.  I had one in my RV that scared the begezes out of me.  I went for help as I was so freaked out.  Then there were Tarantulas all over the place, or so it seemed.  I quickly became determined to move beyond my fear. 

I was living in a different land. There were many scary creatures, the Tarantula, Javalina, and Rattlesnakes!  We did not have these creatures in my homeland of Minnesota.  I researched the different types of spiders and found that they do not want to attack us, they become startled and scared just like we do.  With the help of my neighbors and friends I faced that fear, I examined a Tarantula who was captured in a glass coffee pot and watched it crawl on a woman’s hand.  There was nothing to fear.  I also learned how delicate all spiders are, especially Tarantulas.  If you drop one it will break and likely die.  I was in a new place with different animals then I was accustomed to.  So I was also learning about the animals that live around me as well as animal medicine and how an animal may appear with messages for us.  It was a wonderful learning experience.

This month, I had a few other spider incidents, so it’s pretty clear that Spider is trying to talk to me.  During a healing session out in nature a little spider came to say hello to me and then. . . 

When I was walking into the pantry after dinner one night, I saw this yellow brown spider on the wall.  The spider saw me at the same time I saw it and the spider jumped, and so did I!  and then I screamed and very quickly backed out of the room and in to the kitchen, I startled my partner as he was cooking dinner and the cat raced into the other room, rug flying behind her.  I also went into the other room, and peered into the kitchen over the bar, and took numerous deep breaths.  My Sweetie looked for the spider and found it, he identified it as a wolf spider, assured me that there was nothing to worry about and attempted to capture it.  He was not successful;  I am clear it is time to look at spider medicine again.  I began my study that evening.  A few days later, that spider appeared on the wall of the counter beside the garbage can as we were finishing dinner.  I looked at the spider, no fear, and told it my blog was going to be about spider medicine, that I had already begun writing it.  My partner easily captured it and released it outside.  

So what is Spider Medicine?

When I think about Spider Medicine, I think about weaving the web of my life and writing, and I ask myself a few questions.  Should I be writing more?  Am I consciously creating my life?  Am I weaving the web of my life, in concert with my dreams?  When I first started working with Spider Medicine, it was about writing.  When a spider appeared to me the main question was; Are you writing?  My "job" at the time was to write and heal.  There is a story about spider creating the primordial language in both of these books, Animal Speak, Ted Andrews the Keynote for Spider is Creativity and Weaving of Fate.  In the Medicine Cards by, David Carson and Jamie Sams, the key word for spider is Weaving.  

Contemplating these questions and taking a Shamanic Journey with spider during meditation; the message from spider for me this time is:

Look at your life from a larger expanse.  The first image I saw in my journey, was the spider looking beyond his web into the rest of the room; Than walking from one edge of the web to the other.  I felt it was a message to look at the expansiveness of my world.  Do not be limited by what is right in front of me because there may be something just around the corner waiting just for me.  Then, I saw the image from, Charlotte’s Web, when the baby spiders hatched and decided it was time to leave the web, how they let go of the web attached to their silken thread and flew in the wind.  How does that relate to me?  Like Charlotte I have given birth.  For me it was a new blog, entitled Wonder Filled Moments.  I write every day and imagine the strands of my words connecting to those who may enjoy reading them.  A year ago I was struggling and I remember saying, “I am in charge of my life and I can create my world however I want it to be!”  Looking back at this last year I can honestly say, “I am weaving the web of my life in concert with my dreams.”  And Yes, I am writing on a daily basis!  Something I have not done in many years!

The final image from the Spider was close up of its body.  “Unlike insects, spiders have a two section body instead of three, often giving them a figure eight kind of appearance.  This in conjunction with its eight legs (unlike an insect’s six) links it to all the mysticism associated with the geometric form of the figure eight.  On it’s side, this is the symbol of infinity.  It is the wheel of life flowing from one circle to the next.”  “The spider found within the web reminds us that we are the center of our world.”  Ted Andrews, Animal Speak.  

Remember, you are the center of your world.  Is it time for you to look at how you are weaving the web of your life.  If an animal is stalking you, showing up in your space or thoughts, ask it If it has a message for you? and then become quiet and listen.  Or look it up on line or in one of the books mentioned above and see if the message resonates with you.  Or ask me, I am available for Medicine Card Readings, Nature Readings and more.  www.healinghandsofsedona.com 

In gratitude,
Linda G