By: Maranda Wabik
The Faery Lifestyle, , , , , , , , , , ,

Spiders as Spiritual Messengers

Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings!    Today’s post is about my thoughts on the appearance of spiders in our lives, dreams, and Tarot or Oracle readings.    Lately, I have been thinking about and seeing these arachnids quite a bit, almost as much as crows and ravens (which for me is to say a lot)!    That has inspired me to write about these magickal beings, for although they are creepy crawly creatures, they are also very important to the ecosystem.    I have never loved or hated spiders, for the most part, I have always had a live-and-let-live attitude toward these creatures.   The only ones to scare me, are ones that are poisonous, but as long as I can tell the spider is not one that can harm I am happy to let them be.   

Now that I have been thinking about them more, I have realized just how powerful they are to my psyche.    What I mean, is that like many people I can feel the fight or flight nervous system response to seeing them should I suspect they are poisonous, but once I know they are not I feel totally fine having them present in corners of the house that are inconspicuous.    While I would not desire to have them crawl on me, I appreciate having them around the plants I have in order to help keep insects like flies at bay!    

Now that I have shared some of my thoughts on spiders in the ecosystem of the world and the home, I want to move on to the spiritual associations with spiders which I have been thinking about.   One of the primary things that spiders are associated with is creativity!   As someone who writes so much and adores creating in so many aspects of life, I am so delighted to explore this aspect of spidery messages.    The appearance of spiders in life, dreams, or card readings, can herald a time of creative growth and plenty, a time of great inspiration!    This association with creativity is related to the spider being known for its weaving of webs, a creative endeavor in and of itself.    It is also directly tied to the Greek myth of Arachne, the mythological figure that gives us the scientific word arachnid.     In the myth, Arachne is an incredibly skilled weaver, and makes the mistake of comparing herself and her skills to those of the Goddess Athena, who is the Goddess of Handicrafts as well as Wisdom and War!    This led to a weaving battle between Athena and Arachne, where Arachne seemed to be winning in creating a truly gorgeous tapestry, but one insulting to the Gods, an even worse choice on her part.    In the end, an irate Athena cursed Arachne into being a spider who would spin webs forever as a punishment for her insulting the Gods!   This sad end for Arachne does serve to further associate all spiders with creative pursuits.

The other important spiritual aspect of spiders that really speaks to me is the association with Feminine Power.    Spiders are often associated with women and the work of women, like weaving itself being a historically feminine skill.    Even the classical children’s book Charlotte’s Web, the tale that made all of us feel some form of warm fuzzies towards spiders, had the titular spider be female!    A further example of spidery aspects associated with Feminine Power is the Norns of Norse Myth.    The Norns are a trio of Divine Females who are very similar to the Greek Fates in their governance over the lives of mortals, but more specifically they govern over Wyrd which is literally referred to as a Web, like the spider’s web.   The Norns weave the Web of Wyrd as they are the Shapers of Destiny in Norse myth!    I find their weaving of Wyrd to be very aligned with the magickal nature of spiders weaving webs, intrinsically linking spiders and the Norns for me.    Given that the Norns are a trio of Divine females this link also serves to associate spiders with not only Feminine Power but also the bonds of sisterhood, which means that some of the healing that spiders may foretell in a spiritual sense could be the healing of wounds associated with sisterhood and female bonds in general!

I hope that you have enjoyed this short examination of the spiritual meaning of spiders and how we can use their meanings for spiritual healing.    What are your feelings about spiders?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a spider web.   I found the image on https://maggiesfarmproducts.com/blogs/bug-help/why-spiderwebs.

Tarot Note: I have a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services!    I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon!  Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/

Further Reading