double spider tapestry by patchoulipieceworks on etsy

Spiders don’t scare me.

When it comes to defining your symbols, you have to take your feelings and deeply rooted impressions into account above all. Repeating what you find in a book does not an interpretation make. Integrating the history of symbolism is one thing, regurgitating the information verbatim lacks authenticity and connection. It’s like there is a distance between the information and the experience.

When I tell you stories of symbolism, I’m often prompted to dig further into my own experience. My logical side tells me this pattern is the surfacing of memories, that I’m simply relating. The intuitive side tells me that these flashes are important for you to know in order to fully grasp the concept.

So when I tell you about spiders, know that I come from a place of power. I’m a spinner, a weaver. I share characteristics with spiders on a basic and primitive level, and that colors my perception of what they symbolize. When I talk of spinning webs, I know what it feels like to have silk pass through my hands, I’m familiar with the finesse and agility it takes.

If you’re looking for someone who will tell you that spiders are scary, it isn’t me.

When I was a kid, we had wolf spiders in our house. Initially, they frightened me because they would hop and jump, they were a little bit hairy, and you could see all of their eyes if you looked up close. As they grew, my mother explained that they were eating well, that they could polish off dozens of bugs in a day. In the desert, there are creatures lurking everywhere, and the idea that one vigilante spider was taking them down in droves was of great comfort to me.

We usually had three or four good sized wolf spiders lurking around, I’d see them at night when they would cruise across the ceiling. They were the size of the palm of my hand. Fred, Elijiah, Steve…they had names. They were big. Watching their legs slowly span the vast open ceiling space, criss-crossing delicately…it was fascinating.

Not everyone feels that way about spiders.

But I do.

How do you feel about spiders? What memories do they conjure? I know I see arachnids in a different way than most people, and I’m  curious about what you see. It adds to the collective consciousness, helps me to eliminate fear.

So spill it.

Interpretation begins with conversation.