Nearly all cultures have some sort of spider mythology, and folktales about these crawly creatures abound!
- Hopi (Native American):
In the Hopi creation story, Spider Woman is the goddess of the earth.
Together with Tawa, the sun god, she creates the first living beings.
Eventually, the two of them create First Man and First Woman – Tawa
conceptualizes them while Spider Woman molds them from clay.
- Greece: According to Greek legend,
there was once a woman named Arachne who bragged that she was the best
weaver around. This didn’t sit well with Athena, who was sure her own
work was better. After a contest, Athena saw that Arachne’s work was
indeed of higher quality, so she angrily destroyed it. Despondent,
Arachne hanged herself, but Athena stepped in and turned the rope into a
cobweb, and Arachne into a spider. Now Arachne can weave her lovely
tapestries forever, and her name is where we get the word arachnid.
- Africa: In West Africa, the spider is portrayed as a trickster god,
much like Coyote in the Native American stories. Called Anansi, he is
forever stirring up mischief to get the better of other animals. In many
stories, he is a god associated with creation, either of wisdom or
storytelling. His tales were part of a rich oral tradition and found
their way to Jamaica and the Caribbean by way of the slave trade. Today,
Anansi stories still appear in Africa.
- Cherokee (Native American): A popular Cherokee tale credits Grandmother Spider
with bringing light to the world. According to legend, in the early
times, everything was dark and no one could see at all because the sun
was on the other side of the world. The animals agreed that someone must
go and steal some light and bring the sun back so people could see.
Possum and Buzzard both gave it a shot, but failed – and ended up with a
burned tail and burned feathers, respectively. Finally, Grandmother
Spider said she would try to capture the light. She made a bowl of clay,
and using her eight legs, rolled it to where the sun sat, weaving a web
as she traveled. Gently, she took the sun and placed it in the clay
bowl, and rolled it home, following her web. She traveled from east to
west, bringing light with her as she came, and brought the sun to the
people.
- Celtic: Sharon Sinn of Living Library Blog says that in Celtic myth,
the spider was typically a beneficial creature. She explains that the
spider also has ties to the spinning loom and weaving, and suggests that
this indicates an older, goddess-focused connection that has not been
fully explored. The goddess Arianrhod is sometimes associated with spiders, in her role as a weaver of mankind's fate.
In several cultures, spiders are credited with saving the lives of
great leaders. In the Torah, there is a story of David, who would later
become King of Israel, being pursued by soldiers sent by King Saul.
David hid in a cave, and a spider crawled in and built a huge web
across the entrance. When the soldiers saw the cave, they didn’t bother
to search it – after all, no one could be hiding inside it if the
spider web was undisturbed. A parallel story appears in the life of the
prophet Mohammed, who hid in a cave when fleeing his enemies. A giant
tree sprouted in front of the cave, and a spider built a web between the
cave and the tree, with similar results.
Some parts of the world see the spider as a negative and malevolent
being. In Taranto, Italy, during the seventeenth century, a number of
people fell victim to a strange malady which became known as Tarantism,
attributed to being bitten by a spider. Those afflicted were seen to
dance frenetically for days at a time. It’s been suggested that this was
actually a psychogenic illness, much like the fits of the accusers in
the Salem Witch Trials.
Spiders in Magic
If you find a spider roaming around your home, it’s considered bad luck
to kill them. From a practical standpoint, they do eat a lot of
nuisance insects, so if possible, just let them be or release them
outside.
Rosemary Ellen Guiley says in her Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft, and Wicca that in some traditions of folk magic,
a black spider “eaten between two slices of buttered bread” will imbue a
witch with great power. If you’re not interested in eating spiders,
some traditions say that catching a spider and carrying it in a silk
pouch around your neck will help prevent illness.
In some Neopagan traditions, the spider web itself is seen as a symbol
of the Goddess and of the creation of life. Incorporate spider webs into
meditation or spellwork relating to Goddess energy.
An old English folk saying reminds us that if we find a spider on our
clothing, it means money is coming our way. In some variations, the
spider on the clothes means simply that it’s going to be a good day.
Either way, don’t disregard the message!
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