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Lisa Cluff

Spider Symbolism Around the World


Spider Symbolism Worldwide by Lisa Cluff

 

Spiders are an important part of our ecosystem and have shaped many of our cultures. They represent Patience, Persistence and the interconnectedness (web) of everything. Spiders are known for their opportunistic hunting techniques and their ability to spin webs linking them to the origin of spinning, textile weaving, basket weaving, knotwork and net making. We are going to go over how different cultures view spiders, and talk about different types of spiders.

 

Greek - Arachne - Arachne was the daughter of a famous Tyrian purple wool dyer. Growing up around her fathers business, Arachne became adept at the art of weaving. Eventually she considered herself better than the goddess Athena and challenged her to a weaving contest. Athena wove a tapestry featuring her victory over poseidon. Arachne wove a tapestry featuring many episodes of infidelity among the gods of olympus. The goddess conceded that Arachne’s weaving was flawless but was infuriated at Arachne's pride. Athena destroyed Arachne's tapestry, loom, and cursed her to live with extreme guilt. Arachne hung herself out of sadness. Taking pity on her, Athena brought her back to life as a spider.  

 

Egypt - Neith - Egyptian goddess of cosmos, fate, wisdom, water, rivers, mothers, childbirth, hunting, weaving and war. Her name means “She is the terrifying one”. Neith is said to be the first and prime creator, she created the universe. Neiths symbol and part of her hieroglyph bore a resemblance to a loom. Later as Greek and Egyptian cultures merged she became tied to Athena.

 

Africa - Anansi - His name translates to “spider”. He is associated with stories, wisdom, knowledge, and trickery. Anansi is best known for his ability to outsmart and triumph over more powerful opponents through his cunning, creativity and wit. His role is both light hearted and profound.

“The wisdom of the spider is greater than that of all the world together” - traditional saying from the Akem people of West Africa

One of the stories with Anansi is about his involvement in the creation of the world. Anansi spun the fabric from which people would be made. He acted as a messenger between the people and the gods and helped the Sky god give people Day, Night, Rain and Wind.


Ukraine/Germany/Scandinavia - Christmas Spider - Eastern Europe has a Christmas story that involves a spider. They place jeweled spiders on their trees. The tradition dates back centuries; There are many variations of the tale, most of the time it is about a poor widow and her children. They don’t have enough to decorate their tree. The children go to bed sad only to wake up to beautiful cobwebs spun by the spider in the night. The spider wanted to thank the family for the warmth they provided in the winter. When the children opened the window and the morning sun touched the webs, they turned to silver and gold. The spider saved Christmas and brought prosperity to the Widows family. To this day the placement of the spider on the tree is supposed to bring good fortune all year.

 

China - spiders are called “happy insects” and are believed to bring happiness in the morning and wealth in the evening. It is a custom to feature spiders as symbols for luck in auspicious paintings.

 

Japan - “a spider in the morning is different than a spider at night” discovering a spider during the day is a good omen vs at night when it is considered a bad omen. So if a spider is found at night, it is killed. During the day they would let it live. Japan also has several Yokai (creatures of Japanese folklore) that revolve around spiders and spider creatures. Jorogumo and Tsuchigumo are two.

 

Hinduism - the interconnections of a spider web is a metaphor for the interconnections of the universe and structure of reality.

 

Native American - Hopi, Pueblo, Navajo - Spider Woman - in Native American culture spiders have a strong association with creation. Spider Woman acts as a teacher and helper imparting wisdom, skills and healing. She is a wisdom keeper, a grandmother figure. She taught weaving so people could survive their first winter in North America. Dreamcatchers are depictions of spiderwebs.

 

Italy - The Origins of the name Tarantula come from Italy. It comes from the Tarantella dance, the Tarantism Trance. Which translates to “A Dancing Mania”. An Epidemic presumably caused by the bite of venomous spiders (wolf). The effects of the spider bite had to be counteracted by distributing the venom over the whole body and “sweating it out”. Which was accomplished by dancing to a special kind of music - The Tarantella.

 

Spiders are Venomous not Poisonous

 

Venomous - secreting venom, capable of injecting venom by means of a bite or sting

Poisonous - (substance or plant) causing or capable of causing death or illness if taken into the body

 

Spiders are never “aggressive”. In the hobby when talking about temperament the term is “defensive”. If you have seen videos of people being chased by spiders or arachnids, they are actually chasing the shadow. Most Spiders don’t see well despite having 8 eyes. They are chasing the “dark spot” to try to hide.

 

Spiders usually have 8 eyes (some of 6 or fewer). Only a few have good eyesight. Most rely on touch, taste and vibration. Most are able to detect little more than light/dark intensity changes. (hence why they chase the shadow)


There are a few species that have great vision, they use for hunting. Jumping Spiders (salticidae), Flower/Crab Spiders (Thomisidae), Wolf Spiders (Lycosidae) and Net Casting Spiders (Deinopedae).

 

Although spiders are widely feared, only a few species actually carry medically significant venom. Pest control companies take advantage of the fear and play into it. Spiders will only bite humans in self defense. Most of those with medically serious bites from maybe a Brown Recluse (Loxosceles reclusa) or Black Widow (Latrodectus mactans) Happen because they feel trapped. They would much rather flee and play dead and be left alone. Sometimes some spiders will  throw their front legs up in an attempt to look bigger and act as a warning. This is called threat posing. Some of the more defensive breeds will slap the ground as a warning to all around that they will not be messed with. There are only 10 species of spiders that are considered medically significant (Phoneutria, Atrax, Latrodectus, Loxosceles, Sicarius, Hexophthalma, Hadronyche, Illawarra, Macrothele, Missulena). No one has died in the US from the Black Widow bite since 1983. (in latin Latrodectus mactans means “murderous biting robber”.)


If you are interested in keeping spiders, proper care and enclosures are a big part of keeping creatures with medically significant venom. It can be hard to find good books on care as many of those books that are out there have outdated husbandry. I have found that the best knowledge is gained from talking to experienced keepers.


Tarantulas - There are two types, Old World and New World.

 

New World - These are species indigenous to the Americas. Bites from these guys generally pose little threat to humans. Their primary defense is their urticating hairs, which is like fiberglass. When they feel threatened they will take one of their back legs and “kick” the little hairs on their abdomens at whatever is bothering them. If that doesn’t work then they will try to bite it. The “mechanical damage of these is worse. NW also are pretty docile in temperament, a lot of these species such as the Aphonopelma and the Grammosolas make great first pets if you are interested in keeping T’s.

 

Old World - Tarantulas from the old world (Asia, Africa, Australia, etc) lack urticating hairs and are more likely to bite. They are far less docile than their new world friends; They are a lot faster, sometimes they are known as “teleporters' '. Although this venom won’t kill you, the effects can be brutal and in some cases, can last for months. Venom is much more potent. The “fun” starts with immediate localized pain that some have described as a 10/10; that pain then works its way up the extremity, affecting more of the body. Those who have sought medical treatment for this pain say that nothing prescribed touches it. Then there can be the other “fun” symptoms, including:

● vomiting

● dizziness

● heart palpitations

● disorientation

● shortness of breath

● low blood pressure

● excruciating full-body cramping

● chest cramping

● difficulty breathing

● lingering numbness

 

 Two Good Stones for working with Spider Energy -

 

Spider Web Obsidian - protective, good for cutting ties to what no longer serves you, gives us strength to gently break the energy cord and helps us to weave our own dreams,

 

Spider Web Jasper - Reminds us of the interconnectedness of all beings, Stabilize Aura, Encourage deeper compassion, peace and kindness, soothing, grounding

 

Conclusion

 

Spiders teach us that we are the master weavers of our own lives. We are capable of creating, weaving and spinning our own webs (realities). They invite us to pause and reflect on the patterns of our lives and try to understand them. They call us to recognize the beauty in every connection; to use the art of patience and strategy and to recognize opportunities given to us.

 

Youtubers

Tom Moran - very informative, great care guides

 

Tarantula Collective - very informative, great care guides, makes his own documentaries, best videographer/photographer

 

Tarantula Kat - informative, funny, relatable, fun to watch

 

Dark Den - funny, awesome enclosures, get to see T care/info from another country

 

Daves Little Beaties - his care and the way he handles his spiders is so good

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