Mystical Spider Deities
By: Nancy Bennett

   long before recorded time, the spider had a place in our beliefs. Mhammed was saved by one. Robert the Bruce was inspired by one. Many cultures celebrate spiders in their

legends and history. It's not hard to e caught up in the magic of the Spider.
In the begining, say the Kiowa Plains people, there was no fire. The animals suffered. One day they noticed smoke coming from the center of a dead tree on an island. They decided

to try and steal the fire fromt he tree but. But no one could swim the waters until a water spider, Kanane'sku Amai'yehi, agreed to try, she was ingenious, bringing along a pot.

When she reached the top of the dead tree, she used her web to lower the pot down and pluck out a few coals. to this day it is she who keeps th world warm.
  
    In Southwestern Native Traditions, it is Spider Woman who is responsible for the creation of woman and man. Spider Woman used the clays of the earth to form thepeople. To each

she attatched a t hread of her web from the top of her head. This thread was the gift of creative wisdom, she bestowed upon all.
  
     Some people forgot her gift and as a punishment, she sent a great flood to destroy them. Three times she covenered the world with water. Those who had forgotten her gift were

dorwned. Those who remembered floated to the new world, and climbed to saftey through the Sipapu Pole to the womb of Mother Earth.
 
     Spider's scientific name is Arachne. Arachne was a lyndian girl whow as very skilled as a weaver. She challenged the Goddess Athena to a contest to see who could weave the

most beautiful tapestry.Artachne's Tapestry was a fine one, but the goddess's work was better. Athena changed Arachne into a spider, condemning her to weave forever as a warning

to other mortals who would dare to challenge a goddess..
 
      In Teutonic myths, three sisters, the Norns, Spun secret meangins into life by way of the web. The norns also known as the Wyrd sisters, would spin, measure, and cut the

thread of life. To them alone was known the precise moments of each persons death and birth. They lived in the deep roots of the Yggdrasil; they made sure the tree was  was kept

healthy and well fed. Odin hung on this tree for nine days, and he received the knowledge of the runes from the sisters.
  
     In the Northern Vanuatu Islands in the soutwest Pacific, spiders appear in paintings and tattoos  as well as in spider cloth. This cloth is supple, but tough. It is also

fairly waterproof and resistant to rot.

   In the southern island of Malakula, spider web cloth is used as a base for artwork, ritual head dresses, and sacred clothing. When men wear these coverings they are said to be

consumed by the "spider spirit"  Men perform complex male funerary ritualin these costumes. The rituals emphasize who is both spider and man. He is a trickster, a provider of

wisdom and a keeper of stories, and he ofen serves as a link between people and the supreme being. Anansi put all the wisdome of the world in a pot to keep it safe, but the pot

was so big he couldnt' carry it. His son suggested that he put the pot on his back, as it seemeed the wise thing to do. Anansi grew angry, as he now relized that all the wisdom

ewasn't in the pot. In a fit of temper, he tipped over the pot and now the wisdom is available to all people.

   There was a time when the gods first visited earth. They used the tall trees to climb down from above and were saddened by how the people were abusing the land. They wanted to

return to heaven , but the men had cut down  all the trees. So they turned to the spider and asked him to weave a ladder to the sky so they might return home. For this action,

spider was blessed by the gods who now use the wens of spiders to visit the earth at night. In Africa they blieve that the remnants of those ladders can be seen in the morning.

Snagged in the branches of trees.

   At Yule, we observe our own spider myth. Long ago, a poor but faithful woman set up a tree for her children. She cried because she had no gifts to give t hem and went to sleep

with a heavy heart. During the night, spiders spun delicate webs along the branches. The gods were so touched by her faith that the webs turned intos ilver. Tinsel on the tree is

our way of remembering this myth.

   Of all the species of spiders known to man, ony about twenty are dnagerous. Among those is the black widow, found in North America. She is armed with a poison which can be

lethal or unpleasant depending on the age, health, and size of the person she bites.

   Normally very shy black widdow likes to hide in dark corners or in woodpiles. There is an antivenom available to treat black widow bites but it is effective only oncecin your

lifetime. The antivenmon is milked from black widows, much as snakes are miled to provide an antivenom for snake bites. It takes the venom from 28,000 spiders to make a single

dose of antivenom , making this medicine, is very costly.

   In  the 1700's spiders were thought to be a cure all for diseases. Enclosed in a neckalce, they were worn live, around the neck asw a lucky charm to ward off illness.

   In 1760, Dr. Watson, advised that a fever could be cured by "swallowing a spider, gently bruised and wrapped up in a rasin or spread upon bread and butter." Luckily for the

spider, such treatments are no longer in use!

   Many spiders superstitions have remained with us. "step on a spider and it will rain." Webs on a railing cause owners' ailing."  " if you are lucky enough to have a spider land

on you, it means that you will receive a gift in the form of gold or new cloths."

   Movies, in myth, or even in our woodpiles, spiders continue to amaze us. They are extremely helpful, killing many harmful insects, prtoecting crops, and keeping the natural

balance in the world. Spiders, the eternal weavers, enter every corner of our homes while we continue to spin tales about them and envy their handiwork.

Note From WEbsite Owner:
   Typing this out for your enjoyment, was quite a feet for me. As I am petrified and just scared shitless of spiders. The typing part was not that hard, it was the graphic search that took my stomach on a rollercoaster of nerves and feelings.
   But alas here is the Article on Spiders. I hope you all enjoy and learn a tad from it I know I did.

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