Spiders and I have a long history - not all of it is pretty. For those who look to symbols in your dreams and your world, the spider is an ancient symbol of power, mystery and growth. It represents a lot of things in various cultures - almost all of them related to power, death and control. It’s not just the spider, it’s the web it weaves and more. Like my van is my home, one I create wherever I am, so the spider’s web is a way it takes its home with it. Both of us are creating safety, security, a food source and “home” wherever we are. Neither of us is too concerned if we have to move in a moment’s notice or with the disruption of the environment we’re in. We just pack it in, move on and start again.

So, I guess it’s not unusual that spiders are turning up around me again - like this one, welded into a decorative fence at C’Ville Coffee the other day. They’re also running across the ceiling of my van-unusual, very unusual. And today I learned that the “Yellow Sac” spider - which I see constantly, is the cause of more spider bites than the brown recluse and the black widow. Just as painful and dangerous as the recluse or widow, but not as well known. I shuddered when I realized how many of these (yellow sac) dangerous spiders I’ve encountered in the past month. I killed a black widow yesterday. Superstitious? Yes, I know it’s bad luck to kill a spider, but I’ll take my chances. I think my hives may have come from a spider bite now….

But back to the symbology of spiders. I have received several emails in the last couple of days from friends and strangers even about the possibility I’m in the midst of a deep “spiritual battle,” that this is a sort of spiritual warfare I’m encountering. I believe that. I believe that the world is more spiritual than tangible and that the “battles” I’m having with decisions, choice, travel, moving forward, finding my own “truth” in spite of what the world thinks, are a spiritual battle. We all have them. It’s not new-age fuzzy woo-woo. It’s a fact. Our minds, mostly our subconscious, deeply affect our choices and decisions. If we aren’t aware of the rules, opinions and beliefs our minds have been creating since we were born, it makes sense we don’t understand our actions.

Even the clients I’ve had lately are working on these concepts. Add the spiders to that, and the dreams the medications I’m taking seem to be releasing and yes indeed, this is indeed a spiritual journey, a spiritual warfare, a battle for my mind, heart and future. Give a spider drugs (something scientists do) or alter their normal environment with toxins and they lose the ability to weave the web they need to capture their food. Alter our minds with the toxic comments and input from those around us and the same thing happens. We’re unable to weave our own webs, our tapestry of life and meaning.

The first time around in the van I listened to the voices around me - of co-workers, strangers, people who saw me as homeless. This time I’m aware of that process and counter it. Makes a huge difference. I’m still dealing with the effects of predisone and four or five other medications that are altering my brain chemistry as I fight what I’m calling “the spider bite”…..and I’m choosing to see this as a symbolic journey of personal power.

It beats watching television and zoning out at a 9-to-5 job! It’s a lot harder, but then, if it were easy everyone would do it right?

I just Googled “Spider symbology” and found this perfect post by Avia Venefica. She writes:

Just as the Spider weaves a web, so too must we weave our own lives. The Spider symbol meaning here serves as a reminder that our choices construct our lives. When the Spider appears to us, it is a message to be mindful of the choices we are making - and ask ourselves:

The infinity symbol meanings occur when we consider most Spiders have eight eyes and all have eight legs. The number eight is also a symbol of infinity or lemniscate (an eight turned on its side). Also, the vibrational frequency indicates the meaning of number eight involves cycles, passage of time, and evolution.

Hard to argue with that no?