Grandmother Spider

I was looking over my old posts and reading the latest posts of others. I went for the kitchen for a snack. As I returned, I saw a dark spot scurrying across the floor. Closer inspection revealed Grandmother Spider and She asked me to talk about her.

Grandmother Spider wove the world from her dreams. That is why reality is fluid and not quite as concrete as we think it is. As a weaving goddess, Grandmother appreciates all forms of needle arts and textiles. If you sew She is your patron whether you know it or not. Grandmother doesn't care if you know; She loves you anyway. She is a good grandma and loves all Her children and their children equally. Your existence delights Her because we are all part of Her creation.

But Grandmother is not all light and love. She's been around since before time began. She understands, and values above all else, balance. In and out, cycles of seasons, the turn of the wheel, the back and forth of the shuttle, warp and weft. Grandmother is hard. She makes you learn all your lessons, even the ones you can't bear to face.

Grandmother's earthly form is the spider. Never do I harm a spider. I understand if you have a fear of creepy crawly things and I don't fault you for being afraid. But I know all spiders are Grandmother so I let them roam freely about my house. When I first became aware of Grandmother, spiders were suddenly everywhere. At first I thought this was cool, then one night I picked up my tarot bag and a very large wolf spider ran up my arm. I screamed and jumped. I couldn't help it. I asked Grandmother to please not do that and She hasn't anymore because She loves me. But She laughed like hell.

Grandmother likes stories. She weaves her words. I am especially fond of garden spiders with their neon colors and 'writing' in their webs. Some people think you should never let a garden spider see the whites of your eyes or they will write your name in their web and then you will die. I think this is nonsense. I let the garden spider see into my eyes so it can know my story and weave it for others to know.

Grandmother likes songs and poetry, too. The rhythm helps Her weave patterns. If you sew and you want to bring the energy of Grandmother Spider into your work, trying singing as you stitch. The word 'enchant' means to sing over. What is your song?

Grandmother likes to sit by the fire at night, weaving dreams into cords, weaving cords into tapestry. She tells Her stories all the while, entertaining Her children, preserving history, teaching morals. Her words get caught in the threads. The textile itself is a story.

Grandmother is a world goddess, but She prefers to live in the desert where the spaces are open and clean. She needs plenty of space for weaving. She needs dry air so Her textiles do not mold or rot. She likes the harshness of the environment because it forces one to accept things as they are instead of how we want them to be. Thoughts flow easier in less clutter, but an idea must bump against something to make itself known. She lets ideas slide into the rocks, the sand, the howl of coyotes, the prickle of cati.

She likes the heaviness of the heat, She puts the heat into her blankets so they will be warm. She likes the drabness of the desert because it makes Her colors seem more vivid. She likes the grit of sand in comparison to the softness of Her rugs.

Grandmother is a simple goddess in that She gives you Truth. Sometimes people don't want to hear Truth and they make life complicated with lies. Grandmother urges you to pare down life to the bare essentials so all your attention can focus on creating beautiful things. Whenever anyone creates beauty then their soul becomes in harmony and they are beautiful too. Walk in beauty always. And please don't step on the spiders.