Spider Symbolism

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Spider Meaning

Common meanings for the spider spirit animal or totem are:

  • Patience
  • Receptivity
  • Feminine energy
  • Creativity
  • Weaver of life’s fate
  • Shadow self, dark aspects of life or personality

The spider as a spirit animal offers many interpretations. Its symbolism has both a dark and a light side, reflecting its connection with life’s many facets.

Spider spirit animal: Symbol of creativity

In many cultures, the spider is given credit for its ability to weave intricate webs that are a miracle of organic engineering. If you have the spider as an animal spirit guide, you may have an affinity with acts of creation and the ability to create delicate, intricate things or ideas that are also strong.

As the weaver of the web, the spider symbolizes the spirit of creation. In several traditions, she’s the totemic symbol of the Mother, strong feminine energy. In Ancient Egypt, the spider was used as a symbol to represent the goddess of the Divine Mother, Neith. In some American Indian tribes, it is considered as the symbol for the creator of the world and by extension is associated with the female creative energy.

Patience: The wisdom of the spider totem

Like the spider waiting her prey patiently, the presence of this spirit animal in your life could point to the need to show patience regarding a project or some ideas that you are trying to realize. Giving some time while paying attention to how events are unfolding and acting when the opportunity truly arise might be a lesson of wisdom from the spider spirit animal.

Symbolism of the spider: Life spirit and weaver of destiny

Just like the spider weaves her beautifully engineered web, this spirit animal fosters the integration of all parts and aspects of your life into a whole. When the spider shows up in your life, this spirit animal could guide you to integrate some piece of your personal “puzzle” and gain a more coherent perspective on your life.

The spider is a spirit animal whose purpose is to inspire you to gain perspective on an issue or project you contemplate taking on. Feel free to explore the many facets of the problem you are facing in order to find the appropriate solution. The power of this animal encourages you to count on your ability to view things from multiple angles and weave mental and intuitive flexibility into your daily thinking.

Spider spirit animals and your shadow self

If the spider shows up in your life, this spirit animal may remind you of negative aspects of your personality or your life that need to come to the light more fully. For many, spiders inspire fear or at least some form of aversion. As such, they tend to be associated with what psychologists would call “the shadow self”. In brief, your “shadow” or “shadow self” are aspects of your personality or your life that you or other people deem unworthy or not likable and are therefore rejected or repressed.

The spider as a spirit animal does not typically take on these negative attributes. Nevertheless, its presence in your life might bring up negative feelings or unease. Whenever you feel your relationship with your power animal is characterized by tension, discomfort or fear, you can ask yourself where these feelings also appear in your life. Look for any association with your personal feelings, even if it indirectly leads you to other areas of your life, such as work, family, or a relationship for instance.

Here’s another question to ask to interpret the meaning of the spider spirit animal and the guidance it offers:  

  • What kind of relationship or connection did you or did you want to establish with this animal?
  • Was the spider threatening or harmful?
  • Did you kill or harm it?

The answer will indicate the kind of dynamic that is shaping up between you and what the spider represents.

Help Overcoming Fears

Spider symbolism is powerful and the presence of mother spider in your life is not to be taken lightly. She has come to help you work with your fears. Ask spider totem animal to help you muster the courage to look at the fears that are behind the negative, critical thoughts of yourself and others.

Often when we get critical it is because we are trying to protect ourselves from something we are afraid of. It’s as simple as the arachnophobic person saying, “I hate spiders”…. the truth is “I fear spiders”.

Allow all the little fears to pour out of you into your journal. It is these fears that are
preventing the creativity in your life, not the judgments of others. You’ll find that spider spirit animal will come to collect all the little eggs of fear and transmute the energy into creativity, hatching dozens of creative helpers in your life that can help you spin beautiful webs.

Weaving a Written Web

It is said that spider created the alphabet and is the mother of the written word. There is no better companion to welcome to your home to help you wield your words on paper. What more is a story than the creation of a new reality?

In spinning a web, spider literally weaves a new plane of existence, an entirely new world. This world can be flat, round, linear or circular. It all depends on what species of spider you are watching. Each has their own unique weaving style. What is the signature of the species you watch now? What does this mean about the paths you have available?

The spider has eight legs, so spider symbolism is associated with infinity like the number 8. Imagine you now stand at the center of a web of possibilities with an unnumbered variety of paths to follow. Which is yours?

Spider meaning is strongly tied to the networker archetype who expertly crafts webs of interconnectivity.

If Spider has woven its way into your life:

  • Spider is bringing your attention to your creativity.
  • Is it at a peak right now?
  • Are you ignoring your ideas and dreams?
  • Have you taken the time to find the balance between your past and your future?

All these are subtle messages that you need to focus on. Primarily though this arachnid is giving you the message that you weave your own web in life. The reality you see before you was created by yourself. If it does not suit you then it is time to make changes.

Burrowing Spider Symbolism

If you find yourself face-to-face with a non-spinning spider such as a wolf spider or tarantula you’ll be examining a different aspect. Rather than hanging suspended by a thread and opening up to possibilities, what is needed now is to burrow into the unconscious.

These spiders dig burrows in the Earth and wait patiently for their next meal to pass by. Go inside yourself. Snuggle into the smell of the soil, know who you are and be grounded in that. Here you are safe to confront your fears. Here spider spirit animal will find you and use the effective poison in her bite to transmute those fears into true power.

All you need will pass by the door of your tunnel. Turn inward, be brave, and trust that you are safe. There is no better companion to have accompany you on any forays into the unconscious to uncover the meaning behind WHY you do the things you do.

Spider spiritual meaning is about being incredibly sensitive to vibrations and sensing things you hadn’t felt before. Spider spirit animal can help you navigate the darkness and the fears and view them from a new, less threatening perspective.

World Travelers

Spider symbolism is about the journey. Spiders are known to fly for hundreds of miles, even across open oceans, by casting out a strand of web and allowing the wind to take them thousands of feet aloft. This is known as “ballooning”. They have absolutely no control over where their journey will take them or how far they will go. They could go 20 feet or 20,000 feet.

Think about the amount of trust it takes to cast that strand and not know. Let go of control. Face the fears that cause you to try and be in control. Know that there is no such thing as control. Ask spider spirit animal to help you see that you are already on this unknown journey. Anything else is just an illusion.

If Spider is your Animal Totem

This insect totem teaches you balance between the past and future, physical and spirit, male and female. She is strength and gentleness combined. She awakens creative sensibilities and reminds you that the past is always interwoven with the future. Tarantulas (and all spiders) are the keepers of the primordial alphabet and can teach you how to write creatively. Her body is shaped like the number 8 and she has 8 legs, which is symbol of infinite possibilities of creation. Her 8 legs represent the 4 winds of change and the four directions of the medicine wheel. Spider’s message is that you are an infinite being who will continue to weave patterns of life and living throughout time. Do not fail to see the eternal plan of creation. Those who weave magic with the written word usually have this totem.

Spider

Dreams: How to interpret spiders and spider spirit guides in dreams

The symbolism of the spider in dreams is generally associated with the archetype of the feminine. If the spider appears in your dreams as a spirit animal guide or as your totem, pay attention to the messages it’s offering to you: They are likely related to an important direction you’re taking in your life.

When you dream of spiders, chances are that it refers feminine energy in your life. This dream symbol could represent a woman you know or your own connection with qualities usually considered as feminine, such as receptivity, patience, creativity.

An important element to consider when you interpret the meaning of the encounter with the spider in your dream is the reaction and feelings you experienced at that time:

  • Were you afraid?
  • Or rather intrigued or fascinated?
  • Was the overall atmosphere of the dream scary and stressful or enchanting, adventurous?

If you want to kill it, you might be repressing some feelings or trying to remove tension from your life. If it looks harmful or it is threatening to you, you may feel that some aspects of your personality or your life are not aligned with your highest interest or that you or your people around you are rejecting them. The spider in a negative dream could symbolize your fears or an adverse influence in your life.

If Spider has come into your dreams

To see this creature spinning a web in your dream, signifies that you will be rewarded for your hard work. You will be promoted in your job or recognized for your achievement in a difficult task. Spiders are also a symbol of creativity due to the intricate webs they spin.

To see a spider climbing up a wall in your dream, denotes that your desires will be soon be realized.