This past week, I saved a baby spider in the shower and was visited late at night by another larger variety when it crawled over my hands as I typed at the computer. Once upon a time, these eight -legged creatures inspired a disproportionate amount of fear, until I came face to face with creatures as big as my palm, as black as the night sky, and as venomous as death.
That’s because life in the hills of the Galilee, Israel – where I lived from 2009 to 2011 – was rugged, dynamic, frustrating and rich. On one hand, I felt safer as a woman than anywhere in the United States (surprised?) and on the other, one sting from the arachnids that called our home their own could have sent any of us to the coroners couch.
The inner landscape of life in the land of milk and honey warrants multiple blog entries of its own. Suffice it for this blog to know we moved there to expose our children to a culture disproportionately maligned, misunderstood and different than our own. What I didn’t expect was how quickly I’d give up the fear that goes with modern day American parenting.
My children’s taste of free-range childhood in a place so remote from Southern California reminded me of my childhood love of playing Indian Warrior, when nature inspired creativity.
This ode to the Spider Totem pulls it all together – as the author writes, those who weave magic with the written world usually have this totem.
Spider Totem, My Love
A spider totem teaches you balance –
between 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.
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 4 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.
Tinamarie is an occasional poet and writer for several acclaimed websites. You can find her at twitter and Facebook, or send her a private message at modernlovemuse @ yahoo dot com.
©2010-2012 www.TinamarieBernard.com; PARTIAL reposts only permitted with link back to original article.
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