A "totem" is an object representing an animal or plant that serves as an emblem of a group of people, reminding them of their mythic past or impending future.
Signs of animals in everyday life can clue us into what we need to glean from the world and universe around us. They show us through 'what they are', behaviour and traits that can help us in our everyday human struggle. It is said if we try to take on some of the totem's traits it will help us grow in the physical and spiritual world. A friend of mine asked recently what "Spider" meant. She had been bitten by a couple of different spiders recently and was seeing them frequently in her environment.
Spiders are very delicate creatures that play an important role in the myths and lore of many people's as the teacher of balance between the past and future, the physical and spiritual. The web they weave is symbolic of time interlacing, past, present and future. The spider can move anywhere in the web and can physically move her web or home anywhere, thus she is able to move anywhere in space and time. She calls us to use our creativity and weave our own dreams into reality. She asks, how are we designing the most effective life? To my friend she is saying "Pay attention!" nothing dies, everything is accessible to you through the web.
To the Native Americans, Spider is Grandmother, she who sits at the great galactic center and is the link to the past and future. She is the female force of all creation who joins all nations, all tribes, all galactic families, and all realities together, in her web. During dream time we remove part of our consciousness from physical reality and venture off through 'her' web experiencing that which we cannot understand with our physical consciousness. The Native American "dream catcher" is part of the spider mythology.
In India it's associated with Maya, the weaver of illusions. The term Maya comes from the Sanskrit root “Ma” which means no form or limit. The term Maya describes the illusory nature of appearances or illusion. The Spider’s association with Maya brings about the understanding that not all things are as they appear to be.
The Internet is a modern manifestation of the Web symbol. We are able to gather information from all corners of the globe, from the past and present, valid information and not so valid information. The "web" helps show us what Spider Woman is.
Spiders have eight eyes and all have eight legs. The number eight is also a symbol of infinity (an eight turned on its side). Also, the vibrational frequency indicates the meaning of number eight involves cycles, passage of time, and evolution.
Other spider symbolic meanings;
- Cunning
- Progressive
- Female
- Cyclical
- Rebirth
- Death
- Crafty
- Resourceful
- Creation
- Protection
- Fate