Usually, I'm not a fan of spiders but in July, I had a couple of experiences with a spider. It might have been the same spider but I'm not entirely sure and I didn't really want to look at it too closely because I am wary of them if not fully afraid of them.
The first incident was when I was sitting on my sofa wearing my flip-flop-style slippers and I felt a weird sensation on my toes. I looked while twitching my toe in reaction to the strange feeling and saw this spider crawl over my toes - it wasn't a huge tarantula-sized arachnid but a small-ish one. This experience literally repeated (minus the toe-twitching) less than 24 hours later.
But why is this such a big thing for me? Well, I had a bad experience during my childhood that left me not wanting to be near a spider at all ever. At some point while on a school day trip to a zoo, my classmates dared me to either hold a spider or hold a snake. I chose the snake because I preferred them and I wasn't scared of snakes in the same way as spiders.
So when I was younger, I had a bad experience courtesy of my step-grandad. I went up to my room to get ready for bed and saw a huge spider sitting happily in the middle of the wall right above my bed, specifically the pillows on which I would later rest my head to go to sleep. Once I was in sleep attire, I went downstairs to finish off some homework and asked my step-grandad to remove the monstrosity from my wall.
He got a glass out of the kitchen cupboard so it could be humanely removed from within the home but when he came back downstairs, he told me that it wasn't there and that I must have imagined it. I spent a good while worrying about how I would actually get to sleep with it still being in my bedroom.
But then he did something that I am only just starting to overcome now: he had caught the spider in a glass and lied about it. He came up behind me once I had managed to concentrate on my homework and held the glass with the spider in it near my right ear. When I saw the spider in the glass, I just about jumped out of my chair and almost landed on the floor to try and get away from it. Both my step-grandad and my grandmother found my reaction hilarious and wouldn't let me hear the end of it for ages. As a result of this, I had a major dislike of them and couldn't stand having them in my living space.
I also remember a school trip to a local zoo and during one of the interactive talks they ran, the staff were inviting some of the children (and adults) to touch or hold either a snake or a spider. Some of my classmates dared me to do one of them and because the above experience was still fresh to me, I opted to hold the snake. It wasn't a small snake either as it was rather lengthy and took several children supporting it with both hands to hold the majority of
After this, if I found a spider in my home, I would usually not want it to stay alive but I have been trying to be more mindful of the creatures that share this planet so I have allowed them to live on in peace.
But I was intrigued about spiders because of the one that had a thing for my toes as it seems I am being told that my creativity needs to be set free and that someone is trying to stop me from being so creative. I want to be creative and I have recently felt like I couldn't give as much attention to this magickal journal/blog or my YouTube channel as I used to because I felt pressured to give more energy to other projects I'm involved in.
However, it seems that shortly before the second spider incident, the universe may have made things easier for me. So maybe the spiders weren't trying to warn me about someone trying to control my creativity and instead they were saying that things will get easier for me. They may have been trying to give me hope, to tell me that there was a creative solution that would be found that I didn't need to worry about too much.
Since these occurrences, I noticed that there is another spider in my home that has made its home with me. It lives near the bottom of some framed artworks that I put together from what I've collected from the many Witch Caskets I've received. But there's a gap between the bottom of the frame and the wall it hangs on and it's here that the spider has made itself comfortable.
This particular spider has created a web reaching from the bottom of the frame to some statuettes on the top of my desk but I love that my witchy library is right below the spider's home. Books were my escape from reality as a child and now my magickal library is helping me to improve my reality as well as educating me about how I want to practise my Craft.
Sadly since I started writing this, the original spider has perished but not by my hand or because of my two cats. I do believe that it passed naturally. However, another spider did show itself to me near to where the original one was but at the other end of my bookshelf. It has since disappeared but I'm liking that I'm not so fearful of spiders anymore, that I'm less inclined to be so possessive of the space that I live in.
I'm learning to be more creative within myself but also within my home. I'm wanting to hang more things on the walls but I'm useless with a hammer and nails and usually end up butchering my walls so I'm waiting for a DIY-talented friend to visit who is willing to assist me with this project. I have quite a collection of items to hang and I think it will be help to not have my walls as bare as they are.
I'm also starting to re-discover my creative side with projects that I've enjoyed putting together and also working on more blog posts, as well as getting more organised with ideas for my YouTube channel.
Since the summer and finding the spiders near my desk, I have found another spider in my kitchen. It has made itself comfortable near to my tea-making area. When I first noticed it, it hid in a gap between the side of the cupboard and the wall - there's a gap that is covered so not noticable unless you go looking for it. But since the Season of the Witch virtual conference, it has moved out of this gap and is happily ensconced above where my kettle sits unless I'm using it.
During my research into what the spider could mean for me, I read that a fear of spiders can highlight an imbalance in the solar plexus chakra. This chakra is responsible for the self-confidence, self-esteem and general sense of control. So again, I'm being invited to set things up in my life that will benefit me, like keeping on top of my housework, and to learn from the past so that I can build a better future.
This last spider encounter happened just after I participated in a meditation ritual for the Full Moon in Aries, so I'm taking it as a positive sign that the actions I am making will be successful in the long-run. I'm also taking it as a sign that I should be working with the various teas I have and how they can influence my actions.
I hope this inspires you to consider the significance of any particular creatures that pop up in your life and what they may be trying to teach you. Of course, not all encounters will have significance but if you feel it is important, then it will be for you.
Peace and love to all!!!
Comments