Dear Friends
In celebrating the spirit of Halloween today I thought I would share my recent spider encounter story with you.
This past week I took a road trip with my brother to Cheyenne Wyoming. After almost 4 years of living in Seattle, he was ready for another challenge in the form of a manager position for his current employer at a different store in Cheyenne. I was sad he was leaving but happy for him as he was excited about this new position and moving to a new location.
I decided to drive with him to Cheyenne as I was feeling in desperate need of an adventure. This sounded like a fun way to see some new sights and get out of my routine for a short time and would allow me to spend some quality time with my brother.
We spent the first night at a hotel in Boise Idaho. I would have loved to have had more time there to explore the 25 mile path along the river outside of the hotel. However, we did get a short walk along the meandering walkway to a fun restaurant and experienced many honking geese along the water edge even at 9 pm! After finding a restaurant for dinner and relaxing a bit we went back to the hotel. I wasn’t particularly thrilled with my room as it did not feel very good to me, however we were only there a short time so decided not to think about it too much and be grateful for the shelter.
As I was getting ready to crawl into bed, I noticed a small white spider crawling on the night stand. I have to say I was not happy about this sighting as I had experienced about a dozen spider bites over the course of the past couple of months while working in my gardens and yard.
The spider bites this summer along with a few poison oak exposures had sent my immune system into a bit of confusion and created a feeling of malaise for a couple of months. When I saw this spider next to the bed, I thought to myself, “are you kidding me!”. I then felt energetically into the room and could sense there were other spiders lurking around but was too tired to look for them. I crawled into bed wearing a thick sweater and sweatpants and the sheets curled up around my neck.
Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much that night and finally crawled out of bed around 5 am. As I was preparing to make some tea, I noticed another spider crawling up the wall. Ugh!! After dealing with him, I turned and noticed an even bigger spider on the bed next to my suitcase. Luckily, he/she was not on the bed where I had attempted to sleep. I admit, I proclaimed a few expletives after discovering the 3rd spider!
As I mentioned in my previous sharing, when a creature shows up in our lives and makes a point of connecting with us, it’s important to pay attention. In Native American Spiritual Totems, the spider is about creativity, receptivity, patience, and can also represent our shadow side. However, when I think of spiders I think of the incredible webs they create, so intricate and beautiful. I remember years ago, the sun was shining on several webs on my deck causing them to shimmer and glisten. I felt deeply touched and in awe of the amazing creative energy these beings possess. I would take down the webs in the evening only to find them back up in the morning. What incredible creatures they are.
While on the road trip the next day with my brother, I reviewed information on spider totems and found that the spider is often the totem for writers. I then thought, what better way to honor this totem then by sharing their journey with me recently. I talked to my brother a bit about spirit totems as this seemed to be a new concept for him. I pointed out to him that he appeared to have a strong affinity to hawk, often seeing them and pointing them out to me before I witnessed them flying and gliding on the air streams above the truck.
When I read about hawk medicine to my brother, we discovered that hawk is often the totem for people stepping into leadership positions. The hawk was supporting my brother on his journey and escorting him into his new leadership role. I felt these sightings were a very good omen for him.
I was not yet done with my spider adventure however. As I was helping my brother unpack his boxes, a small spider leapt out. He made the journey from Washington state with us. We joked that the whole ecosystem in Wyoming might change because of this little fellow finding his new home there.
I ventured back to Seattle over this past weekend. Upon arriving home, I was very tired and even though I felt drawn to changing my bed so I would have fresh sheets, I decided to wait until the next day. When I went to change them the following afternoon, I discovered yet another surprise. I took off the blankets and top sheet and there at the bottom of the bed on top of the mattress was a large spider. He must have been there all night.
How he got there I have no idea. “Alright already, I got the message, I exclaimed!!” However, this did not stop me from taking my flashlight and looking at every nook and cranny in my room. All I found were a bit of dust bunnies but no eight legged creatures scurrying about.
So, why also am I sharing this story with all of you besides the fact that today is Halloween. The reason is to emphasize once again how spirit is always trying to attract our attention and show us the path to greater fulfillment in our lives and assist us with our emotional and spiritual growth. Spirit also at times provides confirmation that we are on the right track, much like the hawk showed my brother.
Sometimes we get the message quickly and the messenger can move through our lives easily. However, sometimes we need a bit of a jolt and repetitive prodding to get us to wake up to the message life is sharing with us.
In my case, I thought I understood the message last summer: Create, create, create!! However, I obviously didn’t receive the specific message until the 3 spiders showed up at the hotel. I wonder if they were the spider spirits of Halloween’s past, present and future? When I read, while in the truck, about spiders often being the totem of writers, I felt a chill up and down my spine which is a sign of truth for me.
I then received the specific message I wasn’t fully comprehending from my earlier spider connections: Write, write, write! So why then, did the large spider show up in my bed once I returned to Seattle? I feel that was to make sure I didn’t forget the message once I got back into the comfort of routine and home life.
So pay attention my friends to the beings showing up in your life. They have a message for you and hopefully you’ll get it a bit quicker than I understood mine. But take heart, if you don’t embrace the message the first time, more opportunities will come your way!
Wishing you all the joy of connecting with your Spirit Totems, and receiving the guidance, wisdom and joy (and sometimes a bit of annoyance) they have to offer to you. In the end, once you understand their message, you will realize it is all good.
Namaste,
Rosemary Veilleux
Hello dear sister I must admit I got a bit of a chuckle out of this particular article. It’s funny you should write about the totems again because there’s a hawk living not very far for my new home. Listen to our dear little spiders they’re obviously trying to tell you something. Once again I thoroughly enjoyed the journey I’m glad you were on it with me.
Hello dear brother
It was an honor and a pleasure to join you and Max on this new journey! Fun!
Hawk is definitely a powerful totem for
You it seems. I’ll continue to listen
To what the spiders have to share but
Hoping they communicate from outside! Thank you for sharing!