Spiders in Mythology

 

Encounters with spiders at Halibut Point often have a dreamlike quality. The sightings may show their mysterious doings more than the creatures themselves. For their own protection spiders tend to work in darkness. We see the evidence on misty days when droplets  condense around gossamer webs.

These achievements from a tiny being in nature provokes our aesthetic and engineering wonder. Spiders have inspired liminal stories in all cultures of the world, from creation myths to diabolic horror tales.

In part this is because spiders lead a predatory life. They capture and harvest other life to feed themselves. As do we.

Misumena vatia, Goldenrod Crab Spider with fly 

Life-taking habits and prowess leads to some ambivalence and awe in our regard for masterful predators.

Gea heptagon, Orb Weaver

The web-making ability of spiders has fascinated people since the beginning of time, and has been a metaphoric thread of meaningful stories the world over, weaving adventure, achievement, and shades of human character with the art of imagination. Some of these have been artfully presented on the website "AncientOrigins: Reconstructing the Story of Humanity's Past".

Arachne the Weaver

In ancient Greek legend, the world’s first spider was born from the pride of a woman.The mortal Arachne was gifted in the art of weaving fine cloth and tapestries, and studied under the goddess Athena, herself a master at weaving and pottery. Arachne’s work was so beautiful, and her talent so great, that word of her weaving spread far and wide. Eventually, pride and arrogance led Arachne to boast that her work was even better than Athena’s. In a contest to determine who was the better artist – the mortal or the goddess - Arachne wove a tapestry depicting the gods in a bad light, detailing their debauchery and foolishness. The goddess Athena was furious and, in a rage, destroyed Arachne’s work.

Arachne, horrified and ashamed to realize where her hubris had taken her, hanged herself. Athena, feeling that the mortal had learned the error of challenging the gods, turned the hanging rope into web, and Arachne into a spider, so she might weave beautiful creations for all time. This is the origin of the word arachnid, a term we use for spiders to this day.

 

Hentzia palmarum, Dark-legged Long-jawed Jumping Spider

My previous spider postings have drawn responses from "creepy" to "exquisite".  That range pretty well follows the pattern of mythological portrayals. 

Creator and Destroyer

In ancient India, it is written that a large spider wove the web that is our universe. She sits at the centre of the web, controlling things via the strings. In legend it is said she will one day devour the web/universe, and spin another in its place.

Egyptian mythology tells of the goddess Neith - a spinner and weaver of destiny - and associates her with the spider. She is often depicted with a weaving shuttle in her hand, or a bow and arrows, demonstrating her hunting abilities.

Egyptian Goddess of Weaving

The website article goes on to relate accounts of the spider as a trickster god in West Africa; portrayed in sacred rocks and ceremonies among indigenous people in Australia; revered as a keeper of wisdom and weaver of the first men and women in certain Native American cosmologies.

Habronattus decorus, Beautiful Ornamented Jumping Spider

In many traditions spiders are good omens and helpful saviors. An ancient Chinese folk culture dubbed them “happy insects” bringing happiness in the morning, and wealth in the evening. Others considered them lucky tokens for the hunt.

It must be admitted that the physical characteristics enabling a spider's remarkable abilities give us pause, and relief that their size is so much smaller than ours.

Dark Dangers

Spiders cannot shake their frightening aspect, and many folktales warn of the dangerous traits associated with spiders, such as ensnaring webs, lies and deceits, lethal venoms, silent attacks, and creeping terror. In Japan the Spider Princess, a mythological spider figure called Jorōgumo, is able to transform into a seductive woman who entraps travelling samurai. The Spider Princess has many names, such as “binding bride” or “prostitutespider”. Jorōgumo morphs into a beautiful woman to beguile warriors into marrying her. Sometimes the Spider Princess appears to carry a baby, which turns out to be her egg-sack.

Spider Princess

The modern superhero Spider-Man is one of the most popular and iconic comic book characters of all time and one of the most popular characters in all fiction. He is written into stories entertaining‒and rescuing‒ humans with  extraordinary powers and awareness while presenting an alien, menacing appearance. That duality has both horrified and fascinated our species forever.

Pardosa sp. of Thin-legged Wolf Spider carrying her egg case

One Halibut Point correspondent wrote to me, "I've always respected them because I knew they were good for gardens, but didn't have the chance to delve into their finer details." Another enjoyed the spider portrait from my bathroom wall, where it still holds court.