Community We seriously are connected in ways too numerous to count. There's a whole universe of playmates out there but we overlook the vast majority of them. They're truly trying to be helpful. I've been an avid student of human nature all of my life but only recently have I discovered the real value of the rest of nature, especially the animal kingdom. I appreciate all the soft, furry and pretty creatures, as most do. I'm learning to more fully appreciate the small and seemingly insignificant varieties as well. Spiders were only the beginning. Early in my spiritual studies, I did a bit of research on animal spirits as guides. I hadn't paid much attention to this, thinking it applied to elder Native American shaman and few others. I was very wrong. Nature applies to all of us, of course. Animals, plants, trees, and weather are just as much a part of the Oneness as we are. I know I've said this, but my own lesson was finally hitting home, finally sinking in. I didn't want to study spiders, being the single species of creature which I detested the most. I didn't intend to review the whole spider message but it was brought to my attention by something rather miraculous. For a couple of nights in a row, I was feeling a bit sad. On both nights, I went outside and stood beneath the stars. I sort of danced with myself, envisioning the presence of one of my spirit pathmates as a partner. My spouse refuses to dance so I don't even try to make that leap of imagination. Anyway, on the second night, I got my little cry over with then looked up at the sky and finally I had a question. I realized that I hadn't been getting a lot of specific answers because I hadn't been asking anything specific or I just wasn't picking up on the subtle responses. Anyway, I asked what this sadness was. I really didn't understand it. I asked why it kept coming back to me and weighing down my spirit. What was it trying to tell me? Where did it come from? Well, it seems that answers are rarely straight forward or simple. I'd been getting this sadness in pieces and purging it in pieces. It's like that quote about a man moving mountains one stone at a time. I had been buried under some rubble and I wanted to just stand up out of it but it doesn't work that way and so Miss Impatience Personified had to just do it like we have to do it. Truthfully, to release it all at once might have blown me apart. My spirit knew that, I guess. So, the stars were all twinkling and there was a sky full of beautiful lights on velvet and then there was something else for me to see. I usually look toward the southern sky, but I turned around and just to the northwest was a curious grouping of stars. That special curiosity was piqued and I pondered. I eventually saw the outline of a spider. YES, a spider! There were even wispy clouds or something in that velvet sky to fill in the image and connect the dots for me. There was an egg-shaped body of a spider and strings of stars arching up and away, like spider legs. The 'legs' were twinkling, almost as if they were moving. Well, damn. Fortunately for me, the spider was facing away. I certainly wouldn't want a spider image that huge looking right at me! My first reaction was verbal and intended for whomever drew that message in the stars. "Very funny, guys, " I said aloud, then turned away from the spider. Like I'm not 'bugged' enough with those things? Next, just as I turned away, I heard a chorus of coyotes howling. We have a lot of dogs in the neighborhood and this set them off but I was sure that the initial howling was coyotes. It was that yip-yip-howl. Very distinctive. It could be mistaken for wolves but it wasn't a wolf-like wail. I have since discovered that we do actually have coyotes in the area. I had no idea. Well, the sound started to annoy me but then I realized it was sort of confirmation and a reminder about the spider. I looked at the star spider again. The coyotes continued. I thought, alright alright, you wanted me to notice this. I noticed. I turned again to the south, because the howlers seemed to be in that direction. I grinned and softly, gently whispered. "Hush, Brothers." ---- INSTANTLY, their chorus was silenced. I mean, that very moment! I grinned and said aloud, "Thank you, Brothers." and got a rather light double howl from one lone coyote. Odd that the dogs made no response this time. I guess he was saying, 'You're welcome'? It was a real charge, like a confirmation of my own power. Of course, next time I hear them singing, I won't shush them. I'll join in. Anyway, I came back into the house and got on the internet and started looking up what kind of lessons I'm supposed to learn from the damned spider. I have been plagued with the suckers and I thought I had it all handled with the tattoo thing but now there was MORE? Why yes, in fact, there was. It appeared that once I got over the initial hump, so to speak, then Spider could teach me the rest of the Spider-related lessons, all tied in with my soul wound(s) in a way. So, I learned more about the Spider spirit and shook off the willies because all the Spider spirit websites insist on posting large photos and graphics of spiders! Here's part of what I gleaned from what Spider teaches: Some say the concentration is on femininity and motherhood. Well, I glossed over that. I'll guarantee you that I have to come back to pick it up. I thought I had dealt with the children issue but I admit that sometimes it sneaks up and bites me. Here are the Spider lessons that really resonate and feel good or at least truthful: Spider awakens creativity. Spider is a link between past and future. Spider reminds us that we weave the world and our own reality around us. Spider covers at least three Magics: Creative energy or power, Assertiveness of keeping the feminine energies of creation alive and strong, and Spiral energy concerning focus or alternately being scattered in too many directions. Also the fragile nature of a spider web is a lesson. It is not intended to last forever. It's temporary art. If it's destroyed, a spider simply builds another. Spider is also believed to be guardian of ancient languages and alphabets, considered the teacher of language and the magic of writing. Spider can teach us how to use the written language with power and creativity so that our words weave a web around those who would read them. There are questions which Spider asks: Are you not weaving your dreams and imaginings into reality? Are you not using your creative opportunities? Are you feeling closed in or stuck as if in a web? Do you need to pay attention to your balance and where you are walking in life? Are others out of balance around you? Do you need to write? Are you inspired to write or draw but not following through? Okay, so then I had more questions, of course. I felt I was writing. I was creating. What is it that I'm not expressing? Or was Spider just letting me know how he/she has been helpful and I was unaware of it because of my prejudice? In commentaries about Spider's influence on writing, it was said that Spider is sometimes a muse and thus when you are in need of inspiration, then spiders will appear... like for real... and help give you a little creative push. Well, yes they might, if I didn't instantly go Postal on the sight of a spider and kill it. So, I really cannot avoid being nice to the spiders. Lovely. Before I read any of this, after I thought I'd covered the spider issue, I even set one of the eight-leggers free. That was a first. A small wolf spider found his way into my empty white laundry basket. I carried the basket outside and dumped him in the yard. (Ok I'm not cured. I took a bit of pleasure in the fact that it was raining cats and dogs out there and he would have been better off in the house, but I'm working on it!) Once all of this Spider information started churning in my head, I realized something even more important than any of the specifics I've mentioned. There was an overall lesson in this little exercise and, in a way, Spider taught me this too. It was in the best position to do that because, as noted, it was the creature that I most detested. It had my full attention. Here's the big lesson and one of my newest and most important tools: Anything that upsets me is trying to tell me something. This may sound like simple logic. It's profound. This is that concept of reflection, but taken to a much more complex level and encompassing the entire universal community in which we live, not just human behavior. If coyotes are howling and it's annoying, then they may be announcing or reinforcing a message I really would rather have skipped. Or, they could have been laughing at me for getting the shivers over a spider made of stars. If a spider crawls across my floor, he may be trying to give me a leg up (or eight) in some creative direction or trying to remind me to weave for myself. If a woodpecker is pounding on the outside of my house to my complete distraction and annoyance, he is likely trying to remind me that I can be focused and intensely searching through the layers, yet relaxed at the same time. It's how he keeps from hammering his head off. By the same token, the appearance of a deer will echo gentleness and grace, to remind me of my own gentle side and how good it is. The appearance of a rabbit can remind me of humility. Squirrels may come to remind me of resourcefulness and storing for the future or just the value of play. The slow swirl of a hawk may remind me to be watchful of the overall picture from a distance, as well as the minute details. What I'm saying is that animal spirits show us parts of ourselves. We may immediately identify with some, recognizing and appreciating these traits in our own habits and personality. Other animals may seem to keep 'intruding' on our lives. I've learned that when I'm annoyed by an animal spirit's natural behavior, it's telling me something I don't want to hear, but I really need to listen. There is a lesson I need to learn or a change that my highest consciousness wants me to make. Again, this is a reflection of ourselves in the world around us. I have also learned that while I feel connected to several animal spirits, there are aspects of them in me which I have left untended. To reach my full potential, I need to find out what I feel I'm missing and fill in these gaps, continuing to nourish what brings me joy and balances me out better. I thought I was paying attention. Now I really shall. Of course, each omen or bit of spirit guidance could have various meanings. There are references that give the generally accepted messages brought by our animal friends. To really discern the lessons though, I have to listen to me. What a concept! Some of this I've been picking up intuitively anyway. The nice stuff, like seeing a deer, has always made me feel good. However, besides general gratitude for all this cooperative energy, I need to be aware when something reaches my conscious attention and realize that there's a message in it. I need to learn to balance it too. I cannot pay attention to every single thing, but neither can I ignore or gloss over the stuff that is trying to be important. This is the trick, finding an equilibrium. Thank goodness I have spirit friends, internet information, and all the Universe to help me sort out my own spirit. (Community)

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