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Animal Symbolism

Spider Spiritual Meaning: Dreams & Symbolism

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Written by: Tina Caro

Spiders are connected with gods, spirits, and with the underworld. So let’s learn more about the meaning of a spider as a spirit animal, dream interpretation, and more.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In esotericism, spiders carry profound symbolism representing creativity, feminine energy, and the interconnectedness of life, often linked to the Divine Feminine.

Spider mythology spans cultures, with stories from Native American tribes to African folklore, underscoring their role as creators, weavers, and dreamweavers.

Spiders symbolize patience, determination, and persistence in spiritual contexts, reminding us to weave our destinies with care and diligence.

To connect with spider energy, engage in meditation, create intricate artwork, or simply observe their behavior in nature, embracing their wisdom and teachings.

Meaning of Spiders in Esotericism

A spider, although not considered an insect, can be included in this totemic classification. Seen as the Great Mother, the weaver of destiny, solar symbol and predator, both spider and its web are symbolic.

Spiders have taken part in mythological fables since time immemorial throughout the world. This presence in numerous cultures is undoubtedly related to the cosmopolitan distribution of arachnids.

In fact, spiders can be found in virtually all terrestrial ecosystems and, thanks to this they have entered the world’s consciousness.

This article was recently updated. I added additional explanation and included new subsections.

CultureSymbolic Interpretation
Native AmericanWeaving fate and destiny, creativity
AfricanDivine wisdom, resourcefulness, protection
CelticConnection to the spirit world, manifestation
Ancient GreekFeminine energy, weaving the fabric of life
ChineseGood luck, prosperity, wealth
Table 1: Spider Symbolism in Different Cultures

Video about the symbolic meaning of spiders

Spider Symbolism and Mythology Explained

A spider is the most intensively used arthropod in the field of mythology and symbolism. It has been also with a manifest – even disturbing – concordance in most of the terms and in their deepest or most ambivalent elements.

Pre-Columbian spider image from a conch shell gorget

It is an animal capable of making constructions of extraordinary complexity (especially for a primitive man) in the form of perfectly geometric orbicular nets.

 

This occurs in the middle of nature, a harmonious and beautiful ‘entity‘ for poets, but a wild scene of intense dramas, a source of fears and problems for its inhabitants, in which powerful, indomitable forces reside, and in which the danger and death.

In the motley chaos of the Natural, in which vegetation, beasts, and vermin intermingle, floods, storms, and dramatic climates (along with demons, monsters, and shadows …), perfect symbols of the order of the cosmos in perfect form emerge geometric nets. They can only be divine symbols.

And a small and mysterious animal builds them with a substance that it extracts from itself, creating order within the chaos by itself.

The construction of nets, the way in which some species glide through the threads, and the geometric structure of these constructions relate it to the yarn and to the destination, or make it a means of communication – conductive thread – between man and the universe or the gods.

It is considered as a lunar animal, because the moon (due to its passive nature of reflected light; and due to its affirmative and negative phases, increasing and decreasing), corresponds to the sphere of the phenomenal (and psychic) ​​manifestation to the imagination).

Spider SpeciesSymbolic Interpretation
Black WidowDanger, toxic relationships
TarantulaPower, fearlessness, embracing darkness
Garden SpiderCreativity, patience, weaving dreams
Jumping SpiderOpportunity, agility, seizing chances
Orb WeaverManifestation, setting goals, spiritual growth
Table 2: Common Spider Species and Symbolism

Thus, the moon, by the fact of governing all forms (in terms of apparitions and disappearances), weaves all destinations, so it appears in many myths as an immense spider.

The spirit of it merges with that of the moon and … the sun. The radiated form of the net symbolizes the sun from which its rays emanate. A net is attributed a solar symbolism.

The wisdom of spiders includes:

  • Weaving Master
  • Weaver of Destiny’s Weaving
  • Wisdom
  • Creativity
  • Divine Inspiration
  • Change of form
  • Understand the patterns of illusion
  • Female energy of the creative force of life.

It is a totem of cunning, cyclic progression, rebirth and death, protection and power over destiny. This totem invites you to see life from an elevated perspective and see the cycles we have passed in the positive analysis.

It’s probably the arthropod with the most intense presence in the set of primitive human beliefs.

Over five continents and over a period of 5000 years, it has been linked to important divinities in which both creative and destructive powers reside at the same time.

Already in the Bible and in the Quran reference is made to it. Likewise, many ancient men were interested in these arachnids; Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) mentions them in his writings and was the first to provide data on its biology and behavior.

It has been a symbol of Life (Creation, fertility and sex) for its ability to build orbicular net from itself, but also of Death (War and destruction) for its predatory ability and the toxicity of its poison.

This ambivalence, based on the interpretation of spider activity, biology, and general abilities, can be traced in ancient Mediterranean myths (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece), but also in the African continent, in Mesoamerican cultures (especially in the Mayan civilization ), and among Native American tribes or in the Pacific Islands.

Jorogumo–The Whore Spider
Jorogumo – The Whore Spider

Spider is the grandmother, the link with the past and the future.

In several American tribes, a spider (personified as the grandmother) was the master and protector of esoteric wisdom, and is part of the myths of creation, being for them a wise totem. Spider webs have inspired dream catchers to catch negative dreams and nightmares.

In Cameroon, it represents diligence and wisdom.

In China, a spider in its strand is a symbol of good luck.

The way you create your network shows how we can use our creative talents in our work and life. It is difficult to think that there is a person who has never seen one of these animals.

If you discover a spider creating its network, it is time to meditate and ask yourself if you feel trapped or entangled in chaotic activities, or you are preparing to create your own network (way of life). A spider will teach you how to get out of your constrictive energies and to weave your own network of power to make you own your own life.

What does the spider symbolize?

A spider symbol is associated with the infinity symbol, it has 8 legs and 8 eyes, 8 is the number of the infinity. In addition, the vibration frequency indicates that it indicates the meaning of the number eight consists of cycles, the passage of time and evolution.

It is the wheel of life that flows from one circle to the next. It teaches you to balance the past and the future, physical and spiritual, male and female.

It is the symbol of creative power and is the guardian of the ancient language, for that reason it is considered the teacher of the language and the magic of writing.

In modern society, the ancient symbolism of the spider has mixed and evolved with other symbols and feelings.

Although many meanings seem to have been lost over time, they actually continue to be part of the collective consciousness, even if they are less evident than others.

In dreams tends to manifest what we thought we had forgotten and what we did not know we knew.

So the spider takes on different meanings depending on how it appears to us, as a symbol of our unconscious it can be the manifestation of some aspect of memory that struggles to emerge and reach consciousness.

Spiritual meaning of a spider crawling on you

It also has positive connotations in modern history. In Spiderman, it transmits with its bite all the power and powers to a young man, who will fight to fight evil, and in novels like “Charlotte’s web”, it is the wise counselor and altruistic friend who helps a little pig farm.

If a spider crawls on you it means there is deep wisdom coming your way, it invites us to see life from an elevated perspective and see the cycles that we have passed through it with positive analysis. A spider crawling on you stands for cyclic progression, rebirth, and death, protection and power over destiny.

Spiritual meaning of spiders in dreams

The meaning of a spider in dreams is linked to the emotions that the dreamer feels towards him: fear, repulsion and a tendency to grasp its aggressive and predatory habits will make it a negative symbol, while curiosity, admiration or simple neutrality towards it they will result in positive meanings, linked to renewal and the ability to reconstruct the Ego.

It is almost automatic: by reflecting on the image of a big spider in dreams the dreamer will find a problem, a concern, a fear, a relationship that troubles him/her, but which he/she tends to overlook for quiet living or fear.

Dream ScenarioSymbolic Interpretation
Spider crawlingFeeling trapped or overwhelmed in a situation
SpiderwebFeeling entangled or caught in a complex issue
Killing a spiderOvercoming fears or obstacles
Being bitten by a spiderWarning of deception or manipulation
Spider as a guideIntuition, creativity, and spiritual guidance
Table 3: Spider Symbolism in Dreams

More often, problems and fears that are hidden and set aside, in dreams, a spider will then materialize them. It will be a wake-up call for something (or someone) that the unconscious considers dangerous, alarming, or ambiguous.

So the symbol of the spider in dreams can change radically by changing the perspective from which it is observed and putting aside the prejudices about its appearance.

White spider spiritual meaning

White spiders’ spiritual meaning is very strong. Basically it means that the efforts you have been making to progress in your life are well on the way, work will be rewarded economically and everything will be much easier. Things will improve as long as we do them with energy, positivity, creativity, and vitality.

Like other totem animals, spiders combine both positive and negative elements in them. This depends on the various legends that have concerned it over the centuries and therefore from the cultural differentiation of ancient and modern peoples. For some cultures it is seen as a symbol of evil.

In fact, like the Bat, it has become part of rituals and amulets that were used to recall dark forces. Other peoples instead consider it an auspicious animal, attributing to it a great symbolic value: that of creation and hard work.

Its finely elaborated spider web is compared to the complexity of life and the intertwining of the various ways of destiny.

How to connect with the spider?

Those who are guided by the Spider totem are moved to understand that everyone is responsible for their own life. In order to take on this responsibility, it is necessary to overcome the illusion that life events obey laws such as chance or are otherwise independent of the will of each of us.

Spiders also represent the symbol of creativity: this totem pushes the man of the Spider totem to free himself from the constraints of routine and to harmonize conflicting emotions or character aspects. If you want to connect with the spider you need to work on your creativity.

Ask a spider for guidance if you need to enhance your potential to create a better, happier life. You are the master artist of your life just like a spider is the master artist of its web!

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About
Tina Caro

Tina Caro is a witch with more than 10 years of experience, a yogi, an astrologer, and a passionate supporter of all things holistic! She’s also an owner of the website Magickal Spot where she discusses a variety of her favorite topics.

Magickal Spot has helped thousands of readers worldwide, and she’s personally worked with hundreds of clients and helped them manifest desires to have a happier and more abundant life.

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