Divination: Whispers from Spider - Divining With the Spirits of Place

By Melanie Paquette

Sometimes, life offers us more challenges than we’d like. I’ve found myself in the middle of one of those times. I have multiple family members dealing with serious, life threatening illnesses. I’ve become more of a caretaker for them during this time. It’s frightening and exhausting, wondering if your mother, or worse, your child, will be able to heal and thrive.

I’ve spent more than a decade trying to bring magic into my life. It can be tricky, this business of being an adult in the world – magic helps. Of course, magic means a lot of different things to different people. Many people love the implements of magic – the tools, the ritual, the aesthetic. I’m no exception – I have enough crystals in my house to start a store, over 100 tarot and oracle decks, herbs, oils, tools, incense, garb – you name a magical tool or ingredient – there’s a good chance I have it. And as much as I love my collection of magical things, for me, the real magic is in the ordinariness of everyday life. True magic comes when you’re aware of your surroundings, when you notice things that you might have missed if you weren’t intentional, and can pick up on the messages from the world around you.

Friday morning, after a relatively sleepless night, I woke up early and decided to prepare a crystal elixir I’m making to help my mother through her lung cancer treatment. The crystals needed to charge the water in solar energy during the day. As I was placing the water and the crystals outside in my yard, I noticed a thin strand of silk stretching out from my patio umbrella. I followed the strand and found the beautiful web of an orb weaver spider (an araneus diadematus, or cross spider, to be specific)  suspended between the umbrella and the frame of my gazebo. The web was so intricate, a tightly woven network of spirals with lines extending out to provide support. The spider sat in the centre of the web, apparently motionless. Just waiting.

I have a special relationship with spiders. They have become very important to me in the last few years. So naturally, I wanted to capture this moment with a photo, but under no circumstances could I make my phone camera focus on the spider. The way the spider was positioned in the web made it so that the camera couldn’t really “see” it. So I sat and observed the spider for a while. I watched as it sat in the centre of the web, more or less motionless, until it sensed something and reacted by moving its legs or changing the position of its body. I watched as something landed on the web, the spider ran to the object, decided it not to be useful, ejected it from the web and gracefully swung back to the centre on a thread of silk.

It seemed like this spider had something to tell me, and I started pondering how I could do divination with the spirits of place – the plants and animals that co-exist with us – to better understand their messages.

Now, there are many, many animal oracle decks that will tell you about the spiritual messages and medicine associated with various animals, birds, and insects. Googling the spiritual meaning or medicine of a particular animal will give you tons of information. But I wanted to try something different. I wanted to understand how the behaviour of the animal could help divine messages that would be meaningful in my situation. So instead of turning to oracle decks and animal medicine – I did some research, and based my divination on that.

Orb weaver spiders start their web by building a network of spokes that form the basic scaffolding of the web. These particular strands of silk are not sticky – that’s why the spider doesn’t get stuck in her own web – she knows which strands to walk on.

And so I learned … build a stable structure, and make sure you have a clear path to travel.

After building the basic scaffolding of the web, the orb weaver begins to build a spiral of sticky – the part that her prey will stick to. A successful web is one that is not visible to prey. The stickier the web, the more visible it is, and the more likely it can be avoided by prey. A less sticky web is less visible but may be less effective at holding the spider’s prey. The spider must be discerning when spinning – constantly evaluating the tradeoffs between visibility and stickiness.

And so I learned … evaluate your options. Consider what will be the best use of resources in any given situation. Exercise discernment.

Orb weaver spiders generally react to vibrations in their web. When they sense vibration, they react. They run along the non-sticky pathways to the source of the vibration and make a decision. If the disruption is a food worthy insect, the spider will bite it and wrap it in silk. The wrapped prey may hang in the web to be consumed later. The initial bite paralyzes the prey and protects the spider from bites or stings, and starts to prepare the prey for consumption. If the object in the web is not food, the spider will eject it from her web.

And so I learned … react when you need to – otherwise, conserve your energy. Travel the well trodden path to your destination. Take only what you need. Protect yourself, and keep your space clear of things that don’t serve you.

Most orb weaver spiders are nocturnal – this is when they do most of their work. During the day, they will hide near their web, perhaps under the shelter of a leaf, returning to the web only if needed to deal with prey. In the evening, they will often consume their old web, rest for about an hour, then spin a new web nearby. Those that don’t spin new webs every day will use the evening time to make repairs to their webs.

And so I learned … honour the natural cycles and rhythms of your body. Rest when you need to. Take care of your space. Tomorrow is another day, with new possibilities.

The cross spider in particular has shown to be able to adapt the construction of its web to the environment. They account for the size of the space, the presence of obstructions, temperature, wind, humidity, the size of prey they’ve captured in the past, and their own silk supply, and change how they build their web based on all of these factors. They will vary the size, design, shape, and number of spirals to build the most effective structure for their current environment. It’s thought that spiders do this by spending time exploring their environment, and then using what they’ve learned from that exploration.

And so I learned … get to know your surroundings. Consider how the environment will impact you, and what impact you may have on it. Build in harmony with the space you’re in. Be flexible. Learn from your mistakes. 

I could continue a deeper study of spider behaviour and divine many more messages, but I’ve already received so much.

So next time you have an encounter with a bird, an insect, or an animal, consider the guidance you can take from its behaviour, its role in the environment, and its day to day existence, instead of reaching immediately for metaphysical and spiritual tools. I could have looked for guidance in any of the animal oracles I own and would have been given beautiful messages about the spider as a guide for creativity or the weaver of fate, dreams, and destiny. I would have been excited to hear about all of the magic I could create based on the spiritual meaning of the spider. But sometimes, we’re so caught up in curating a perfect magical experience, that we forget that there’s magic all around us, just waiting to be discovered. That sort of magic is the most potent, most beautiful, and most usable. Slow down, breathe, listen, observe. The spirits of place are always telling us stories, giving us guidance. They’re waiting for us to listen.

Melanie hosts workshops and offers Tarot readings. Check out her offerings on our website.