Three adjectives I used to describe Spider were creepy, dirty, and sneaky. This is what I shared with my friend and fellow author, Dawn, when she invited me to take part in an exercise she created to help with the fear others may carry about a particular animal which is in her new book that launched yesterday called, Shadow Animals.
What unfolded during that exercise is in chapter one of Dawn’s book. Like a Spider so beautifully and exquisitely spins a web, I’d come to realize that Spider and the adjectives I’d used were connected to my feelings from trauma as a young child.
I’d then recall how much I enjoyed the book and film as a child, Charlotte’s Web. It was Charlotte, the spider, who was so very kind to Wilbur the pig, reassuring him that everything was going to be okay. Watching that film around the time I’d gone through this exercise I’d realized how Spider had been an ally to me as a child assuring me that despite the trauma, I would be okay too.
When I received an advanced copy of Dawn’s book I realized I didn’t have a totem to honor the teaching I received from Spider. And so I set out to find something to do just that…
And I came upon this gorgeous beaded spider with a mandala as part of her body. She really spoke to me and she arrived today.
A mandala – a symbol in various spiritual traditions, often used for focusing attention and as a spiritual guidance tool to establish a sacred space or aid in meditation seemed so fitting for what Spider guided me in bringing to the surface as another layer of healing.
It’s when we can really be with that scared inner voice, listen with compassion, and allow ourselves to open to the insightful wisdom we carry within that we can shed layers of pain we either know are there or that may be hidden. Once recognized and acknowledged, how often we can set ourselves free from the angst that kept us bound too tight in a web that held us back from being our true self.
So this beautiful spider joins my Joyful Pause Cottage studio among the many other totem animals that have touched me in some shape or form. Welcome. I’m so glad you are here.
XO
Barb
