Spider Spirit Animal: What Does a Spider Symbolize?
Although to many people, spiders are terrifying creatures that creep in the shadows and haunt their worst nightmares, they are also powerfully spiritual animals that can bring many benefits if you take the spider as your spiritual guide.
So in this post, we look at the powers of the spider spirit animal and the lessons she can teach us to help you decide if this spirit animal is the right match for you.
Spider Symbolism
Let’s start by looking at some of the characteristics of spiders and what they can symbolize to different people.
1. Patience
If it wants to catch prey and eat, a spider first needs to build a web – then she needs to lie in wait until an unsuspecting fly or beetle becomes ensnared in her trap.
This work requires great persistence, and for this reason, spiders can be seen as the very embodiment of patience and letting things run their natural course rather than trying to rush and get everything done at once.
2. Hard work and determination
As well as great patience, spiders also show great determination, working hard for long periods to construct their webs.
This means spiders are also symbolic of hard work and determination since they show that if you keep working and never give up, you will be rewarded for all your efforts.
3. Planning
For similar reasons, spiders also represent planning ahead since catching their prey takes time, and they can’t expect to eat immediately.
However, once their web is spun, they can simply sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor.
4. Instincts
The spider’s web is one of nature’s great works of art, with the spider’s work resulting in a creation of perfect proportions that is highly effective at delivering a steady stream of food for the spider once it’s complete.
However, the spider doesn’t know what it’s doing on a conscious level – it simply follows its instincts to produce the web that it has been programmed to create.
This makes spiders a powerful symbol of instinct and intuition because even without knowing what they are doing consciously, they are still capable of producing this natural wonder of engineering.
5. Creativity
For obvious reasons, spiders are also symbolic of creativity. Even if they don’t fully comprehend the job they are working on, the beautiful spider’s web is still a remarkable expression of their creative instincts.
6. Interconnectedness
Spiders’ webs are also symbolic of interconnectedness – we call the internet the “World Wide Web” for a reason.
The webs spiders spin also remind us of the interconnected nature of the universe and our place in it alongside everything else that exists around us.
7. Networking
As well as interconnectedness, spiders’ webs can also be thought of as a representation of networking. We are all connected to the people we know and the people they know by a complex web of links, and the spider’s web can be seen as a symbol of this.
Spider Spiritual Meaning
Next, let’s think about what spiders mean in spiritual terms.
1. The divine feminine
Spiders are imbued with powerful feminine energy and are connected with the concept of the divine feminine.
They embody many of the traditional feminine values such as nurturing, protection, maternal instinct and empathy, and they can also help you cultivate and utilize your own spiritual feminine energy.
2. Intuition
As creatures of instinct, spiders are connected with intuition and the ability to hear what your intuition is telling you.
As you grow and develop spiritually through meditation and other spiritual practices, you will become more attuned to your intuition and will be able to trust what it is telling you – and this is something the spider can help you learn.
3. Fate
The spider’s web can be seen as a metaphor for destiny since fate is always spinning an unimaginably complex and interconnected future for us all.
Although it’s impossible to know what fate has in store, through spiritual devotion, you are sometimes afforded glimpses of things to come – and by becoming more attuned to spiritual messages, you can also take more active control of your own destiny.
4. Death and new beginnings
The spider is also a symbol of death, but in spiritual terms, death is usually taken metaphorically to mean the end of something, and with all endings come new beginnings – so this should be seen as something positive to be welcomed.
Nothing lasts forever, and change is a universal constant – but if you can learn to accept change and face it with positivity, you will be well placed to take advantage of any new opportunities it brings – and this is a truth the spider can help us grasp.
How Do You Know if the Spider Is Your Spirit Animal?
So having looked at spider symbolism and the spiritual meaning of spiders, now let’s think about how you can tell if the spider is the right spirit animal for you.
1. You have great determination and resilience
Those who take the spider as their spirit animal tend to be the kind of people who are able to show great determination and resilience in the pursuit of their goals.
Although nowadays, people always seem to want to take shortcuts to instant results, spider people know that sometimes, successful projects need time to mature.
Taking the spider as your spirit animal will help you show this kind of patient determination, allowing you to slowly work towards realizing your dreams.
2. You plan carefully for the future
Spider people are also usually the kind of people who plan for the future.
Although it’s important to be present and live in the moment, keeping an eye on what happens tomorrow will help you continue to prosper – and this is something else the spider spirit animal can help remind you to do.
3. You have a strong urge to create
If you are a creative person, taking the spider as your spirit animal can help unleash your creative potential, allowing you to express yourself through your creative projects.
For example, if you are a writer, a musician or a painter, the spider spirit animal will help inspire you to reach greater heights in your chosen medium.
4. You want to cultivate your feminine powers
We all contain both masculine and feminine energies within us, and learning to harness both and use them at the right times can make us more successful in a whole range of situations.
The spider spirit animal can help you cultivate traditional feminine strengths such as communication, patience, empathy, compromise and thoughtfulness, which can often be more useful than masculine characteristics such as assertiveness, decisive action or aggressiveness.
Spider Totem
Spiders are animals that have much to teach us, and the spider totem can help us learn these lessons – so now let’s think about how the spider totem can help you navigate the challenges in your life.
1. Use your guile and your cunning
Spiders might be seen as fearsome killers, but they don’t rush into battle for no reason.
Indeed, they prefer to avoid conflict and will run away and hide rather than fight unless they are cornered and have no other choice.
With the spider totem by your side, like the spider, you will learn when to sit patiently in the background and use your guile and cunning to get what you want rather than being aggressive or confrontational.
2. Keep your true power hidden
Rather than show their strength, spiders prefer to lie in wait, only striking when their prey is caught in their web and already incapacitated.
This teaches us to bide our time too and not show our full strength until the right moment when it will bring us the greatest rewards.
3. Hard work and determination always pay off
Some things in life simply can’t be rushed. For example, if you want to learn a foreign language or learn how to play a musical instrument, there’s simply no substitute for putting in the hours to master the new skill.
In the modern world, though, people’s attention spans have become ever shorter, and few people now seem to have the determination and dedication required to stay the course.
However, the spider totem can help you find the tenacity to never give up, even in those moments when you seem to be making no progress.
Then, after all the hours and dedication, you will find you finally reach what you set out to achieve, and all the hard work you put in will have been worth it.
4. Connect to the feminine side of your nature
We’ve seen that the spider spirit animal can help people connect with their feminine side, and those with the spider totem tend to exhibit traditional feminine strengths, regardless of whether they are male or female.
For example, even a man with strong masculine traits such as decisiveness or assertiveness can also display empathy or compromise if the spider is his totem animal.
Spider Omens
Finally, let’s look at what it might mean if spiders start appearing to you, either in real life or in your dreams.
1. Lay strong foundations
A dream about a spider spinning her web – or perhaps coming across a spider while she is engaged in this activity – could bring you a message about laying strong foundations.
If you want to achieve great things, it’s important to start by building the kind of platform that will allow you to grow and develop from a solid base.
2. Release your creativity
Spiders are creatures of creativity, and seeing spiders, either in your dreams or real life, can bring you a message telling you that you have an untapped creative urge – and you need to find an outlet for it.
If you are already a creative person, it could be a sign that you are about to produce some of your best work, so now could be the moment to spend more time in your studio or at your writing desk.
Alternatively, if you don’t consider yourself a creative person, perhaps you might consider taking up a new creative hobby since the creativeness within you is beginning to build up and needs to be set free.
3. Trust your instincts
If you are facing a difficult situation in your life and then spiders begin appearing, it may be a sign that you need to listen to what your instincts are telling you and act accordingly.
This means you should spend some time in deep thought or meditation to consider the problem and what your intuition is saying.
For example, if you have been offered a new job but don’t know whether to accept, sit down quietly to reflect on all the implications your decision will have.
Then, by listening to what your intuition is telling you, you will know which option to take.
4. Be patient and bide your time
Sometimes when you are feeling particularly impatient about something in your life, the spider may come to you to urge patience.
It could be something as simple as not being able to wait any longer for your next vacation to come around, in which case the spider may appear to you to help calm your mind and encourage you to focus on the present rather than thinking too much about the future.
However, in other situations – like seeking a promotion at work or wooing somebody you are particularly keen on – the spider may come to you to remind you to play the long game because good things come to those who wait.
5. Money is on the way
In some cultures, tiny spiders are known as “money spiders”, and if one gets into your hair, it is thought to tell you that you are about to come into some money.
So rather than brushing it off or killing it, be thankful for the promise of prosperity it brings.
A powerful spiritual ally
As we’ve seen, although the spider puts fear into the hearts of many, she can be a powerful spiritual ally and guide if you take her as your spirit animal.
She helps teach you the value of patience and determination, of biding your time and waiting for the right moment to act. She can also help you trust your instincts, and she inspires creativity, making her a valuable spiritual companion to have by your side.
