Spiderwoman in Mythology, Sacred Stories, Today

Spiderwoman is signified by the popular "dreamcatcher" of the southwest: she is the bright bead that is at the center of the "web," weaving our dreams and lives. In this sense she symbolizes inituition and perception, creative force and ingenuity—the wisdom of the ages perpetually recreating itself anew.

Her Story

"In the beginning, there was the dark purple light at the dawn of being. Spider Woman spun a line to form the east, west, north, and south. Breath entered man at the time of the yellow light. At the time of the red light, man proudly faced his creator.

Spider Woman used the clay of the earth, red, yellow, white, and black, to create people. To each she attached a thread of her web which came from the doorway at the top of her head. This thread was the gift of creative wisdom. Three times she sent a great flood to destroy those who had forgotten the gift of her thread. Those who remembered floated to the new world and climbed to safety through the Sipapu Pole the womb of Mother Earth."

Southwestern Native American creation story

Spider Woman is an important goddess among many southwestern Native American tribes. Though occasionally destructive, she is nearly always portrayed as beneficent. The Keresan Spider Woman created everything there is by thinking, dreaming, or naming; she taught the people how to plant seeds.

Cherokee Grandmother spider brought people the sun and fire. She taught them pottery, weaving, and how to make ceremonial blessings. Spider Woman is responsible for bringing fire among the Pueblo, Tewa and Kiwa tribes. A spider woman called Biliku, found in the Indian subcontinent, also brought fire and light.

For the Hopi, Spider Woman is a creator who helped the people during their emergence, created the moon, has the power to give and take life, and is connected to hunting and agriculture.

Who She Is Today

Spiderwoman today is a lineage of women known as, "The Grandmothers," who are committed to empowering the Divine Feminine in themselves and the world, to honoring the mother as the center of life and as the primal life-giving force of creation, and to being of service to humanity.

A Song from Black Elk

And you, Mother Earth, the only Mother,
you who have shown mercy to your children!
Hear me, four quarters of the world
- a relative I am!
Give me the strength to walk the soft earth,
a relative to all that is!
Give me the eyes to see and the strength to understand,
that I may be like you.
With your power only can I face the winds.

Hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya!

Black Elk Speaks, John G. Neihardt, Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1979

WORKSHOPS

• Wisewoman WisdomWalk: 7 Sacred Path Initiations of the Spiderwoman Clan
  

INITIATIONS

RITUALS/CEREMONIES