He keeps running all along the ceiling of my office. It's like he's making rounds. I can co-exist with him peacefully as long as he doesn't try to get on me. The kids saw him and got scared, so I told them he was my little friend. Now they aren't afraid. I was thinking that the Year of the Spider has passed and that this might be the Year of the Lightening Bug, but maybe Mr. Spider wants another year.
Does that seem wrong to say 'lightening bug' instead of 'lightning bug'? Have I already mentioned that? I think I say 'lightening' because it's short for 'lightening-up bug', like old timers who would have called them 'lightenin'-up bugs' because old hillbillies tend to have long, descriptive names for things. I just recently realized that I add that extra 'e' sound when I say it and write it.
Speaking of lightening-up bugs, on July 4th while I was sitting out on the swing with my Dad and waiting for it to get dark enough for the fireworks bonanza, I mentioned to him that it seemed like there was an unusually large population of lightening bugs this summer. He said that there had been an article in the paper about it and that it wasn't just me or my yard. I was so pleased to find out that I hadn't imagined that there were more than usual. For whatever reason their numbers are way up this year. Maybe they have population booms like the cicadas that people talked about so much last year. (We didn't have any cicadas in my yard last year, but some people had so many that their ground was covered by them. Oddly enough, we have more cicadas this year.)
I had been thinking that maybe all of that meant that it would be, shamanistically speaking, the Year of the Lightening Bug and that it would suggest enlightenment and communication. None of my books have lightening bugs and their symbolism defined, so I have come to my own conclusions about what they mean based on their behavior and appearance. I think they indicate enlightenment simply because that's what they do. I am fascinated by the way living creatures can create light like they do (and some deep ocean creatures too, very cool!), and there are places that buy captured lightening bugs for research. Their lightening up is related to mating (isn't everything when you boil it down?) and communicating. I think I've read that the females emit a pheromone that makes the male light up so they can 'talk'. Maybe that's an oversimplified explanation? Anyway, for my purposes, it goes along with the symbolism of communications with the visible (light) and the invisible (pheromones).
But I keep encountering spiders and that's making me wonder if they aren't done with me yet. Spiders symbolize a lot of things. They are very complex. Here is a tarot card I did last year that kind of touches on the basics:
What it says about the Wheel also applies to the Spider's Web. So I guess maybe both of these influences are important to my life right now. I'm sure I'll be writing more about this later.
11 comments:
"I think I've read that the females emit a pheromone that makes the male light up so they can 'talk'". Well, isn't that the way it is all over? Women have to give men the green light before men can say anything! ;-)
why yes, dear hammett, that *is* the way it is everywhere, isn't it? But actually, the males have to light up first in response to the female's unspoken signals. Then the female looks at all the males' 'lights' and then chooses the one she likes best. At least that's the way for lightening bugs. It's kind of like birds too when the males do their big displays to attract females. Some 'primitive' tribes engage in similar displays with the males wearing phalluses of varying size and shape depending on their status in the tribe. We 'modern' humans have it all backwards with women having to do all the displaying to attract a mate.
Spiders represent evil. At least in my opinion.
Now I have the willies.
I like the card. I've never seen the Wheel of Fortune depicted as a spider's web before. Interesting.
Rae Ann -
This is the second time I tried to write this response, and I'm really having a hard time expressing what I want to say. I don't think we modern humans have it backwards. Human males just attract females differently...with kind words, soft caresses, etc. Frankly, I'm not impressed with the plumage human males have to offer females. If the propagation of the species were dependent on men prancing around strutting their stuff, well either females would need great senses of humor or humans would have become extinct centuries ago.
On the other hand, men are primarily attracted to women visually. There's a beauty in women that I just (thankfully) don't see in men. That's why there are gentlemen's clubs where ladies dance for men(and there have been, in one form or another, for centuries). That's why so many more men than women enjoy porn. And I say *lighting and finally lightening up* Vive la difference!
tayster, sorry, man! I used to have a spider phobia, but studying shamanism has helped with it a lot. I still don't want one crawling on me though. EEK!
squirl, welcome to Hoe Land! Yeah, for some reason those two things (web and wheel) really seem to fit for me. I sometimes connect things that don't normally seem to be related.
dear hammett, I was thinking along the lines of how it has gotten ridiculous the way that women (and some men, metrosexuals and body builders in particular) go to crazy, extreme, and unhealthy measures to try to attract the opposite sex. Yes, men are visual, but women are too. (I am very visual, but I'm not all that to look at.) I'm not impressed with plumage beyond the initial visual interest. It has to be backed up with as you say "kind words, soft caresses, etc." Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What I see as beautiful male plumage might not be seen as that by someone else. The mental or *fourth dimension plumage* is much more important than any of the physical stuff. The fourth dimension plumage (I like that term I just came up with) includes the pheromones and other 'chemistry' that people have that can't always be defined. Anyway, thank you for your thoughtful comments!! To quote an old commercial, "I'll leave the light on for ya."
We have a no-kill rule about spiders in our house. We usually leave them alone until they get too big, then we catch them and let them go outside.
By the way, I left this comment for you over at my blog, but figured you'd read it sooner if it was posted here.
I love visual storytelling (obviously), so I'd love to write a story based on an image you created. I didn't realize the idea had already been executed. I thought it was more along the lines of: "Well, it's about this guy, and he's gay, but he's a CIA agent, and it ends with a fight on the moon..."
So, yes. I would love to collaborate on a project. That would be fun. We could cross-post the result on our respective blogs. Feel free to email me if you want to talk further about it.
I like the tarot card. Did you also do the inkblot from the last post? That was really cool.
I really hate bugs, but for some reason, spiders don't bother me that much. As long as they leave me alone, I leave them alone. I guess because they are considered "good bugs" and eat "bad bugs". I haven't paid much attention to the lightening-up bugs myself, now I will be watching for them! I have never heard the expression "lightening-up bugs". Neat.
Perhaps it's time for The Who's "Boris the Spider" to make an appearance on your lyrics blog...
That thing looks scarily large. I don't think I co-exist with a creature like that. It seems to possess an otherworldy intelligence, at least that's how I feel when I view that pic.
Spooky.
madman, I see spiders all the time, but I'm sure that doesn't mean that I have lots of secret admirers. Interesting...
chris, great! Thanks! Yes, I'll email you with more detail, and yes, I've created all the 'artsy' pictures that I've posted here and on my Lyrics of the Moment Blog, which I've been neglecting lately. The Momma's Intution Tarot link is my tarot website with the cards I've done so far.
kat, I might have made up 'lightening-up bugs' but I really do think that I heard it as a kid. I like bugs as long as they don't try to get on me. They are such strange creatures.
mr g, yes! I will post those lyrics. Great idea!
hermes, the REALLY weird thing is that this morning the spider was in my kitchen on the ceiling. It might not be the same spider, but it sure looks like it. My office is in the bonus room over the garage and you have to go outside to access it, so if it is the same spider he really does have some otherworldy intelligence. How's that for spooky? Oh, and he looks a lot bigger in the picture. He's only about an inch long.
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