Grandmother spider is one of the myriad aspects of the Crone. I think I might have been born a crone. All the "old head on young shoulders" stuff applied to me as a child. I wasn't one for playing, I didn't like parties. They always made me think of unhappiness, but I wasn't a miserable child, more poetic and reflective. At least I thought so !
Now I feel at the age where I can really be my self. My Crone self. There are enough grey hairs, wrinkles,aching bones,which qualify me for the title. In my searches I have found that typically,the Crone is a little bit frightening, classically tetchy,feisty, not to be messed with. She doesn't have a very good press,at least not according to google.
However, I have also found that Crone can also be wise , a guide , a healer . These are the aspects which are re-emerging as we regain the balance of the energies which are contained within the bodies and psyches of the people of the human race.
Grandmother Spider is a crone from Pueblo indian mythology ,she weaves the web of life and helps us find our way home. If we ask her for her guidance, she will show us where to put our feet, where the thread will hold us, where to find our centre. Grandmother Spider has a lesson for us in tenacity and resilience. It was Robert the Bruce who learned from her to never give up,to pick up the thread and start again and to mend the threads when they are broken .
There are other grandmothers or "crone mothers" who can be found without in the pantheon of many cultures,but many of them are hidden. They know the value of silence, discretion, being in the shadow.
There is also, in everyone,the crone within, the voice of the wise old woman, whose teeth may be broken and body bent,who knows how to love with a broken heart, who cares what happens to the children,the trees,the rivers,the animals, plants :all our relations.
The Crone has known birth and death, disappointment, joy,fertile times and arid. The Crone is there for all of us, if we look for her and seek her wisdom ,she will teach us the how of being and becoming. She may come slowly, quietly, she may not stay for long if she is ignored . She may not give her voice readily and we might not hear her at all if we do not listen carefully, for her voice has become quiet over time.
Take a moment,find a spot and invite her, she will meet us where we are and next time you see a spider or her web, remember to send her love and gratitude.