I mainly just think they are kind of creepy. A diligent and intelligent predator with very strong eyesight. Hard to brush off once they are crawling on you. And nearly impossible to escape their web (or clean it off of you, if you are a human) once entangled in it.
I'm constantly aware of the need to be savvy these days. The need to stay skilled and informed and prepared, the need to figure things out for myself, and by myself, as much as possible, lest I get tricked.
I am capable of making well-thought-out plans when attention-span and energy allows. But as far as a spider's eyesight is concerned, I, in comparison, have very poor eyesight at a literal physical level even for a human. But I also have trouble "seeing" circumstances, goals, priorities, and possibilities in proportion and in perspective, both in planning and when they come up randomly. So I'm not able to be as ruthlessly consistent as a spider is.
Eventually, there is nothing out there. Everything is within us.
I have yet to fully embrace the postmodern existential solipsism taken up by many contemporary occult self-help teachings. But Ernst's interpretation of LAs and RA/KE seems to incorporate it, in a way, as a foundational reference, so I am willing to suspend judgment for a few years as it seems to work for many. In saying that, I'm not trying to be insulting or dismissive, but this was never meant to be a cult, so if skepticism and debate ever come up, it might just be productive or even fun. I have much more to learn and practice.
???? I used to think spiders and snakes creepy too. Ever since I started integrating my shadow side (everything that I did not like about myself), I have now developed a healthy respect for them.
When I stated that sentence, I did not mention it in terms of solipsism, but more in terms of taking control of one’s own life. Whether solipsism is true or not, I am not concerned with it.
If I know why people behave the way they do, I cannot blame them and I can let go of any expectations from them. If I cannot let go of the expectations, then the problem is mine and I have full control of how to make it happen.
If I know why I behave the way I do, and if I can determine whether it brings me happiness or not, I then am able to plan a life in such a way that it minimises hurt to others and brings me what I need. If I cannot make it happen, then the problem is still mine to solve, because I cannot change others to fit into my box of how it should be.
See, the spider knows that to get it’s sustenance, it has to spin it’s web. But then it waits. Each strand of the web brings it information. It does not have to run around checking the strands and depleting its energy.
I am in the same boat as you at the moment, where my attention span and energy has reduced heaps. In my personal life, I have tracked it down to Neptune’s ingress in Pisces. I have made silly mistakes that I would normally not do and have paid for it. Now that I am aware of Neptune’s power, I am trying to work with it. Better to allow myself to knowingly enter into the realm of illusion (sleep/rest/TV/internet) and pick and choose things that allow for growth and optimism (Pisces being Jupiter’s domain where Venus is exalted allowing healing to take place), or allow boundaries to fall away by losing myself (painting/staring at the wall), than to go through life in a fog or allow life to become an illusion.
In native American traditions the spider is related to the fire element. The fire is, especially explicit in the maya tradition, seen as a weaver. The fire brings people together and creates relations. So: weaving, bringing together, creating social networks.
Then, if it´s a poisonous spider that may add another flavour to it, of course, then it may be a warning.
Staffan