Ancient History

Spiders have become synonymous with Halloween due to their creepy nature and the elaborate webs they weave. Millions of people have a fear of spiders and have had for thousands of years. Ironically, many cultures had legends that surrounded these arachnids.

The ancient Greeks told the story of Arachne, a woman from the region of Lydia who was said to be the greatest weaver and spinner in all the lands. Many people believed that she received her gifts from the Goddess Athena, but Arachne scoffed at these allegations and claimed to have learned the trade on her own.

Arachne even claimed to be better at the craft than the Goddess herself, which caused Athena to accept the girl’s challenge and the two of them set out to see who was the best at spinning and weaving. Each created elaborate designs, depicting the Gods in a wide variety of scenes. In the end, it seems that Arachne’s work was better than Athena’s. This so outraged the Goddess that she destroyed the girls work, then turned the girl into a spider to forever spin her webs in the darkest corners of the world.

Many Native American tribes retell legends about spiders in a more favorable light. The Pueblo tribe tells of the Spider Woman who helped create the world we know today. In the beginning, she created the line that connected North, South, East, and West. Then, from the various clays of the Earth, she created all living beings.

Spider Woman also had two daughters. One was thought to be the mother of all the Pueblo peoples and was thought to have formed the sun as a gift to her people. The other daughter was thought to be the mother of all other humans and formed the moon. Her gift to her people was the prayer stick.

Spider Woman was said to have given each person on Earth a silken thread that came out of her head, so that they might have creative wisdom, thus creating the legend that all humans are connected to each other, through the threads of the Spider Woman.

So, next time you see a spider crawling down the wall, or hanging from a silky thread from the ceiling, know that these creatures have been the subjects of myths and legends throughout time. And you never know who might be lurking inside that 8-legged shell of a form.