Snakes, Spiders, and Signs - What can we learn from Nature?

In order to be created, a work of art must first make use of the dark forces of the soul.  Albert Camus

Spending time in nature, for me my gardens, is always a regenerating and powerful experience.  I was reminded recently that your internal world is reflected by your outside world.  I have been, gratefully so, very busy recently and have not had time to spend in my gardens.  They were reflecting my internal world.  Overgrown in places, blooming in others, and in need of thining out.  The bushes needing some reshaping and the flowers blooming needing to have some blooms gone by pinched off.

The colors go on and on with the bushes in white, purple, and pink

I am fortunate in that many of the gardens are self caring for the most part.  I chose to grow flowers and plants natural to Florida that do not require watering and rarely need to be weeded.  My biggest gardening issue is the pesky locust that love to make their cocoons in and eat my crocus plants.  Some of the crocus plants grow to over six feet high and it makes it difficult to hand remove the cocoons.

The blooms can reach over six feet high

Today the guides of nature were not missed.

The snake skins collected always reminding me of the art of transforming.  The need to shed the old that no longer serves us.  The snake being one of medicine animals and totem, I do not miss their signs.  Although some of the snakes that have crossed my path since moving to Florida tend to me ones I do not wish to "play" with, I appreciate their wisdom and symbolic meanings.  From the orange colors to the skins.

My Buddy

The baby hummingbird nest reminding me of the need to nurture.  There are times when I can be blunt and seem insensitive to those who come to me for advice.  While sometimes that blunt honesty is exactly what someone needs to hear, there is a need to nurture the soul of others in a balanced and harmonious way.

The spiders.  I am not a big fan of spiders.  I have never worked with the wisdom and medicine of spiders.  Yet, in the past few days spiders have been everywhere in my path.  From the fake black plastic decorations to the massive webs I keep finding in my yard.

A visitor this morning

Pausing to reflect upon the spider and what its meaning to me may be I came up with some thoughts I wanted to share.  A spider weaves a web to attract its food.  It makes 'conscious' decisions about where to weave the web.  As you look at webs, it is amazing the intricate patterns created.  It is a work of art that is created from nothing.

He just wanted to come in and say hi

Is that not what we as humans do.  We create life.  We create the webs that attract what comes into our lives.  So a web itself is a reflection of the choices we are making in our daily lives as we weave our webs.

The webs are really incredible works of art

Watching the spider weave its web I was amazed to think that this tiny spider was creating a home, a food source, and a place to create life again with their eggs.   My decisions, my choices, and my actions in life are creating my own web.  Is the web enslaving me to its creation?  Is the web manipulating myself to be entrapped rather than being the creator?  Is the web attracting the things I wished it to?

Perception determines what we see

Although some may see the spider as death or crafty in symbology.  It has been shared with me in my teachings that the spider is a symbol of protection.  Protection for an upcoming storm.  To watch as things may not be exactly as they appear to be.  The illusion of what may be, rather than focusing on the reality of what is.

As I reflect upon all of these thoughts and look within to the nature of my being, my own 'web' just as my garden, needed to be thinned out.  Just as a web is grounded and anchored before it is stretched between each of its points, I must to be grounded and anchored in my own foundation.  The eggs layed (my creation of life) must be nutured and cared for lest they fall through the spaces.  The beauty of the web creation can not be seen from the center, one must step back and observe in order to see the big picture.

My Meditation bench

This day is only partially over, the sun still shines, the wind still blows gently, and my ice tea quenches my thirst as I sit beneath the cypress trees and gaze across the gardens, the colors, the blooms and the buds.  Birds sing, dogs bark, the squirel is eating the almods I left, and butterflies flutter against the green foliage.  Ideallyic days sometimes can provide answers to the most profound questions - what is the meaning of life.  To live life on purpose is my answer.