Grandmother Spider
A Spider came to visit me. A thorax of red & gold & translucent amber. Shiny black eyes, like jet or onyx. Strange legs that seemed to dangle & sway in an unseen breeze as she lowered herself by a fine gossamer thread; down from the netting above my garden as I sat. Goosebumps. And the a overwhelming sense of being on the edge between safety & danger. Contentment, but with a poise, a spring wound inside me, not ready to release yet.
She whispered in my ear: “I am your grandmother.”
Grandmother Spider
“Hello Grandmother Spider” Sez I, as she lowered into my lap. What else could I say?
“I must ask that you make something, from thread & metal, bead & button, mystery & steam, glow & twinkle, the past, the present & the future.”
“What shall it be? & for whom?” I asked, it seemed only proper to use such words, & practical questions to ask.
“There is someone in the Waking World who seeks their dreams; one who seeks to see the patterns of the web & lure & weave together those people that would share this dream. I ask you to make a magick bauble, a trinket, a talisman; that they might find it.”
She skitter-crawled up my arm, & into my hair. I shivered. It almost tickled.
“It shall go here” she whispered from above my ear.
“And You shall wear it & show it to the world, so the one for whom it is meant shall find it.”
“Yes, Grandmother.” I whispered back reverently, for what but reverence (aside from astonishment) can one feel & still function, when a magick speaking spider, professing to be one’s grandmother, asks one such a thing?
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So, I give you
“Black Widow, Grandmother Spider’s Talisman”
Black Widow - Grandmother Spider's Talisman
A small old military patch which belonged to my Grandfather, buttons & baubles of origin vintage, antique, found & gifted, new & old. A golden colored fan, tendrils of amber & black backdrop the image of Grandmother Spider herself. Simple, elegant, beautiful action.
Secures to head, hatband or lapel by a rubberized alligator clip, in blue.
As always, I use heavy buttoncraft thread to make all my pieces ones that can be worn hard & still last. My hope is that they become heirlooms.
When glue is required I only use marine glue, which is water & fire resistant when dry & only gets harder with age.
As to other ingredients, there are some healthy servings of whimsicality, contemplative reverence, gleeful irreverence, steam, magick & faery dust.
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Since Grandmother Spider asked me to make it, I know the one who buys it will the one she spoke of in the story. So don’t feel trepidatious. If this piece calls to you, & you get it, then it’s meant for you.
If you do decide to make this piece yours, take time to remember the webs of which you are a part. The people in your life, friend, foe or stranger. The places you touch, the choices you make. Your thoughts, ideas & actions. How do they weave together, both with one another & the whole of the Wide Waking World? Follow the strands, recognize the connections.
How do the webs you weave inform your dreams? How do your actions manifest those dreams? Move with patience, look deeper, ask more, one strand at a time…
❤ – A
P.S. I forgot to tell you the best part!
As she rose from my head, back into the green foliage & black web above my garden, she said ever so softly: “There is not before, nor after. The past & future are not separate, the separation is illusory. There is only the All-Time, the Ever-Where. Now. Always. It is a matter of perspectives. Soon many shall understand the weave, the facets, and move about upon the web of time & space, the web of the All-Time. This you have learned before, & this shall I teach you again.”
Amalgam Nouveau 