Rock'n Animal Guidance: Wisdom from the Spider

Spider shared some wisdom with me, saying it's important for us all right now.

As a shamanic practitioner, I am in communication with the plants, animals and trees who live around me and share space with me. They are my neighbors. They also have a lot of wisdom and guidance to share when we take the time to really listen.

Spiny Orb Weaver Spider on her beautiful, large web in my back yard

As I went to do the watering in my back yard the other day, I came across this beautiful orb weaver spider on her beautiful and huge web. I felt a connection with her, she had a message for me. She began telling me about her web and how essential it is for her survival and her wellbeing. It is her support network. She showed me how it corresponds with community for us humans, and how important that is for our well being. It was clear this message was for more than just me, I was to share it widely.

This spider gave me some good tips on building community, our web of support. She gave me simple guidelines that we can use, to make life more comfortable and fulfilling without feeling overwhelming.

Spider's Guidelines for Building Community Support

Spider began showing me the steps of building her web. She showed me how proper planning sets her up for success before she begins a single thread. She first determines the purpose of her web. What does she want to accomplish with it? And that leads her to placement, which includes several different factors. Once she has the placement decided, only then does she begin actually building her web. Once built, there is monitoring and maintenance. All of these same steps apply in building our community support network.

Purpose: What do you want to accomplish?

Placement and supports: The cornerstones of your support network

Weaving the Strands of Support

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Purpose: What do you want to accomplish?

What are the main goals of your support network? Our spider friend was looking to build her web to catch food for herself and make a home. What are you looking for? Maybe you're just looking for a group to game with, or garden with. Or maybe, you're looking to build an entire network of community support to look out for each other when times are tough.

Placement and Supports: The cornerstones of your support network

Our spider friend gave me the advice that we should be building community support networks that will help each other survive and thrive in difficult times. With the political situation being what it is globally, and with climate change increasing, this feels like a very good idea and so that is what I'll be writing more about. But if you have a different goal in mind, the steps are the same.

This is where you identify all the areas of your life you might one day need support for. We need to get less dependent of major corporations and get more local. Think about your daily life, what needs to happen to keep you going? Do you have young children? If so, you'll want to include people who could provide child care. We all need to think about food and water. What would happen if the grocery store shuts down? Those of us who live where there are hurricanes know that we need to stock up before a storm because stores won't be open for a day or two. Think about things like shortages, natural disasters etc. These are becoming more common, and that will continue due to climate change.

Then, think about things like household repair, health considerations etc. What services do we use regularly like hair cutting, childcare, mechanics. What are the things that support our lives? What needs do we need to ensure continue to get met?

Now, what skills do you have to offer? Are you really handy around the house? Do you have a green thumb? Can you keep children occupied and entertained? What are you willing to offer to your community in support? A community support network relies on everyone contributing in their own way. Maybe you need help painting your house, and in exchange you can feed your neighbors nutritious and delicious dinner?

Weaving the Strands of Support

Now for the fun part! Keeping your supports in mind, look for ways to fulfill those support needs for yourself and those around you. Look for ways to share your skills and the supports you have with others. Look for ways we can care for each other. Maybe start a neighborhood garden sharing project, or a childcare share for the neighborhood. Be creative, look for win - win solutions. Everyone is a strand in the web. How many strands can you connect? A good support network will connect many people, and support all.

Then monitoring and maintenance come in. We need to keep checking in on all our strands. Are they doing okay? Do they need anything? How can we help? If we care for each other, we can weather any storm together. When times are good, we have a block party and share the bounty. When times are hard, many hands working together lighten the load.

We have gotten so disconnected, from nature and each other. We were not meant to be so alone. We need to be in connection, in community. We need to support each other. Life is better together! Together we are strong.