Cultural Mythology: Myth, culture, and consciousness

Grandmother Spider, Part 2 of 2

Here is the rest of my telling of the myth of Grandmother Spider. But of course, a good story never really ends. It lives on in our imagination and weaves its way through the plot lines of our lives and our dreams...

The world was very beautiful. But as the people lived and moved about, problems developed and needs arose. Far, far back in the mists of time, when people-eating monsters still roamed the earth, Kokyawuhti, Grandmother Spider helped the Hero Twins of many nations slay these monsters. Another time, almost as long ago, there was a long drought and the people were hungry. Garndmother Spider sent the hummingbird to show the people where to look for food.

And another time, Grandmother Spider taught the youth Tiyo how to work with the powers of the rain to encourage it to fall. Tiyo thought about many things. One of them was water. People need it to drink and grow their corn. But the rain was scant. Tiyo noticed that much of the rain that fell flowed into the Far-Far-Below River and down into the Underworld before it could be used by the people.

When Tiyo told his father that he planned to go to the Underworld, his father said, “No one knows much about that place. It might be too far.” But he helped Tiyo make a box from the trunk of a cottonwood tree so he could float on the water. Tiyo’s mother gave him food and bowl with the image of Grandmother Spider painted inside. His father gave him four prayer sticks and a handful of down from an eagle’s thigh. “Grandmother Spider will show you how to use this,” he said. And she did.

With the help and guidance of Kokyawuti, Grandmother Spider, Tiyo made his journey. Whenever a new ceremony has been required, Grandmother Spider has appeared to teach the people songs and prayers.

Even when the people forget the meaning of life and disregard the web that connects us all (and this has happened several times) Grandmother Spider comes to guide the good hearted into the next world.

In times of need, she emerges from a small, small hole in the ground or appears overhead, hanging from a slender thread.

Some say the world hangs by this thread.

 

Grandmother Spider, Part 1 of 2

This is a variation of a Hopi creation myth but Grandmother (or Mother) Spider appears in the mythology of other Pueblos peoples, the Navajo, and other MesoAmerican groups. I especially like the image of a world brought into being through song! A good song can still do this, don't you think? Here is the story...

A long, long time ago, before there was time, there was Spider Woman. She spun two silver strands. One connected East to West. The other connected North to South. In this way she made the four corners of the earth, with herself at the centre.  

Spider Woman sent her breath into this space. The sun appeared, followed by the moon, and stars, and light pierced the darkness of the universe.

When the sun appeared, Tawa, god of the sun, came into being, to wield the life-giving power of the sun.  Between them they held all of the mysteries and powers of Above and of Below. There was no living thing, no woman or man, no bird or plant or beast, until these Two together conceived it in their minds.

The universe was beautiful, vast and glittering. But it was also barren. “This isn’t good,” said Spider Woman, “There must be warmth and color and dancing.” First Spider Woman and Tawa created other gods to share their labors. Tawa split himself in two and Life Germ God came into being. Spider Woman split herself into two and the goddess Hard Substances Woman came into being. These new powers beings carried the rain and soft flesh and blood and moist dirt, the turquoise and red rock, the white shell and yellow stone, the matter and mulch that make up the living world.

Now Spider Woman and Tawa had a great thought, a mighty thought. The thought of the Earth. They imagined putting this earth in between the Above and the Below. At that time the in-between was only endless shining waters. Spider Woman and Tawa sat side by side at the edge of the water. They swayed together and they began to sing. Spider Woman and Tawa swayed and sang together and out of their mingled breath came the First Song.

The magic of the First Song was flowing waters (shwoo) and rushing winds (whoosh, whoosh) and the rhythm of things coming together (clap) and moving apart. Spider Woman and Tawa sang this song of light and the earth was born.

The earth was beautiful. Spider Woman and Tawa saw purple mountains, broad rivers, and golden deserts. This beauty stirred their imagination. “Many strange thoughts are forming in my mind,” Tawa said, “I see birds flying in the air above the earth.” “I see fish swimming in the waters,” Spider Woman replied, “I see deer and rabbits, wolves and foxes, snakes curled in the rocks.” They imagined all of the plants and creatures of the earth. What they envisioned in the eye of the mind, Spider Woman fashioned out of colored clay, red, yellow, white, and black. She covered the clay figures with a white blanket woven from the breath and light of Tawa. The two sang over the creatures and they began to breathe and move. They came to life.

Now Spider Woman said to Tawa, “Let us make creatures like ourselves to join the others and enjoy the Earth.” Tawa thought of man and woman. Again, Spider Woman  fashioned each thought into form using colored clay, red, yellow, white, and black. She covered them with the white blanket woven from the breath and light of Tawa. The two sang over the human beings. But they did not breathe.

They didn’t move. They didn’t stir. “This isn’t good,” said Tawa. Spider Woman gathered the figures up and cradled them in her arms. She held them close and warmed them with her body and her breath and Tawa bent his glowing eyes upon them. Now they sang the magic Song of Life and the human beings began to breathe and move. They came to life.

“The world is complete,” sang Spider Woman, and Tawa agreed. “I will ride across the sky every day and shed my light and warmth upon them all,” he sang. “Each will multiply.” Tawa took his place high in the sky Above.

It was time for Spider Woman to tell the people how to live. “The woman of the clan will build the house” Spider Woman said. “She will make the jars and baskets. She will grind the grain. The family name will descend through her. The man will build kivas and pay homage to the gods. He will fashion weapons and provide his family with game. 

Take care of each other. Be good to each other and all will be well. If you need help, call me, Kokyawuhti. Grandmother Spider, and I will come.”

The new people gazed wide-eyed at Spider Woman with her shining beauty. She smiled at them and touched the human beings. To each she attached a thread of her web, spun from the doorway at the top of her head. Then she raised her hands and twirled in the sand.  Suddenly she was gone.

(The image is Shaman Spider Woman by Susan Seddon Boulet, 1986. You can find out more about the artists and her work at The Turning Point Gallery. Happy Thanksgiving and stay tuned for Part 2)

Creation stories and Gaia

Creation stories, or origin stories, tell us how human beings got here and where we came from. Creation stories are also stories about identity, which is one reason why they are important and contentious. Origins determine our ancestory, our nature, and even our future potential. Our images of the human past shape our ideas about the human future.

I thought about this as I prepared for the Gaia Festival in Santa Barbara (Nov 13-14th, 2010). The name "Gaia" is frequently used to summon the image of Mother Earth. As womb,tomb, and the source of all sustenance, the image of Earth as Mother is crucially important to us, and it seems like she should play a role in our creation stories. But Gaia, Mother Earth, the feminine, creative principle, has been suppressed, repressed, and distorted in the dominant Western paradigms for centuries.

This is a situation that we need to correct in our search for models of relationship to the Earth and to each other, that are sustainable. But the images and metaphors that we can recover, revitalize, or invent don't need to be limited to "mother" and "birthing." The concept of Gaia is much, much bigger and the opportunity that we have, if we use this idea to reimagine our relationship models, is much bigger and more complex. In fact, if we consider the earth, literally and metaphorically, we have to conclude that diversity and multiplicity are among her intrinsic characteristics. We won't gain much in the long run if we merely replace our monotheistic hegemonic male/father mythologies and ideas with equally monotheistic hegemonic female/mother mythologies and ideas.

Hmm. But what then, can be an antidote to the centuries-old stories of male privilege and domination? Maybe we need to tell lots of different stories and let them jostle up aganst each other and our inherited ideas about creation and everything else. Maybe we need to recreate a kind of pantheon and not search for just one, "right" answer or alternative.

I started with a spider at the Gaia festival. The spider as creator is really cool because she is both the cause and the substance of her creation, the web. Is the nature of chaos and order too, I wonder? I'll share the story of Grandmother Spider in my next post.  And please feel free to share images or metaphors for creator and creating that speak to you.

The image is Gaia, by Oberon Zell.