Many of you know that I love the concept of symbols. I use them all the time in both my writing and in everyday life. There's something really awesome about having one entity that stands for so many different things to different people. What first comes to mind when talking about my personal symbols is all my jewelry. Those who know me know that I've never been one to wear a lot of jewelry. Honestly all those "He went to Jared" commercials make me sick. Instead all the jewelry that I wear are symbolic to me. I have four necklaces that I circulate. The one is a silver Celtic cross that my aunt brought me back from Ireland, another is a silver triquetra with a thistle and an amethyst stone that my dad got me from the Celtic Festival, the other a silver pentagram and last a silver turtle that Grant got for me at a seafood festival. In addition I have two rings that I wear. One is my claddagh ring that used to be my Aunt's and she gave it to me and the other is a simple silver, gold and diamond ring that my parents gave to me after I was confirmed (yes ironic I know, but it's still special to me). Most of my piercings that I have also have meanings to me (two I got in memory of my friend who was killed two years ago).
The other symbol that is very important to me is my totem. Many different cultures have totems, spirit animals, guides whatever you want to call them. Mine happens to be the turtle. Ever since I did a report in 2nd grade on the sea turtle, there was something about it that spoke to me. The turtle was never my favorite animal (that would be a penguin) but for some reason they intrigued. It was something about the hard shell exterior protecting the soft insides that seemed to pretty much describe me.
When Grant and I first started dating the first thing he ever gave me was a silver turtle necklace. He got it when he was playing with one of his bands at the Annapolis, MD seafood festival and he thought it would be perfect for me. Little did he know that this was actually my totem. Honestly it was at this moment that I knew that Grant was the one for me (see I can be sappy too sometimes... lol) that my totem was bringing us together.
Lately though I've been noticing another totem in my life, the spider. Now I kind of don't like spiders. They are one of those creatures that are pretty and awesome as long as they're outside and far away from me (even though for some reason Tarantulas don't bother me). Since Grant went to India a week ago though, spiders having been popping up everywhere. They're in our bathroom, living room and even one has made a giant web outside on our door frame.
The other day I was at the bank depositing some checks for work and there was a spider web on the screen in the drive through. When I went walking this morning there were many spider webs that I ended up walking through when walking along the path through the woods. This has led me to believe that maybe the spider is my other totem. It's weird for me to admit that since they do creep me out a lot but at the same time I find it comforting.
4 comments:
It's interesting how symbols come into our lives. The turtle is very special in my family also, it's almost like our household totem. I never was very particular of them until my husband and I got together. He has always loved them and connected with them and he brought them into my life. Now our 2 children connect with it also.
I realize that this is a fairly old post, but I'm curious, do spiders still show up? Also, did you find the connection to this particular totem? I, myself, have spider as a guide and if you need help understanding I can tell you the meanings associated that I know.
Hi Summer, yes they do show up still! Just yesterday I had one crawl across my face while I was driving home. They seem to mostly show up when my boyfriend goes on his business trips (which he currently is). I would love to hear what you think about it!
In my experience, especially if you're acknowleding the presence of totems, the spider is there for protection. Sometimes just as a reassuring protection and other times as a warning. If you're unsure which, just pay extra attention to your instinct and surroundings. It sounds, though, as if you're feeling lonely when he is gone and they sense that. They are also guides to the next stage in life. The weaver that is stating to connect the threads of your tapestry. Which, considering you're in grad school, makes sense. Your life is fixing to enter into that next level. =)
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