Weaving and Spider Medicine

Fish, Fish! She Got Her Wish" - mixed media on reclaimed wood, 34" x 20".  Ready to hang.  Available at Ciel Gallery in June during the "Wisdom of Wild Things" show.  Inquiries: imajenation@gmail.com

On Friday, I had the most magnificent artist date.  A spontaneous decision to take a "dream catcher" class at World & Eye with Rick McBride, a mixed blood Tsalagi (Cherokee) teacher, became a magical afternoon.
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We learned weaving with sinew, paying attention to the messages of the spider and spider medicine.  Beginning with metal hoops and moving up to natural wood and vine, our fingers cramping with holding the tension and simultaneously contemplating spacing and placement and pattern, we wove our pasts into wisdom for the future.  Our teacher was patient, encouraging and calm, quietly sharing stories of dream catchers, drums, beads, feathers and bone.

mixedblood.infoThree hours passed quickly.  Rick's small parrot eyed us warily from his shoulder, quietly nibbling on whatever was within reach.  Rick produced a box of feathers - tropical, wild turkey, waterfowl and songbirds - and offered us its contents, which we were delighted to split amongst the three of us.

Spider medicine is about creativity.  It is also about weaving your life into one whole - processing the past, taking its wisdom and moving on to the future.  Spider (a feminine energy) allows us to view things from multiple viewpoints.  She also teaches patience, as I learned unraveling a first attempt on the metal hoop and re-weaving it to improve my skills.  The dream catcher "catches" your good dreams and allows them to trickle down into the feathers for safekeeping.  The nightmares are captured in the weaving, and evaporate in the light of day like morning dew on a spider's web.

The photo is of my final weaving, finished late into the night once I returned home from the workshop.  The beads are remnants of a trip to Thailand, and the weaving itself a type of lotus pattern.  Spider medicine in my sacred space.  I wonder where this will lead me next?

If you're interested in the workshops of  Rick McBride, follow him on Meetup here.  Learn more about medicine wheels, drums and other Native American teachings on Rick's website here.