Halloween – The Eve of the Devil Part 4

“On Halloween night, demons in the form of owls were said to have traveled with Witches and their cats . . . some were even believed to be Witches in disguise. . . (Interestingly, the owl was called a strix by the Romans—a word that means “ Witch.”)” (Dunwich, Gerina. The Pagan Book of Halloween, p. 43)

Owls are believed to have played a more prominent role in early Celtic cults, and could perhaps have derived from a more broadly based deity of a common European descent. Predating the Greek cult of Athena, for whom the owl was an animal attribute, were images of these mysterious birds in Celtic lands.

Owls are believed to be a sacred animal to the famed Cult of the Head. They often appear with human heads and with bovines, such as rams and bulls, all of which have been determined by scholars to be objects of this strange cult. In modern Scottish and Welsh languages, the owl, by the etymology of the word alone carries negative connotations of death and darkness.

In Ancient Greek mythology the Owl was a creature sacred to Athena, Goddess of the night who represented wisdom. Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom had a companion Owl on her shoulder, which revealed unseen truths to her. Owl had the ability to light up Athena’s blind side, enabling her to speak the whole truth, as opposed to only a half truth. The bird features prominently in Celtic folklore where it is considered both to be sacred and to have magical powers, again because of its abilities in the dark.

To the Welsh, the Owl is a night predator — the only bird capable of defeating the swift falcon and then only at dusk, its time of power. The Owl symbolizes death and renewal, wisdom, moon magick, and initiations. Their Goddess Arianrhod shapeshifts into a large Owl, and through the great Owl-eyes, sees even into the darkness of the human subconscious and soul. She is said to move with strength and purpose through the night, her wings of comfort and healing spread to give solace to those who seek her. A star and moon Goddess, Arianrhod was also called the Silver Wheel because the dead were carried on her Oar Wheel to Emania (the Moon-land or land of death), which belonged to her as a deity of reincarnation and karma. The Mother aspect of the Triple Goddess in Wales, her palace was Caer Arianrhod (Aurora Borealis), or the secret center of each initiate’s spiritual being.
In the Old Testament the Owl is an unclean creature that stands alone as a figure of desolation.
The Owl is feared by peoples who believe that the death warning is in its hoot.
The Owl is the envoy of the supernatural world and earth-bound spirits.
The Owl has a dual symbolism of wisdom and darkness, the latter meaning evil and death. They are symbolically associated with clairvoyance, astral projection and magick, and is oftentimes the medicine of sorcerers and witches.

The two main symbolic characteristics of the Owl, its wisdom and its nocturnal activity– have made it represent perception. Considering perception in a spiritual context, Owl medicine is related to psychism, occult matters, instincts, and clairvoyance– the true ability to see what is happening around you.

The owl can see that which others cannot, which is the essence of true wisdom. Where others are deceived, Owl sees and knows what is there.

The Owl, symbol of the Goddess, represents perfect wisdom. Owls have the ability to see in the dark and fly noiselessly through the skies. They bring messages through dreams. The Owl is the bird of mystical wisdom and ancient knowledge of the powers of the moon. With wide-open, all-seeing eyes, Owl looks upon reality without distortion and acknowledges it, yet is aware that with ancient magickal and spiritual knowledge, he or she can make changes. Source

The word werewolf comes to us from the Old-Saxon – by combining “were” meaning man with wolf, we get manwolf. You hear the word lycanthrope associated with werewolves, and this term has come to mean someone who suffers from a mental condition whereby they actually believe they change into a wolf. Legends of werewolves were popular among the ancient Greeks and are found in many of the world’s folklores. In areas where wolves are not common, the belief is modified to include werebears, weretigers, werelions and so on. These beasts are known as shape shifters.

In the dark Middle Ages, the church stigmatized the wolf as the personification of evil and a servant of Satan. Many of our children’s stories reflect this attitude and wolves share the villain’s role with the witch. In 1270, it was considered heretical NOT to believe in werewolves. The church forced confessions from the mentally ill to prove its convictions. Ultimately, they quit charging people of being werewolves in the 17th century, but only for a lack of evidence. The belief in the beasts, however, did not cease in the absence of indictments. Source

“The spider is a nearly universal symbol of Fate: a teacher, a destroyer, and a trickster“. Source

Spiders in Druidry:
The Spider is the guardian of the ancient languages and alphabets. The Spider is considered the teacher of language and the magic of writing. Those who weave magic with the written word probably have a Spider as a guide.

The Spider as an animal is a spiritual teacher in its own right. For example the Spider’s web is a constant reminder of the eight festivals. This is easily seen in the wheel webs some Spiders weave. The strands of the web, like the spokes of a wheel are straight from the edge to the middle and do form the eight fold wheel. That same web also shows the pentagram and the levels of spirituality known in Druidry as: Annwn, Abred, Gwynvyd and Keugant.

Let’s take a look at the lessons from the Druid Spider by contemplating its web.
Seeing the Spider weaving a web, it signals to us that we must weave our own lives. The Spider as a guide (or totem, familiar, etc…) serves as a reminder that our choices construct our lives.

We can derive even more Spider symbol meaning when we consider certain subtle characteristics that represent ancient symbols of infinity. When we take a look at the Spider itself and consider most Spiders have eight eyes and all have eight legs, we can see that the Spider also shows the meaning of the number eight, which involves cycles, passage of time, evolution and, as mentioned before, the eight fold path of the year.

Spiders are also found to be connected to Halloween or Samhain. This is because Spiders are related to death because of the venom they carry. This venom is of course also used as basis for the antidote, connecting the Spider both to death and rebirth and thus she stands for the completion of the circle.

The Spider, because of its characteristics, has come to be associated with magic and the energy of creation. It is a symbol of creative power, reflected in its ability to spin a silken web. The Spider is also associated with its spiral energy, the links with the past and the future. The spiral of the web, converging at a central point, is something to be meditated upon by those with Spiders as a (spirit) guide.

Remember that the Spider is the keeper of knowledge and of the primordial alphabet.
Her eight legs represent the four winds of change and the four directions on the medicine wheel, while her body is in the shape of the infinity symbol, which represents infinite possibilities. Spider was said to have woven the alphabet, creating the means for people to communicate and record their history through language. Source

All spiders are predatory and nearly all are venomous. Most weave a deadly trap in the form of a web.
Spider must shed its skin in order to grow, much like the snake. Another thing that spider and snake have in common is people’s instinctive negative reaction toward them.

Some find the eight legs and body shape in the form of an eight significant; numerology equates spider with the symbol for infinity. Spider is the totality of the life cycle – the beginning and end.

The lesson of the spider is maintaining balance – between past and future, male and female, spiritual and physical. She teaches you that everything you do and experience now is weaving what you will encounter in the future.

She reminds us that the world is woven around us; we are the center of our own world.
Because of its characteristics, mystics and mythology associate spider with three expressions of magic – creation, assertiveness and the connection between past and future. Source

Curses, Spells and Hexes
it said that no matter how hard the wind blows, a spider’s web will stay intact. A spider’s web does not disintegrate, as the web has the capacity to move and stay fluid. A web keeps its form and moves with the wind. Scientists have discovered that the filament used to spin a spider’s web is much stronger than steel and far more resilient.

spells, curses, grids, and ley lines work… they attach to people through their nervous system. ..by balancing the nervous system we can change the electromagnetic energy in our body, diffusing curses and spells and releasing attachments to grids and ley lines…the human nervous system resembles a spider’s web in its design, but more importantly in its resilience and ability to heal itself. The message from spider reveals that we are all interconnected by a filament of consciousness. Source

Meaning of Halloween Spiders
Much like the bat, cat, and the owl – spiders (as Halloween symbols and otherwise) are creatures considered to be endowed with supernatural qualities which make them harbingers of mystic energy. Witches often invite the spider into their homes and practices as a method of enhancing understanding of energetic patterns. Why are they so mystical? Predominantly because of their ability to weave webs, which has long been symbolic of time, fate, progress and the representation of the human journey (on both physical and philosophical levels). Also, the spider boasts eight legs, and the number eight is symbolic of cycles which would make the spider’s presence during this time of year (symbolic of the transition between summer and winter) quite fitting. For more on number eight click here. You may also be interested in the symbolic meaning of the spider as a totem creature here. Source