Spider Woman is among the most important and honored Deities of the Dine (Navajo) people.  She played an integral part in preserving the lives of the Dine.

Spider Woman chose the top of Spider Rock for her home.  She  taught the  Dine (Navajo) ancestors of long ago the art of weaving upon a loom.  She told the people, “My husband, Spider Man, constructed the weaving loom making the cross poles of sky and earth cords to support the structure. He used sun rays for the warp sticks.  For the batten, he chose a sun halo to seal the joints  and for the comb he chose a white shell to clean strands in a combing manner.” From the lessons of Spider Woman many generations of the Dine (Navajo) have always been weavers of supreme talent.

The picture above is a Navajo Blanket Throw of modern design that can be purchased at Amazon. Thank you Spider Woman for teaching the Dine (Navajo) such beautiful weaving techniques that we can enjoy today.

Let me share a wonderful story of  Spider Woman with you.  In a time of long ago, a peaceful cave-dwelling Dine (Navajo) youth was hunting in Canyon de Chelly. The boy  saw an enemy tribesman coming toward him.  The enemy chased him deeper into the canyon.  The peaceful you ran,  looking quickly from side to side. He was  searching for a place that he could  hide and escape his enemy.

Spider Rock stood directly in front of him. He knew it was too difficult for him to climb this giant obelisk.  The poor youth was near exhaustion.  His eyes noticed  a silken cord hanging down from the top of the rock tower.

The Navajo youth grasped this magic cord.  It  seemed strong enough and he quickly tied it around his waist.  He climbed the tall tower escaping from his enemy who then gave up the chase. When the youth reached the top, he stretched out to rest. He discovered a most wonderful place with eagle’s eggs to eat and the night’s dew to drink.

You can imagine his surprise when he learned that his rescuer was Spider Woman. She told him how she had seen him and his predicament. She showed him how she made her strong web cord and anchored one end of it to a point of rock. Spider Woman showed him how she had let down the rest of her web cord to help him to climb the rugged Spider Rock.

Once the  youth felt assured his enemy was gone, he thanked Spider Woman with warmth and gratitude.  He safely descended to the canyon floor  using her magic cord. The boy ran home to tell his tribe how his life was saved by Spider Woman!

~Mitakuye Oyasin~ We are all related