Black Widow Vision

The Portal of Light

While I was exploring animal communication and learning to live in the Mexican countryside, one species kept me worried: the black widow spider. They are certainly very beautiful animals, but I had heard so many stories about their deadly bites that I was quite fearful every time I discovered them near or in the house.

This wasn't so much a fear for myself, rather my imagination was going crazy thinking about what they could do to the dogs and cats I was living with.

When they came into the house, they inadvertently became a victim of my flipflop. Better safe than sorry I thought. However, I soon realized it was going to be impossible (and also quite cruel) to exterminate every single black widow that lived in the cracks and hidden places around the house and the huge garden.

One day, I was having a shower, and suddenly felt as though hundreds of thousands of them were crawling out of the drain and all over my body. It was a terrible vision, seemingly straight out of a horror film, because there were so many that it was impossible to flick them off or get rid of them.

I was fully aware that it wasn't "real" and I could make it stop any time I wanted to, but I also thought that it was happening for a reason, and was too curious to interrupt this strange trip.

They say that when you have a lucid nightmare, you can just turn around and ask the shadow following you what it wants. Realising that this was like a waking dream, I decided to ask them what they wanted. Never in a million years could I have imagined the reply.

"You don't need to fear us", the voice of the species explained. "We only kill when someone's life doesn't have a purpose anymore. You are here learning with us for a reason, your life has purpose, so neither you nor your loved ones (i.e. the dogs and cats) are in danger. If we invade your home, you are welcome to kill us. It's not necessary, but neither is it a problem for us, as we are an abundant species. You can stop worrying now, because we are not here to harm you."

And with that, they crawled back into the drain. I was dumbfounded.

Had I gone completely insane, was this all just my imagination, or had it really happened?

Only two days later, I received news from far away that an elderly lady close to her nineties had been bitten by a spider and that her life was in danger. Her family gathered and prayed for her survival. She did make it through the night, but woke up with dementia, and in a clear moment asked her daughter why they hadn't let her go.

Throughout the years, I have experienced so many synchronicities like these that my belief in meaningless coincidence has been shattered for good.

Fast forward a couple of years, I realized that a black widow had made itself a home in the rim of the gas tank. When it was time to exchange it, I warned the gas guy that the spider was living there and I hadn't been able to get it out from its hiding place.

"No worries", the ever cheerful delivery dude replied. "I was already bitten by one."

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry!", was my answer.

"Actually, it wasn't bad at all! Hurt a bit like a bee sting, but the next day I was back at work again. They just have a bad reputation."

Who'd have thought? The spiders had told me the truth that sleepy morning under the shower. We all have a purpose here, and while we're still working at it, we continue with life. It's a lesson I have been taught many times and in many miraculous ways, but no one has said it more plainly than the spirit of the black widow.