Wow, another fascinating spider pic! Thanks for sharing, Flux. content

And thanks for providing the interesting facts. That some "display an almost manic fear of cockroaches" is perhaps the most interesting thing I've ever read regarding a spider! eyebrow

For me, there is such a spiritual concept in spiders. For one, they are beneficial predators that create balance by keeping the many pest-like bugs in check. A little search led me to this:

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A jumping spider in East Africa is known to crave mosquitoes engorged with blood. Now scientists find the spider prefers a particular type of them�mosquitoes infested with the deadly malaria parasite.

These predatory spiders could help control the lethal disease, scientists say. Malaria leads to more than one million deaths per year worldwide, mostly children.

I often see spiders in my altered consciousness. They can be guides for me, or they can represent my fears, and they are a strong symbol for an ecosystem that is symbiotic.

I am really into the concept of symbiotic ecology at the moment--eating living food and probiotics as a way for superior physical and spiritual health. It is integration with the earth, accepting nature as it is and working in harmony with it rather than fighting it. These ideas are "consuming" me, so to speak. chuckle I'll have to do a separate topic on it. Thanks for feeding me with more wonderous thoughts, images and information, Flux. hug

[I am also led to the word commensal meaning "a relationship between two organisms where one benefits and the other is not significantly harmed or gains a benefit. The term derives from the English word commensal, meaning 'sharing of food' in human social interaction, which in turn derives from the Latin com mensa, meaning 'sharing a table'"].