Nature's Place

There is a plant flowering in a clearing in the nearby forest right now. A tall slender stemmed plant with bunches of small white flowers at the end of each branch, not many branches. It has a strong and unusual smell and attracts many small insects, beetles, flies etc. And some larger insects like the butterfly and moth.

On every bunch of flowers there is at least one white crab spider and a couple of other kinds of spider too. The crab spider is so called because of how it preys, or prays, sitting with front legs spread like the claws of a crab, waiting for something to come within grasping range. It is also nearly invisible, white against white, and seems to be able to vary its shade of colour for camouflage.

One of the other spiders appears to pounce on its prey, another moves directly across the distance to grasp and bite with lightning speed. Not much escapes the wily spider.

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I have noticed some things about spiders, the thread they make is not just to ensnare the unlucky bug in a web, it is also for travelling on, and a lifeline for when knocked off or jumping off the security of the solid nature.

It communicates to the spider through vibration what’s going on at the other end of it. The spider probably recognises the correct signal for prey of varying kinds – too small or big. If you left click it and open it in another tab and left click it again you can see on the first picture of the spider its second ‘foot’ isn’t resting on the flower, it’s resting or ‘feeling’ on the thread. There are also signs of a network of thread there, as there are on the flowers in most of the other pictures.

The thread is also for casting, like a fishing line, to take the spider to new ground or to find a hook – by sticking to some other structure so it can start building a web, or as an anchor against being blown away in the wind. Guide rails, anchor, safety ropes and fishing line as well as a net and telegraph. I understand some spiders also use a denser, more visible weave in their web, a zigzag pattern, often in the shape of an X to warn and attract. I have also seen them eat their own web when it is destroyed – waste not – want not.

I see it all as an expression of the magnificent intelligence behind.

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There was one flying insect about the size of a mosquito that displayed unusual behaviour when approaching the flower heads from above. It behaved as if it was about to land on the flowers and just before it touched down up it rose again. It looked as if it was bouncing in slow motion off the surface but without touching it.

It performed this manoeuvre many times before actually landing which would serve to draw any waiting spider out of hiding – hiding can be just not moving when the spider is the same colour as the flower. Often the only way to know something is there is if it moves.

That’s all intelligence too, that’s Nature.

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There is an equivalence of the spider in human nature – but emotionalised. There always is since we came ‘up’ through the species and the knowledge of the being of spider – or anything else – is within. Nature is a reflection of my nature and in most people one aspect or another can manifest at times. Have you ever noticed some people display characteristics of different creatures? I met a mouse-like person recently.

I have recently – unavoidably – had dealings over a period of time with a man of position who is sometimes overtaken by a spider-like nature – the ‘right’ vibration strikes the vicious – emotionalised attack complex – snatch and bite and bind – if it can. He has also displayed other less predatory characteristics in various disguises, shape-shifting according to the prevailing wind of mind. He knows the pain of it too. But not enough to do anything effective about it, yet.

That’s Human nature. Tricky stuff, to be handled with caution. And what man isn’t a tricky fellow at some time? Everybody has it, more or less.

Everybody is also of the divine and thank god for that, the God nature – or whatever it’s called. Really, and for being able to see it because seeing it enough frees me of the sticky binding of tricky emotion.
 
Copyright Reserved / Mark Berkery