Smash it! Kill it! Before it crawls in my ear and lays a million eggs! Why do spiders get such a bad rep? Is it their long spindling legs, multiple eyes, fangs, or the fact that there are so many of them on Earth that they eat more than the weight of the human population in insects each year? Yeah… maybe that last one.
Like it or not, we need spiders. They are good for the environment and play a vital role in keeping ecosystems balanced inside our homes and outside. They control pests that carry diseases, like mosquitoes, flies and cockroaches. Without spiders we could suffer a global famine, as they eat bugs that feast on our crops.
Even with all this spider-love, people still have misguided phobias of them. I was asked by a friend who was going over my book, why I’d made the monks’ essences spiders, of all things? Why not something more lovable, something that wouldn’t turn off a ‘girl reader.’ Wasn’t I afraid it was too gross? Well, speaking as a girl reader, I have to say, no. I am not and never was afraid that a spider wasn’t the perfect choice for the monks.
In fact, the name Ximu, Perl’s Papa and the head of the order, derives from ancient China, where an old tale is told about a ‘happy insect dropped from heaven.’
Like many things in life that we fear and run from before getting to know or try to understand, perhaps we should take a breath, sit down for a closer look, and invite them to stay.
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