Where we're going today wants to be accessed and seen quietly, unobtrusively, without drawing attention from anything that would want to stop this knowledge from getting out. I've been asked to cloak myself densely, protecting not with light, but with a cloak that easily slips between the shadows without signaling to anyone or anything what I'm doing.

I feel the density muting my own energy and I breathe out as I begin to descend. I feel myself being drawn downward like a weight sinking into the water, but instead I'm entering a cave of bone. The microcrystalline structures feel like stalactites and stalagmites, and the opening between collagen and elastin like an endless network of tunnels to explore. I feel the connectivity of bone to everything else in the body, like the mineralized connective tissue that it is.

But instead of exploring, I'm drawn like a magnet to the darkest orifice. Like stepping into a vanta black painting. I ease slowly into the darkness of this space, and sit down; ischium flat to the floor and knees pulled up under my chin.

Now, I wait.

The stillness is eventually interrupted by a vibration on the floor, subtle, but there. Soon there's a cadence I can feel as something moves closer, but it's not the rhythm created by two legs, or even four.

Next thing I know there's a giant spider-being, a spideress, standing over me, her legs creating a cage and her abdomen, a ceiling. She begins to give off a gentle luminescence that lights this bone cave just enough that I can make out the edges of this space and...her.

She's not just luminescent, but also shifting in color from greens to purples and blues, and when she communicates, pink. Her voice doesn't speak out loud, but it vibrates the bones in my ears; a resonance you can't hear unless she wants you to. My physical ears feel plugged and pressurized, but her voice is clear.

I hold the question in my mind: who are you, and why am I here?

Soon, she speaks.

"I am known by many names: grandmother spider, spider woman, the weaver, the spinner, the Great Teacher, Mother Goddess, and so many more. I emerge when you have great need of me."

So I continued, "I was drawn here to you through the bones. I was reading the collective body, asking what we need to know or hear this week, and here I am. Do we have great need of you?"

"A silly question, because of course you do. Anytime you rise up against oppression, fight for freedom, or yearn to return to the Earth ways, I am here. And yes, you have great need of me now in this period of rebalancing. Not many will brave the darkness to seek me, but those that do..."

She didn't finish that sentence, instead, her whole abdomen vibrated and a new string of web emerged.

"Take hold and bring this with you as you return through the bones. Bring it to the surface so those who feel my presence and hear my voice can find me."

I started to ask another question, but she was done. The luminescence blinked out, inky darkness returning. All I could feel was the ground under my feet and pelvis, and I could see the faint sparkle of the spiderline.

It was time to leave.

I hoisted myself to my feet, grasped the web in my left hand, and used my right to feel my way forward. On this journey I began to draw more and more oxygen into my lungs and let the expansion and pull upwards guide me. I began to see a reddish gold color as light was passing through flesh into the bone and soon my path became clear.

I emerged through the sternum, threading the web into the breastbone.

To follow it, enter your heartspace and ask for it to be revealed. From there, it's your choice to make the descent or not.

Honoring your part in our collective tale,
Ash