Halloween Spiders
The black spider is one of the most common of Halloween motifs and you can buy spider designs on everything from napkins to lampshades and costumes - not to mention the ever popular hairy rubber spider!Why are spiders so associated with Halloween? Well the simple answer is probably that so many people are scared of them. Fear of spiders - arachnophobia - is one of the most common phobias and it's estimated that some 50% of women and 10% of men in the West suffer from it to some degree.
Is there more to the association of spiders with Halloween than simple irrational fear? Possibly.
Symbolism
Spiders and their webs are oftebn found in dark, hidden places - places such as creepy basements, crypts, etc. We've all walked into a spider web at some time and even if you're not scared of spiders it's a very unpleasant experience. So the link between spiders and fear makes sense.On a more positive note, the spider web is said by some pagans to represent the wheel of life and time, the turning of the seasons. In addition the spider has eight legs - and there are eight major festivals in the pagan/Wiccan year, one of which is Samhain. Therefore there is a possible ancient link here between the spider and Halloween.
But at the end of the day many people find spiders scary and that's what counts on Halloween night!