Spider Woman

I have just returned from a vacation where we drove through the Southwest. We did spend most of our time in the mountains of Colorado, but drove through Dinetah, or Navajoland. I did get a chance to knit, and also to read a bit.
Part of my reading was about Spider Woman, one of the major goddesses from all of the Southwestern Native American mythology. Generally she is the mother of humankind, as well as of all living things, our father being the Sun. It made me wonder, why is Spiderwoman so very important? She was the one who taught Dineh women the art of weaving. It just shows how important weaving was for the early civilizations. More than that, the Dineh society is a matriarchal society... does that have to do anything with it?
Spiderwoman not only taught the earliest women the art of weaving, but also patience and perseverence. When First Woman couldn't finish her first rug, and got so frustrated that she ripped it apart, she got restless, she couldn't sleep well. Spider Woman came to her, fixed her rug and taught her that she could never give up, when she started something she needed to finish it, because her soul was in her work...
Our soul is in our work, too, when we knit, crochet or otherwise create something unique. We can never forget that; we cannot expect it to be done quickly, but put our best work in it, and be patient, give ourselves time to finish it the right way.
Spider Woman taught me something new, too.....