Jorōgumo
AKA: Rakushinpu, Madara-gumo
Origin: Japan
History:
A Jorogumo is a type of mythical creature that can be traced back to Japan’s Edo Period (1603-1868). Jorogumos are always female and can assume the shape of an attractive woman. And as you can see from the picture, they are actually spiders. They are actually believed to be based on the real-life spiders called Nephila clavata. (I was considering putting a picture here, but some of you might have arachnophobia so, here’s a link instead.)
A Jurogumo is a spider that lived to be 400 years old, it’s said that they develop magical powers when they reach this age. Stories of these creatures are told all over the country to this day, and the real-life spiders they are based on are viewed very favorably.
What’s so weird about it?
It’s name can be spelled to mean different things in the Japanese language and the translations into English are as followed: “binding bride”, “whore spider”, and “prostitute spider”. I don’t know about you guys but I just imagine a huge spider wearing a black leather jacket with a short red dress and high heels dragging on a cigarette. The mental image is both amusing and terrifying.
Another magical power that they have is the ability to go into people’s dreams, preferably males. When in the dreams they can try to persuade the man into marrying them and if he agrees then she can seal him in his dream so that he’ll never wake. They enjoy tying up their victims in their web and eating them, but they love luring them into a false sense of security. They are skilled musicians and would entice a traveler to go to their house where they’ll play a song before eating them up.
And, my personal favorite, they’ll go up to a man carrying a baby and say it’s his child. Yeah, they pull out that old trick.
What if I see one?
Check. Their. Reflection.
In a mirror, water, floor, an iPod, anything at all. Even when in human form, their reflection will be that of a giant spider. So if you see a huge spider, whether or not you believe in this, I highly suggest running away or rolling up a huge newspaper.
They are very solitary and like living behind waterfalls and in other people’s house. Phft freeloaders. If one of these spiders are in your house, kill it on the spot. The only thing they are immune to is poison though.
Even though they like killing and eating humans they are viewed with respect. In one story, a Jorogumo is worshipped like a goddess and is prayed to in order to be protected from drowning.
Or you can completely avoid Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan if you want to steer clear of the real-life spider, and quite possibly a Jorogumo.
PS: I got the idea to make a post about this from one of my followers so thanks! I’m acutally going to use more of your answers from the question I asked, so expect more of that soon.