St Andrew's cross. Little wonder.

I've been enjoying watching Argiope keyserlingii, better known as the St Andrew's Cross spider, seven paces from my computer. She hangs upside down like St Peter crucified, but the stunning design on her web is what gives her the other saint's name.

Her zigzag bands of silk woven in the X-shaped cross strengthen her web and also reflect ultraviolet light, thus attracting more little critters, like grasshoppers and other flying insects. Today she's been munching on what looks like a fly.

How do I know she's a she? Because my little mate has beautiful yellow stripes, and her hubby, wherever he is (probably down the pub), is a dull reddish brown.

According to tradition, the Apostle St Andrew (feast day November 30) was crucified at Patmos, in Achaia, on an X-shaped cross, the form of which became known as St Andrew's Cross, which is still on the Scottish and British flags. His cross is the same as the cross of Wotan which Norse invaders of Scotland carried. In Scotland it became the national symbol, as Andrew the national patron saint. My online friend, the very knowledgeable Waverly Fitzgerald at School of the Seasons points out, "The cross saltire, is also a sun symbol, which looks similar to a Catherine wheel or the rune of Gefjon, the Giver, which is associated with Freya, the great Scandinavian goddess who is much honored at wintertide."

According to Nigel Pennick (The Pagan Book of Days, 1992, 131), Andrew is a version of the divinity Andros, the Man, personification of virility, seen as an aspect of Dionysus.

St Andrew made another contribution to my own culture by his ordeal. People used to sign with an X if they couldn't sign their name. Then they would kiss the X and promise by St Andrew (whose cross the X resembles) to abide by their oath or contract. Over the years, ‘X’ on a letter came to mean a kiss.

bfn xxx