 We've all heard the story of Jesus walking on the water. It's one of his well-known miracles. But in the animal world, it's not necessarily a miracle. There is an animal that walks around on water as a matter of course, and you probably are very familiar with it. You can find water striders across most of the world. They're not found in New Zealand, but rest most of I think China and Europe and North America, South America, you're going to find them. And there are even species that live in the open ocean. So they're very, very widespread. And because they do skate around on top of the water, they're also called Jesus bugs, which I think is kind of a cute name for them. You'll usually find them in quiet, protected water, but they can handle some turbulence. And a lot of times you'll find them in a stream. You're probably going to see them in the pool areas of the stream, but it doesn't phase them too badly if they get swept into the current. And water striders actually, they skate around on the surface tension of the water. Water has this little skin on top of it. And water striders are very light and they they skate around on that, but it's not just that they're light, because other insects that are just as light will actually get trapped on that surface. So what is the physics behind the water striders ability to walk on water? It's in its legs. The water striders legs have hairs that trap air bubbles. And this creates a sort of super water resistance that allows the insect to not only float on its feet, but to skim around at high speed on the water surface. So this effect is so strong that a water strider could carry 15 times its body weight without sinking. And they're lightning fast, they're just like grease lightning over the surface of the water. They can move it 100 times their body length per second. And that would be like you or me going 400 miles an hour. So it's it's pretty impressive. And if you've ever tried to catch a water strider, you know how fast they can be. So what are the lessons of water strider? What is water strider here to teach us? Well, one of the things that I get from water strider is just the importance of being like when you're in your element, when, you know, finding your place in the world, when we're in our element, we can do things that others can't do. We can even do things that others may believe are impossible. So it's, you know, they're pointing out that you may be able to do things that aren't necessarily what, you know, that could go beyond what people think or what even you think. As long as you're aligned, as long as you're, you know, in a good relationship with your environment, if you're in an environment that is supportive of who you are, you can really, really shine. And also the miracles can sometimes they're not always these big, huge events. You don't have to be big in order to create magic, to create miracles. You can create miracles and magic in daily life or on a small scale. And we don't have to be featured on Oprah to create a lot of magic around us. You know, we don't have to come out with a best seller. We don't have to, you know, save the world all by ourselves. Just being our little old selves, we can create a lot of magic. So looking a little closer at Waterstrider, Waterstrider is an insect. And so it has six legs. But if you've ever seen them floating about, or usually what you see first is the shadow of the Waterstrider. And usually it looks like you can see four legs very easily. So if you've seen floating about counted four, it's because the two front legs are smaller. And those are the ones they used to capture and handle prey. So it's just the four legs that support them. And number four is really a significant number. And especially for an insect that appears to have four legs that really point out as significant. So we're going to look a little closer into the number four. Number four is a very spiritually significant number. It stands for completeness. We have the four directions. We have the four seasons. You know, we've got the four like phases of the moon, we've got you know, the where the sun is in relationship to the earth. So we have like sunrise and noon and sunset and midnight. So these, this number four comes about a lot. It really stands for, like I said, completeness, security, you know, having standing on four legs, it's a very, four is like the square, it's a very solid, very stable number of sociable practicality and groundedness of like it's rather an earth kind of symbol. You know, the cross is that has got the four. So it is just this really grounding kind of number. And it has a lot to do with faith. And like remember, when Jesus was walking in the water and he, you know, called to his disciples and they start going out and then they fell in and he's like, oh, you little faith. So the water strider and this number four really does symbolize faith, faith that you're supported, even when it looks like you're not. So the thing that creates the surface tension on the water is the attraction between water molecules. And it's basically positive attraction. It's energy. It's an intangible force, like a physical form of love energy, holding things together. It's the love energy in the universe that supports you. So, you know, the number four is also associated with the archangels. And that's the support. Again, Jesus bug, walk in the water, Jesus energy is the faith knowing that you're supported, even if it doesn't look like it, the universe will provide, will be given what you need, when you need it. And as an aside, you know, we are here for a purpose. Sometimes the universe generally thinks that fulfilling your purpose is a lot more important than your comfort. So when I say you'll be given what you need when you need it, it's a reminder to embrace everything that comes to you. Everything, you know, the good, the bad, the ugly, it's all here really to support us. So every spirit animal has a shadow side. And this isn't necessarily, by shadow side, what I mean is, these are traits, you know, things about the animal that sometimes can manifest in a way that points out things that are not so positive, you know, that might be happening in our lives. Every shadow side, you know, is the flip side of something positive. So the, what I'm calling shadow side, it's come about in the animal for survival reasons. And a lot of times when we have things that are challenging, they're, they're things that have come in our lives, or patterns that have developed as a response to challenges as an adaptive response somehow. So just short explanation, what I mean by shadow, but shadow side of the water strider has a lot to do with sexual politics. So there's a very, very interesting and actually antagonistic relationship between the sexes in a water strider. And it's really all about coercion. So the males tend to simply jump the females without any real courtship, you know, if, thank goodness, I'm not a water strider. Females have developed a genital shield that they can retract and put up at will. So shielding oneself, spiritual protection is a big lesson from water strider, and especially like the more intuitive, vulnerable aspects of ourselves. It's a reminder to really protect that. Okay, so if you know, water striders have this little chestnutty shield that she can put up and down to try to prevent this unwanted mating, and the males have developed a technique to get around this little built-in chestnutty belt. And what they do is they tap the water surface, and they do this to attract underwater predators. And since the females during the mating are on the bottom, they're a lot more vulnerable to attack. So a little bit of this black male activity is usually enough to get them to put out. So is this politically correct? Absolutely not. That's nature. It's not always pretty, and it's certainly not always politically correct from a human point of view. But as I said, these traits, these behaviors came about in the interest of survival of the species, and somehow that's how it works out with water striders. But as I said, when this animal comes into your life, these are some of the lessons that it can point out. So like I said, spiritual protection, being aware of black male, you know, that can be one of the meanings of water strider is just so kind of keep that awareness in mind that can be one of the things that water strider does bring up into the surface and show us that, you know, beyond the lookout for black male coercion, manipulation, kind of that kind of thing, especially where relationship and sexual relationship and romantic relationships might be concerned. And again, let's look at another interesting fact about water striders, and this has to do with the survival of the species. They're incredibly adaptable. And again, I think adaptability is a big meaning of water strider, looking back again to where they're found, comprehensive all over the world, even on the open ocean. But also they have this intergenerational adaptability to their environment. The young may be born with wings or without depending on how friendly the environment is. So their DNA is triggered by the environment. Here's another thing just like it points out the interrelationship between, you know, a species and its environment. So interrelationships and water strider can really point out, especially in terms of long term developments, the importance of environment, okay, in maintaining an environment that's friendly to you. So it's a pond that these water striders, a colony of water striders is found in is in danger of drying up, then that generation will be born with wings. It's an escape mechanism so that they can fly to another pond if they need to. In wet years, they're born without wings. And that's thought that that's a way to conserve energy for what's needed. So a lot of lessons here. One is the importance of just having escape valves and having a plan B. And kind of looking forward to, okay, things are pretty good right now, but let's look forward it might not be so good. So what are we going to have in the wings to help us out in case of hardship? So thinking ahead and having a plan B in the wings. And also just, you know, if you don't need it, get rid of it, because it's going to suck your energy. So, you know, that as well. I mean, they are very, very efficient, efficient creatures. So it just lets sum up water strider. So the positive meanings, positive lessons of water strider. Faith is a huge one. Miracles being, you know, importance of the environment around you, maintaining a positive environment for yourself. Self-worth, the value, even if you're small, you still have, you know, you can create miracles even if you're small. Security, support, spiritual protection, adaptability, thinking ahead, being prepared for eventualities, and efficiency, letting go of what's not needed. Shadow side of water strider challenges with harmonizing masculine and feminine, being gullible or blackmail, manipulation, coercion, especially in sexual relationships. So I hope you've enjoyed this. If you have had experiences with water strider and coming into your life with spiritual lessons, please share them below. I'd love to hear about them. If you've enjoyed this video, please like and share and consider subscribing for more videos on spirit animals and spiritual topics. So thanks for watching and catch you next time.