The Twin War Gods of the Navaho, on the way to the house of their father, the Sun, had 
hardly departed from their home, following a holy trail, when they came upon this wonderful
little figure: "The boys travelled rapidly in the holy trail, and soon after sunrise, near
Dsilnaotil, saw smoke arising from the ground.  The went to the place where the smoke rose,
and they found that it came from the smoke hole of a subterranean chamber.  A ladder, black
from smoke, projected through the hole.  Looking down into the chamber they saw an old woman,
the Spider Woman, who glanced up at them and said, 'Welcome, children.  Enter.  Who are you
and whence do you come together walking?'  They made no answer but descended the ladder.  
When they reached the floor she again spoke to them, asking, 'whither do you two go walking 
together?' 'Nowhere in particular,' they answered, 'we came here because we had nowhere else
to go.'  She asked this question four times, and each time she received a similar answer.  
Then she said: 'Perhaps you would seek your father?' 'Yes,' they answered, 'if only we knew
the way to his dwelling.' 'Ah,' she answered, 'it is a long and dangerous way to the house
of your father, the son.  There are many monsters dwelling between here and there, and 
perhaps, when you get there, your father may not be glad to see you, and may punish you for
coming.  You must pass four places of danger - the rocks that crush the traveller, the reeds
that cut him to pieces, the cane cactuses that tear him to pieces, and the boiling sands 
that overwhelm him.  But I shall give you something to subdue your enemies and preserve your
lives.'  She gave them a charm called 'feather of the alien gods,' which consisted of a hoop
with two life-feathers (feathers plucked from a living eagle) attached, and another life-
feather to preserve their existence.  She taught them also this magic formula, which, if 
repeated to their enemies, would subdue their anger: 'Put your feet down with pollen.  Put
your hands down with pollen.  Put your head down with pollen.  Then your feet are pollen; 
your hands are pollen; your body is pollen; your mind is pollen; your voice is pollen.  The
trail is beautiful.  Be still.'"

The helpful crone and fairy godmother is a familiar feature of European fairy lore; in 
Christian saints' legends the role is commonly played by the Virgin.  The Virgin by her 
intercession can win the mercy of the Father.  Spider Woman with her web can control the
movements of the Sun.  The hero who has come under the protection of the Cosmic Mother 
cannot be harmed.  The thread of Ariadne brought Theseus safely through the adventure of the
labyrinth.  This is the guiding power that runs through the work of Dante in the female 
figures of Beatrice and the Virgin and appears in Goethe's FAUST successively as Gretchen.

Joseph Campbell 'The Hero with a thousand faces' pp. 69-71