We have reviewed the literature on spider symbolism and have especially noted how the spider is used to symbolize conflict at both the oral and phallic level. We have studied a patient who confirms Abraham's observation that the spider symbolizes bisexual genitalia, "the penis within the female sex organs." She is a female with hermaphroditic genitalia, who during a psychotic episode developed the idea that her genitalia were a spider. We found that the spider also represented the patient's mother and the patient herself as a hermaphrodite. The restitutive function of the spider symbol as a representation of the self was discussed.