appearing in my front yard and i saw the arrival:)
three minutes later, he/she disappeared....not to be
found again...hmmmm....

very large creature...around 5 (more) inches long...stunning...

no, it was not jimmy the cricket...not at all:)

there are many texts on the internet about the praying mantis...
and somehow they all fit my current perceptions of life...i
feel honored, given hope, stunned and comforted by his/her appearance:)))

http://www.souledout.org/earthday/mantis/pm.html

The praying mantis is the oldest symbol of God: the African Bushman’s manifestation of God come to Earth, “the voice of the infinite in the small,”* a divine messenger. When one is seen, diviners try to determine the current message. In this culture they are also associated with restoring life into the dead. “Mantis” is the Greek word for “prophet” or “seer,” a being with spiritual or mystical powers.

Meet the eye of a mantis and feel the presence of God. Interspecies communicator Sharon Callahan says, “the I of me, and the I of the creature became one and we rested on the breath of God.” She notes that a praying mantis appears sometimes in person, other times in a dream or even in an object of art, but always with the “shiny conscious eye ~ God looking at me through the eye of the Mantis.”

The praying mantis shows the way. In the Arabic and Turkish cultures a mantis points pilgrims to Mecca, the holiest site in the Islamic world. In Africa it helps find lost sheep and goats. In France, it's believed that if you are lost the mantis points the way home.

"Follow Mantis" means putting that core aspect of yourself, your foundation of Spirit, at the helm and let it direct your intellect and ultimately your life.

there was a white one in my yard 9/14/2002 ...cant see the connection (yet)...
http://www.pbase.com/stetsa/image/4949913