Dream catcher

Where did they come from and what are dream catchers?

The North American Ojibwe (Chippewa) Indians believe that the night is full of good and bad dreams . When suspended above where you sleep, the dream catcher moves freely in the night air, capturing dreams as they pass by. Good dreams that know their way pass through the hole in the center of the circular "web", while bad dreams that do not know the way are caught in the web and destroyed at the first light of the morning sun.

For many cultures around the world, spiders are feared and terrifying insects. However, to the Ojibway tribe, spiders were actually a symbol of protection and well-being . An old Ojibway legend says that at the beginning of the world there was a mystical woman nicknamed the "spider woman". She provided spiritual protection to the tribe, especially young children, infants and newborns. The Ojibway tribe has continued to grow and expand over the years. It was difficult for the spider woman to continue to provide protection to all the tribe members who had migrated to distant lands. She then came up with the idea of creating a Native American dream catcher . Following his example, mothers and grandmothers in turn created it to protect their children and families from a distance.

In Native American tribes, women were tasked with making dream catchers by hand to protect their families, children and grandchildren. The dream catcher has a relatively small circumference and consists of a wooden ring covered with canvas or natural fiber mesh. It is also decorated with sacred objects such as feathers and beads . All these elements must be natural. Each part of the Native American dream catcher has its own definition and is closely related to the natural world. The dream catcher is shaped like a circle because it represents the circle of life . It is also a metaphor for the path of the sun and moon, each day and each night across the sky.

How do Native American dream catchers work?

Their purpose was to protect sleepers, especially children, from bad dreams, nightmares and evil spirits. Native Americans believed that the night air was full of dreams, both good and bad. So they hung a dream catcher above the bed. They had to be careful not to allow daylight to reach him. As its name suggests, the dream catcher attracts and subsequently catches all kinds of dreams and thoughts in its web .

Native Indians believe that beautiful dreams then pass through the threads and glide over the feathers to reach the sleeper and comfort him. Bad dreams, on the other hand, are trapped in a net and subsequently destroyed, burned by the light of day. Dream interpretation has strongly influenced the cultural and spiritual beliefs of Native Americans for centuries. They believed that dreams had an effect on the conscious soul of the dreamer. According to them, dreams could have an impact on character traits such as trust, maturity, kindness and loyalty.

How to use dream catchers?

Hang the dream catcher above the bed and make sure it is exposed to sunlight. The web in the catcher's circle is responsible for catching bad dreams and evil spirits during the night and getting rid of them when the day comes. Feathers, on the other hand, allow beautiful dreams to reach the sleeper. Not all Native American tribes agree on the meaning of the beads on the cloth. Some say that the pearl symbolizes a spider that weaves a web, while others say that the pearl symbolizes beautiful dreams that are immortalized. Originally, dream catchers were attached above the cradles of newborns or on the headboards of children's beds . Over the years, as the faith developed, adults also decided to protect their sleep, and even today, dream catchers can be found above the beds of not only children, but also parents.