To most native peoples, dreams are the crossroads where the human mind, the soul and the spirit world all meet. Even in Australian, the Aborigines and the dream world myth is a remarkable story that tells how the world itself was created first in the dream world before the world was made ‘real’. To most native peoples throughout the world dreams hold special importance. To the Ojibwa tribe (Chippewa) dreams travel freely in the night air, all kinds of dreams, good and bad. These items are used to attract dreams of a particular type. Particular beads may be ‘blessed’ to bring dreams of love, sea shells may be tasked with bring dreams of self-realization or beauty. The beads or other artifacts woven into some dream catchers are put there to encourage particular types of dreams. So, a dreamcatcher is fashioned as a spiders web and tasked by it’s creator to catch bad dreams. Spirals hold a special significance for tribes in the Southwestern United States. The traditional dreamcatcher utilizes a typical spider web design, however, some modern dreamcatcher craftsmen use what is called a spiral pattern. For some tribes spiders brought the gift of basket weaving, to others, the spirituality of how the world exists, to others the spider brought the gift of fire. The Hopi tribe have a legend that Spider Woman (Kótyangwúti) created the world. All life and things in the world are connected to one another. For many native Americans and First Peoples the spider’s web is how the natural world exists, that is, all life, all nature is interconnected. The spider and the spider’s web hold special significance for native American peoples. It is no coincidence that the center of a dreamcatcher looks like a spider’s web, for that is what it is. An Osage tribe legend holds that the willow tree is a tree of wisdom. Willow was, and is, special for it’s vast array of uses from creating baskets to medicinal (the active ingredient in the common drug aspirin was originally discovered in willow and many ancient people utilized willow as a pain killer and to reduce fever). The willow tree holds special significants to most Native Americans. To understand this, let’s take a look at how a ‘real’ dreamcatcher is made, and why it is made the way it is. To Native Americans, a true dreamcatcher must be handmade and constructed with special materials by a person of pure intentions. Factory production and sale of dreamcatchers literally meant the spiritual meaning and history of the dreamcatcher was lost. However, many Native Americans began to shun the dreamcatcher as an icon when dreamcatchers became commercialized (and especially when dreamcatchers began to be factory produced). However, Dreamcatchers can be thought of as a natural extension of ‘spider charms’ which have a history and spiritual purpose going back centuries.Īt one point, the dreamcatcher became a symbol to represent all the Native Americans or First Peoples. Some claim the dreamcatcher is a recent development, only having been ‘discovered’ or ‘invented’ in the last 50 or so years. In the late 1960s and 1970s, dreamcatchers became popular with the counter culture folks of the 60s and 70s and was further adopted by the ‘new age movement’ that continues to today. The first classic dreamcatchers appear to originate with the Ojibwa tribe, sometimes called the Chippewa, who now reside in the northern mid-west of the U.S. In fact, every feature of a dreamcatcher plays a special role and holds spiritual importance. The feathers actually serve an important role in the function of a dreamcatcher. Traditionally, feathers are added to the bottom of the dreamcatcher, but not for decoration. Depending on the Native American tribe, small, personal items can be added to the web, such as beads sea shells or more recently, crystals. The original dreamcatchers were made by Native American shamen or by someone who understood the spiritual and historical meanings behind the dreamcatcher. Hand woven string is then passed through the circle to create a web, or catcher. Often the circular willow frame is covered with leather straps and treated to remain soft and supple. One could say a dreamcatcher is a spiritual tool that embodies Native American history.īriefly, a dreamcatcher begins as willow sticks bent into a rough circular shape. For those who are more mystically minded, understanding the history and spirituality behind the dreamcatcher may change how one selects a dreamcatcher, how it is used, and, who knows, perhaps improves the effectiveness of a dreamcatcher. Though many think this is a simple trinket to hang near one’s bed in order to ‘prevent bad dreams’ the truth is that the dreamcatcher actually has a deep spiritual history behind it. Dreamcatchers are of Native American origin.
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