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The Dreamcatcher

For hundreds of generations, certain elements of Native American peoples' spiritualism have been, and continue to be, handed down. One of these elements was the hoop. Some Native Americans of North America held the hoop in the highest esteem, because it symbolized strength and unity.

A lot of symbols evolved around the hoop, and one of these was the Dreamcatcher.

Using a hoop of willow, traditionally, and decorating it with findings, bits and pieces of everyday life, it is believed to have the power to catch all of a person's dreams, filtering out the bad ones, letting only the good dreams pass through.

May they also work for you...

The Legend of the Dreamcatcher

Long ago when the world was young, an old Lakota spiritual leader was on a high mountain and had a vision. In his vision, Iktomi, the great trickster and teacher of wisdom, appeared in the form of a spider. Iktomi spoke to him in a sacred language. As he spoke, Iktomi the spider picked up the elder's willow hoop which had feathers,horsehair, beads and offerings on it, and began to spin a web.

He spoke to the elder about the cycles of life; how we begin our lives as infants, move on through childhood and on to adulthood. Finally we go to old age where we must be taken care of as infants, completing the cycle. "But", Iktomi said as he continued to spin his web, "in each time of life there are many forces; some good and some bad. If you listen to the good forces, they will steer you in the right direction. But, if you listen to the bad forces, they'll steer you in the wrong direction and may hurt you. So these forces can help, or can interfere with the harmony of Nature. While the spider spoke, he continued to weave his web.

When Iktomi finished speaking, he gave the elder the web and said, "The web is a perfect circle with a hole in the center. Use the web to help your people reach their goals, making good use of their ideas, dreams and visions. If you believe in the great spirit, the web will catch your good ideas and the bad ones will go through the hole." The elder passed on his vision to the people and now many Indian people hang a dream catcher above their bed to sift their dreams and visions. The good is captured in the web of life and carried with the people, but the evil in their dreams drops through the hole in the center of the web and are no longer a part of their lives. It's said that the dreamcatcher holds the destiny of the future.

The Dreamcatcher Lore

The Indians believe that the night air is filled with dreams both good and bad.The dreamcatcher when hung in your place of rest, swinging freely with the air, catches the dreams as they flow by. The good dreams know the way,slipping through the outer holes and slide down the soft feathers so gently that many times the sleeper does not know that he/she is dreaming. The bad dreams not knowing the way, get tangled in the web and perish with the first light of the new day.

The Dream Keeper

Bring me all of your dreams,
You dreamers,
Bring me all of your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue-cloud cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.