The Dream Catcher - evil dreams had better stay outside!

By Victoria Förster

For many years I have been traveling across America. I drove of course through states such as Arizona, Montana, South Dakota and Utah where there are still Indian reservations and I have found at that time a, for me beautiful and valuable artifact, on which I will speak here in more detail. I didn’t know anything about the huge importance of the dream catcher when buying it, but then I found out that the legend of the dream catcher is one of the most beautiful in the mythology of Native Americans. This fact made the dream catcher for me even more valuable than it already was.

The Indians believed that they were surrounded by the mysterious forces of the unseen world. The magical beings and things could be good or evil. One of the best ways to make contact with the unseen world was to dream.

Fasting and reflecting on themselves and nature, the Indians were waiting for fantasy pictures, so- called visions that should show them a specific direction in their lives. Figures, animals and things that occurred in a dream or vision were messengers of the spirit world or guardian spirits. Every Indian had his personal guardian spirit, who possessed supernatural powers and thus strengthened his protege.

A magical dream could change the life of an Indian in a day completely. But in the night air was crowded not only the good but also the bad dreams. In order to protect themselves from such dreams, the Indian made dream catcher. Even today, there are many stories about the origin of the dream catcher. One is the following:

In ancient times, a child of a tribe had bad dreams every night. His mother worried so much and looked in her emergency assistance in old wise spider woman. She listened to the grief of the mother and showed her the secret of the dream catcher: She tied of willow twigs to the eternal ring of life, in which she was weaving a spider web with a hole in the center and decorated the dream catcher with feathers, healing and gemstones. The good dreams should find their way through the hole and get to the dangling feathers to the sleeping child. The stones should protect it. The bad dreams become entangled but should remain stuck in a spider web and to disappear with the first ray of sunlight in the morning forever. The Indian went with the dream catcher of the spider woman back to her village and hung the decorated tires on in her teepee. In the following night the child slept so calm and deep like it hasn't done in a long time. Since that time, the Indians keep the secret of the dream catcher and pass it on from generation to generation.

As it should be, the dream catcher is directly above my bed so that the intended effect is achieved. As you can see, I do not own a classic or traditional dream catcher, but a slightly different, perhaps more modern version. In this case, it does not consist of the usual web; the willow hoop still exists. Soft Leather is stretched over the hoop, on which an image is painted. It is a picture which led to dream with beautiful, mystical landscape with pine trees, a meadow, a creek and two teepees. In the background are gentle highlands with snow on the peaks. Leather, beads and feathers decorate the whole dream catcher and give it a light, almost weightless note.

I have several small and big things, like jewelry, figures or images that have been handmade by Indians; however, the dream catcher is one of my favorite pieces. I can tell you exactly why that's the case: Behind the dream catcher lies a great legend that has been carried from generation to generation and still exists today and this is really impressive to me.

Sources:
http://www.thewolfsdencreations.com/History%20of%20the%20Dream%20Catchers.htm