History of Dreamcatcher
Long ago when the word was sound, an old Lakota spiritual leader was on a high mountain and had a vision. In his vision, Iktomi, the great trickster and searcher 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 elders 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.
Dreams have always been a fundamental part of Ojibwe culture and have many purposes.
~ Prophecies: Dreams can show future events that will affect a tribe or individual person.
~ Names: Spiritual leaders can receive the name of a newborn child through dreams.
~ Spiritual Strength: Many Ojibwe people pray, meditate, and fast in order to bring on dreams that will give them spiritual guidance during difficult times.
~ Symbolism: Dreamers will often see a symbol that has personal meaning to them throughout their lives. Many Ojibwe make a charm to keep with them to remind them of the symbol. Some even take them to the grave when they die for strength in the afterlife.
The Ojibwe people, often referred to by their anglicized name, "Chippewa", so insightfully understood the importance of dreams, especially in children, that they attempted to assist a child�s ability to receive good dreams and filter out dark or negative dreams with the use of a dream catcher.
Two Dreamcatcher Legends
A grandmother watched patiently each day as a spider spun his web above her sleeping place until one day her grandson noticed the spider and tried to kill it. Dont hurt him, she told the boy in a soft tone, surprising him. But grandmother, you should not protect this spider. When the grandson left, the spider thanked the woman for her protection and offered her a gift.I will spin you a web that hangs between you and the moon so that when you dream, it will snare the bad thoughts and keep them from you. At this, grandmother smiled and continued to watch the spider spin his web.
While receiving a spiritual vision high on a mountain, a Lakota leader met Iktomi, a trickster who also held great wisdom. Appearing to the leader in the form of a spider, Iktomi made a hoop of willow and spun a web inside of it. He told the aged Lakota man that many forces, both bright and dark would attempt to enter peoples dreams and that the dream catcher he was making would catch the bright forces and allow the dark ones to slip away and burn up. Iktomi instructed the old man to make dream catchers for his people so they could all achieve a bright future by capturing the good dreams that are blown about by the winds of the night. As you can see, in the Lakota version, dream catchers trap good dreams, just the opposite of the Ojibwe belief.
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