During the fall season all of my vines, planted throughout my yard lose there leaves. This is the only time of year that I cut them, and what a great opprotunity for me to make my hoops for Dreamcatchers.
As a young girl I often had nightmares, usually causing the fallowing day to be stressful. My Step-Mother introduced me to a friend of hers, who taught me how to create Dreamcatchers. This has proved to be invaluable, as I made one for myself and my nightmares stopped abruptly.
Now I make them only in the fall season, for those who are in need of a good nights sleep. I recently made one for my Daughter, who was complaining of bad dreams. She is happy to report (every morning) only good dreams since we hung it over her bed.
GOOD MEDICINE
GOOD MEDICINE
According to Native Americans beliefs, dreams that humans have while they sleep, are sent by sacred spirits as messages. According to their Legend, in the center of the Dream Catcher there is a hole. Good dreams are permitted to reach the sleeper through this hole in the web. As for the bad dreams, the web traps them and they disappear at dawns first light.
The Dream Catcher represents several meanings. The decorations and materials used to decorate them, all have a special meaning. Scattered beads throughout the web may represent good dreams that have been caught throughout the night. A feather represents the symbol of breath or air. The feather is usually attached so it hangs from the bottom, center of the ring.
Throughout all of history, almost every culture and person has placed important significance on the true meaning of their dreams. Today, our dreams are just as powerful and significant in our lives, just as they were with all of our Ancestors. Mainly, because of the meanings that are discovered in them. Regardless if your dreams are good or bad, they can confuse, inspire, scare, or enlighten the dreamer.
The Ojibwe Tribe were the very first to design these decorations to protect their infants against bad dreams that could possibly come throughout the night. Both bad and good dreams were caught within the web, but only the good dreams were permitted to slide down along the feathers to the infants head. Thus, the bad dreams would become lost within the web and would not be able to find the way to the infant. By morning, when the sun rays would bring in light to the child’s room, it would destroy the bad dreams.
Ojibway Legend:
"A spider was quietly spinning his web in his own space. It was beside the sleeping space of Nokomis, the grandmother.
Each day, Nokomis watched the spider at work, quietly spinning away. One day as she was watching him, her grandson came in. "Nokomis-iya!" he shouted, glancing at the spider. He stomped over to the spider, picked up a shoe and went to hit it.
"No-keegwa," the old lady whispered, "don't hurt him."
"Nokomis, why do you protect the spider?" asked the little boy.
The old lady smiled, but did not answer. When the boy left, the spider went to the old woman and thanked her for saving his life.
He said to her, "For many days you have watched me spin and weave my web. You have admired my work. In return for saving my life, I will give you a gift." He smiled his special spider smile and moved away, spinning as he went.
Soon the moon glistened on a magical silvery web moving gently in the window. "See how I spin?" he said. "See and learn, for each web will snare bad dreams. Only good dreams will go through the small hole. This is my gift to you. Use it so that only good dreams will be remembered. The bad dreams will become hopelessly entangled in the web."
All of my creations are made in a very sacred way. They are all blessed, smudged, and the spirits of any creatures used are thanked.
***
I will be listing my dreamcatchers in my
later on today.
{See you in the Wind}
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