DREAM CATCHER
LEGEND
According to
legend, dreams are messages from
sacred spirits.
It is said that the hole in the
center of the web allows the good
dreams through
while bad dreams are trapped in
the web until they disappear in
the morning sun.
Dream Catchers are believed to
bless the sleeping one with
pleasant dreams,
good luck and harmony throughout
their lives.
THE LEGEND OF
THE DREAMCATCHER
"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."
~Author Unknown.~
The DREAM
CATCHER
An old indian legend says that
the night air is filled with both
good and bad dreams. As the
dreams flow in succession, they
succumb to the power of the Dream
Catcher which catches them as
they go by.
The good dreams know their way
past the web and slip through the
center hole and then slide gently
down to the sleeper. The bad
dreams, not knowing the way, get
caught in the web where they
perish at dawn.
Dream Catchers were hung on
cradle boards and other places in
the lodge for all to have good
dreams. Today they are hung
everywhere to attract pleasant
dreams.
