Hello Everyone,

 

So I think I am going to touch base on some more random stuff between or last segment of blogs and the next batch that concentrates around a particular subject. Figured it would change it up a little bit for all the readers out there. And once again thank you for all your kind remarks and visitations to the site. So I was sitting at my computer the other day and putting together a list of interesting things and the first thing that came to mind was Dreamcatchers. Mainly because I have many of them in my home but also a rather large just above my computer that I purchased at “The Thing” tourist attraction in southern Arizona. I purchased it on my way back from the White Mountains and since then I have been fascinated with them.

 

Dreamcatchers Origin:

 

Most ‘original’ Dreamcatchers were from the Ojibwe (Chippewa) people and parts from the Lakota Tribes. The original designs and construction were typically much different than the Dreamcatchers we see today. They still primarily used the same materials but the overall designs what varied. From what I gather is that they were any given shape and sometimes resembling something more like a hanging cradle then the rounded versions that are common nowadays. They grew to popularity in modern culture during the Pan-Indian Movement in the 1960s and 1970s when tribal nations came together in more unity.

 

Legends:

 

Some of the legends state that they were designed for the purpose of the Spider Woman. A protector of the children at night. As the tribal nations grew larger and spread out to different parts of the world as they knew it the Spider Woman could not reach as far. Creating the Dreamcatchers to symbolize a spider web among the tree branches was a way to expand that reach of the Spider Woman.

 

I have also heard the legends or tales that Dreamcatchers are there to protect us from bad dreams or dreams delivered to you by evil spirits that can influence you to do bad deed. The small hole in the middle is a path to where the good dreams know where to go and thus allowing them to enter in to your dream world. The bad dreams are caught in the web-like regions of Dreamcatchers and eventually destroyed by the morning light.

 

No different legends say different things, but many of them seem to follow a basis similar to these two stories so that’s why I shared them. Some believe the decorations, or in some cases, sacred objects hung below or within the webs of Dreamcatchers also has some impact on how these dreams are received or dispatched.

 

Wrap-Up:

 

In the long run if you don’t like the legends you can at least enjoy the beauty of the designs and colorations that Dreamcatchers have. I have many of them hanging around my place and enjoy them. They carry a mysterious aspect to them if you are aware of the origins and tales and that adds a little mystery to them and to me an eerie feeling of wondering what dreams they maybe didn’t let in. Or maybe the ones they have.

 

Thanks for Reading,

Joshua Crane Dowidat