Page 10 - September 2022 Magazine - Bumper Edition

Dreamcatchers
Seen in many a spooky gift shop, we thought we would look at the origins of this phenomena that crossed the pond.
Dreamcatchers were traditionally used as a talisman to protect sleeping people, but especially children, from bad dreams and nightmares.
Native Americans believe that the night air is filled with good and bad dreams. When hung above the bed in a place where the morning sunlight falls on it, the dreamcatcher attracts and catches dreams and thoughts into its webs. Good dreams pass through and gently slide down the feathers to comfort the sleeper below.
Bad dreams, however, are caught up in its protective net and destroyed, burned up by the light of day.
Legends about the history and origin of the dreamcatcher exist among several Native American tribes, but chiefly through the Ojibwe and Lakota nations.
crawlies, the Ojibwe people found them to be a symbol of protection and comfort.
According to the Ojibwa story, a mystical and maternal ‘Spider-Woman’ served as the spiritual protector of the tribe, especially for young children, and infants.
As the Ojibwe tribe expanded and spread out across the land, the Spider Woman found it difficult to continue to protect and watch over all the members of the tribe as they migrated further and further away.
Hence, she created the first dreamcatcher.
Following her example, mothers and grandmothers would recreate the maternal keepsake to mystically protect their children and families from afar.
All the parts of a dreamcatcher have a meaning bound to the natural world. The shape is a circle because it represents the circle of life and how the forces like the sun and moon travel each day and night across the sky.
While many cultures see spiders as creepy
10 | The Flickering Cauldron® Magazine - Dreamcatchers