Dream Catchers are a spiritual tool used to help assure good dreams to those that sleep under them. A dream catcher is usually placed over a place you would sleep where the morning light can hit it. As you sleep all dreams from the spirit world have to pass through the dream catcher. Dream Catchers & Mandellas: Welcome to our Native American or Indian Dream Catchers & Mandellas page.Used by many Native American tribes who believed that the night air was full of both good and bad dreams. Dream catchers were hung on cradle boards, in lodges and over the beds of all who where looking to have only good dreams as they slumbered. Get the best deals on Cherokee US Native American Dream Catchers (1935-Now). 16' Large Native American Indian Coyote Dream Catcher. $64.50 shipping.

1. American Indian Dream Catchers Meaning
2. American Indian Dream Catchers For Sale
3. American Indian Dream Catcher Pictures

by K Shabi PUBLISHED 14 July 2016

• Dream Catchers are a spiritual tool used to help assure good dreams to those that sleep under them. A dream catcher is usually placed over a place you would sleep where the morning light can hit it. As you sleep all dreams from the spirit world have to pass through the dream catcher.
• May 03, 2018 Dreamcatchers and Medicine Wheels At Kachina House we carry a vast selection of Native American dreamcatchers and medicine wheels, handmade by artists from various tribes. Crafted and accented with natural mataerials, we offer unique objects of art and craft.

What is the true meaning and history behind the Native American dreamcatcher? Where do dreamcatchers really come from? You've probably seen a dream catcher hanging from a tree, a porch or even in a souvenir gift shop and wondered about its purpose and meaning. Read on to learn more about the story, legend, and origins of authentic Native American dream catchers.

Authentic Native American Dream Catchers

Originally created by American Indians, dreamcatchers today come in a variety of different sizes and styles. They usually consist of a small wooden hoop covered in a net or web of natural fibers, with meaningful sacred items like feathers and beads attached, hanging down from the bottom of the hoop. Real authentic, traditional dream catchers are handmade and crafted only from all natural materials, in size measuring just a few small inches across. The hoop is traditionally constructed from a bent Red Willow branch covered in stretched sinews. Wrapping the frame in leather is another common finishing touch among 'real' dream catchers.

History of the Dreamcatcher: Ojibwe or Lakota Origins?

Today the dreamcatcher is associated with Native American culture in general, but dream catchers are often believed to have originated from the Ojibwa Chippewa tribe in particular. The Lakota tribe also has its own legend about the origins of the dreamcatcher, but most ethnographers believe the dreamcatchers were passed down from the Ojibwe through intermarriage and trade. The Ojibwe word for dreamcatcher asabikeshiinh actually means 'spider,' referring to the woven web loosely covering the hoop. The patterns of the dream catcher web are similar to the webbing these Native Americans also used for making snowshoes.

Ojibwa Legend: The story of the Dream catcher

Ancient legends about the history and origin of the dreamcatcher exist among several Native American tribes, but are most common and seem to originate among the Ojibwe and Lakota nations. While many cultures consider spiders to be creepy crawlers, the Ojibwe people saw them in a different light, as symbols of protection and comfort. According to an old Ojibwa legend, a mystical and maternal 'Spider Woman' once served as the spiritual protector for her tribe, especially in concern to young children, kids and babies. As the Ojibwe people flourished and spread out across the land, it was difficult for The Spider Woman to continue to protect and watch over all the members of the tribe as they migrated farther and farther away. This is why she created the first dreamcatcher. Following her example, over the course of generations mothers and grandmothers continued to ritualistically recreate the maternal keepsake as a means of mystically protecting their children and families even from a distance.

What do dream catchers do? Purpose & Meaning of the Dream Catcher

Sometimes referred to as 'Sacred Hoops,' Ojibwe dreamcatchers were traditionally used as talismans to protect sleeping people, usually children, from bad dreams and nightmares. This Native American tribe believes that the night air is filled with dreams, both good and bad. When hung above the bed in a place where the morning sunlight can hit it, the dream catcher attracts and catches all sorts of 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 in the light of day.

Dream Catcher Meaning: Web, Feathers & Beads

All parts of the authentic Native American dreamcatcher have meaning tied to the natural world. The shape of the dreamcatcher is a circle because it represents the circle of life and how forces like the sun and moon travel each day and night across the sky. The dream catcher web catches the bad dreams during the night and dispose of them when the day comes. As for the good dreams, the feathers act as a fluffy, pillow-like ladder that allows them to gently descend upon the sleeping person undisturbed. There is some contention when it comes to the meaning of the beads that often decorate the dreamcatcher. According to some American Indians, the beads symbolize the spider—the web weaver itself. Others believe the beads symbolize the good dreams that could not pass through the web, immortalized in the form of sacred charms.

Dreamcatcher Meaning Today: Authentic Symbol or Cultural Appropriation?

Though dreamcatchers are quite common, finding real authentic dreamcatchers is not that easy today. Real handmade dream catchers are usually small in size and feature sacred charms like feathers and beads. Many dreamcatchers for sale today, however, are much more American than Native American, often oversized and constructed from cheap plastic materials. Many Native Americans still consider the dreamcatcher to be a long-standing cultural symbol of unity and identification among the many Indian Nations and First Nations cultures. Sadly, many other Native Americans have come to see dream catchers as just another cultural appropriation, over-commercialized and at times offensively misappropriated and misused by non-Natives.

filed under: culture, symbol

American Indian Dream Catchers Meaning

THE ANCIENT CEREMONY OF SMUDGING
Smudging is a form of cleansing a room, an object, a physical body or place, of negative energy. You will need some sage to smudge your house, which you can gather from the hills or purchase in a metaphysical store.
When you get ready to hang your dream catcher, follow this procedure:
Lift the smoke upward, saying:
Stand in the center of the room and light the sage. When it has ignited and burned for a few moments, gently shake it over a shell or fireproof container like an ashtray to extinguish the flame so it will only smoke. Begin by purifying yourself with the smoke. Move the smoking sage around the perimeter of your body, paying particular attention to any area of your body which is not in balance, or which is manifesting any sign of ill health or pain. Then offer the smoke to the six directions.
1. To the Creator, the Never-ending Force that is all, I thank you.
2. Extend the smoke downward, saying: 'To Mother Earth, the place of nurturing and hope, I thank you.
3. Facing the north, lift the smoke upward, saying: To the Spirit of the North, the place of winter and intuitive understanding, of healing, and the place of beginnings and endings, I thank you.
4. Facing the East, lift the smoke in that direction, saying: To the Spirit of the East, where the sun rises, the place of new beginnings and the promise of Spring, I thank you.
5. Facing the South, extend the smoke in that direction, saying:
To the Spirit of the South, the place of summer and rapid growth, the place of our heart and emotions, and the place where we learn survival and endurance and develop a trust in life, I thank you.
6. Facing the West, lift the smoke, saying: To the Spirit of the West, where the sun sets and we find healing and self knowledge that gives us the power to use our head and our hearts to serve and to teach, I thank you.

American Indian Dream Catchers For Sale

Next, smudge the dream catcher.
When you smudge the dream catcher, slowly move the sage around the perimeter of the object, beginning at the front and covering the dream catcher thoroughly with smoke.
Then walk slowly around the edge of the room in a clockwise direction, allowing the smoke to be drawn thoroughly around the edge of the room.
As you do this ritual, allow yourself to experience the cleansing, healing power of the smoke.
Become aware of the higher power of the Universe called by many names:
Great Spirit, Heavenly Father, God, Wakan-Tanka, the Ascendant, All That Is, and allow yourself to feel the presence of the Power within you.

At this point, face the dream catcher, and speak out loud to it and tell the dream catcher what you want it to do. Speak to the object as a friend, for it is your friend, an aspect of yourself.

Close by thanking it for the goodness it will perform.

American Indian Dream Catcher Pictures

You can use this ceremony for cleansing your house, your car, your Self, or any thing or place you feel has collected negative energy. Simply remove the phrases pertaining to the dream catcher.
(Read More on Smudging)