The Dream Catcher

The Dream Catcher comes from a Native American Indian Tradition. You hang them by the window in your bedroom or at the head of your bed. Bad Dreams get caught in the web, while Good Dreams work their way through the web to the hole in the centre and float down the feather like a dewdrop on a blade of grass. These Good Dreams come to rest on your pillow and are slowly absorbed by your mind, then they gently evaporate to Great Spirit in the morning sun. Meanwhile, the Bad Dreams have been trapped by the Dream Catcher during the night and are absorbed by the prayer beads strung into the web. As the morning sun rises the Bad Dreams are burnt up by its power.

Different Traditions

There are several hundred different Native American Indian Peoples (tribes), whose natural environments range from the Arctic wastes of Alaska, northern Canada and Greenland through to the forests of Canada and the Great Lakes. They are found on both the east and west coasts of the United States of America, on the plains and badlands, in the Rocky Mountains and in the arid deserts of Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico.

With these vast differences of experience, environment and therefore upbringing it is not at all surprising that their traditions vary greatly. This can be seen in the traditions surrounding the Dream Catcher.

The information about Dream Catchers in the Introduction comes from the Plains Indians, the Sioux. However, the Navajo and other Pueblo Indians of the South West have a very different story. They believe that you should hang your Dream Catcher directly above your bed. The Good Dreams get caught in the web so that you can hold onto them and remember them in the morning. The Bad Dreams pass straight through the web and return to Great Spirit. You are completely unaffected by them. This is almost the complete opposite of the Plains Indians’ beliefs.