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What is a Dreamcatcher?
Siobhan Rollo
Overview
The dreamcatcher is a First Nations Canadian symbol of peace, protection, good fortune, and much more! We often have customers who come into our store who are unfamiliar with the significance, history, and tradition these handcrafted wonders hold.
There are only certain tribes that practice the craftsmanship of dream catchers, but its origins come from the Ojibwe people.
The Ojibwe people originally carried dreamcatchers as good luck charms. In Ojibwe culture, dreams are a significant and sacred part of a person’s development. For example, it is believed that dreams have a continued impact on one’s character traits, therefore good dreams contribute to good character.
Asibikaashi- Who is She?
In Ojibwe culture, they have a spiritual figure named Asibikaashi [ah-see-bee-KAH-she], a spider woman who serves as a protector, creator, and connector of people. She is also known informally as the “spider grandmother”. Asibikaashi is revered across many Indigenous tribes, as folklore states she is a powerful medicine woman, who helps aid in the care and protection of young children, babies, and newborns.
It is said that Asibikaashi was the first to craft the dream catcher, initially as a form of talisman or protection charm to ward off bad dreams so that members of her tribe could sleep through the night without worry. As legend says, members of her tribe began to craft their own dream catchers to protect their loved ones, and the practice eventually spread on.
What does it do?
A dreamcatcher is mostly used for decoration or sentimental gifting purposes. However, many people still use them for their original purpose!
It’s said that the web of a dreamcatcher attracts dreams, both good and bad. The web catches all the dreams a person has in the night, but it is said that only the good dreams make their way through the carefully woven threads, down the feathers, and into the head of the user. Different tribes have different interpretations for what the beads in a dream catcher mean, but common theories are that the beads serve as a starting point for the spider’s web, or that the bead is where the bad dreams get trapped.
Bad dreams, however, are treated differently by the intricate web. Bad dreams get trapped in the web, stuck until they perish in the dawn’s sunrise.
How do you use it?
Using a dreamcatcher is incredibly simple! So simple in fact, its use hasn’t changed much from its origins!
To use a dreamcatcher, simply hang it somewhere on your bedpost, bedroom window, or even on a bedstand! Traditionally they were tied above baby cribs or children’s bedposts.
If worn as a piece of jewelry, simply wear as intended and you’re good to go!
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