Authentic Handcrafted Native American Dream Catchers

Native American dream catchers are spiritual tools used to help assure good dreams to those that sleep under them. A dreamcatcher 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. Only good dreams can pass through to the dreamer while the bad dreams are caught in the webbing and are destroyed by the first rays of the morning light.

You’ve probably heard about the indian dream catchers. You may even have one or seen one hanging from a tree branch or on a wall. But I bet there’s a lot about dream catchers that you probably don’t know. Let’s explore their origins, legends and how they’re used today.

What are dreamcatchers?

People mostly use them for decoration today but native american dream catchers have a long history among First Nations people. They were given to children to hang over their beds to ward off bad dreams.

Where did dream catchers come from?

Explorers reported that the Ojibwa people were using dream catchers to protect children while they slept — they were sometimes called “Sacred Hoops.” Indian dream catchers have also been used by Cree and other First Nations people.

Catcher of bad dreams

One legend tells the story of a chief whose child becomes sick with a fever that causes terrible nightmares.

A medicine woman makes a dream catcher by copying the pattern of a spider web. Instead of catching flies, the dream catcher will catch bad dreams.

When nightmares came for the child, they were caught in the strands of sinew. But good dreams were able to pass through the web and follow the feather down to the child. In the morning, the sun would hit the dream catcher and burn away the bad dreams.

The spider in the window

Another legend tells the tale of a spider weaving its web in a window while a grandmother watched from her bed. When her grandson tried to squash the spider, the woman stopped him.

The spider, grateful that her life was spared, gifted the grandmother with the web and told her that it would catch all of her bad dreams but let the good dreams through.

What are dreamcatchers made of?

Traditional dream catchers were made with a willow branch that was bent into a hoop or teardrop shape. The artist would use animal sinew — the strong tissue or tendon that connects muscle to bone — to weave a web-like pattern. Feathers — usually from a hawk — would be used for decoration and trailed down the bottom.

There’s a lot of meaning in the original dream catcher: their shape is the circle of life and according to some legends, the beads represent the spider who wove the dream catcher.

Today, beautiful dream catchers are much fancier and use different materials. They can be decorated with beads, shells and coloured threads.

Want to make your own dreamcatcher?

If you don’t have a real dream catcher in your room to help trap any bad dreams you might have, you can make your own with the help of your older siblings, parents, or caregivers. They’re fun and easy to make if you follow the simple steps from dreamcatchersale.com.