Dream Catcher
My first dream catcher
Long ago when the word was young, an old Lakota spiritual leader was on a high mountain and had a vision. In his vision, Iktomi, the great trickster and teacher of wisdom, appeared in the form of a spider. Iktomi spoke to him in a sacred language. As he spoke, Iktomi the spider picked up the elder's willow hoop which had feathers,horsehair, beads and offerings on it, and began to spin a web.
He spoke to the elder about the cycles of life; how we begin our lives as infants, move on through childhood and on to adulthood. Finally we go to old age where we must be taken care of as infants, completing the cycle. "But", Iktomi said as he continued to spin his web, "in each time of life there are many forces; some good and some bad. If you listen to the good forces, they will steer you in the right direction. But, if you listen to the bad forces, they'll steer you in the wrong direction and may hurt you. So these forces can help, or can interfere with the harmony of Nature." While the spider spoke, he continued to weave his web.
When Iktomi finished speaking, he gave the elder the web and said, "The web is a perfect circle with a hole in the center. Use the web to help your people reach their goals, making good use of their ideas, dreams and visions. If you believe in the great spirit, the web will catch your good ideas and the bad ones will go through the hole." The elder passed on his vision to the people and now many Indian people hang a dream catcher above their bed to sift their dreams and visions. The good is captured in the web of life and carried with the people, but the evil in their dreams drops through the hole in the center of the web and is no longer a part of their lives. It's said that the dream catcher holds the destiny of the future.
Made this one for my wonderful friend Susan.
Yes...I am obsessed with these dream catchers...and the history of them.
May everyone be safe this weekend!
And...a little music for this wonderful Friday.
3 comments:
Your dream catchers are beautiful!
They are so intricate, how do you do such detailed work? I had never heard the story of them, but now I definetly want one.
And the music is perfect : )
LadyCat, they are works of beauty. I am obsessed with them. You can look up direction on the internet, or if you'd like I am going to make them and sell them. If you interested, let me know and I will make a couple and put them on Etsy, or, I can sell to you directly. I did some string art when I was a kid, my dad was very good at it and we were always doing some on the weekends. It helped with doing these.
There are many different legends out there. I just picked the one I liked the best. :)
I am convinced they work, I haven't had a bad dream since having my hanging in my bedroom. :)
So glad you enjoyed the post.
Happy and safe weekend to you.
xOx
My parents were close friends with a couple who not only raised wolves (which was pretty awesome), but Jan (the wife) made the most beautiful dream catcher earrings! She gave me a pair when I was a teenager and I loved them to their literal death. Unfortunately, by the time my earrings were too worn out to wear without completely destroying them, the beautiful Jan had passed away too. :( Anyway these are beautiful and the song is great too :)
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