| Sleep |
| dreamcatchers |
The dreamcatcher legend originated from the Ojibway and Lakota Elders. They
tell us that dreams do hold great power and drift about at night before coming
to the sleeping ones. To keep the dreamer safe, the Old Ones created a special
web, The Dreamcatcher, to hang above their sleeping places. The ancient story
told by the Native Elders is that the Dreamcatcher's hoop, with the intricate
webbing at it's center, ensures a sleep undisturbed by bad dreams. The good
dreams would take the path of the web with great ease to its center and would
float gently down the trail of beads, and like the feather, drift down into the
minds of the sleepers below. The bad dreams would struggle with the web and
become entangled as the night would pass, leaving them to perish in the rays of
the new day sun in the morning.
Lakota tradition believe that the night air is filled with both good and bad
dreams.The dreamcatcher, when hung, moves freely in the air and catches
dreams as they float by. With the guidance of the spirit beads, bad dreams are
allowed passage through the center opening which then slip away into the
night without bothering the sleeper. The good dreams are held throughout the
night in the webbing and are passed to the sleeper at the light of day, so they
may continue to follow their dreams.
The world of a dreamer is a shadowy place where spirits - good and bad - work
their magic. For most people only memories transcend those hazy boundaries of
the surreal and the waking world. But to native Indian bands the link to that
other world came in the form of the dream catcher. Traditionally a dream
catcher is made of willow and woven into a sacred circle with a web center and
feathers. "It is one of the tools that will allow us to pass through the barriers of
time and space," said Doreen (Dino) Manes who creates these works of art in her
Cedar trailer. "Today we are so busy with modern life that the visions of dream
time must come during sleep time to get our attention," she said. "Dream
catchers allow us to pay attention to the gifts of dream time and become
aware of the talents and treasures within each one of It was from her
grandmother Lila Snow, that Manes first learned of the dream catchers and how
to make them. And it was those memories that helped sustain her when she was
taken from her grandparents and made to attend the white man's school.
Taken from her own culture, the dream catcher was a small link to her real
world. Something that would later help her rekindle happier times when she was
growing up in northern Ontario. It has since become even more important. "It is
a way to help others to understand our culture, it is something that I have
prayed for." To the Cree Native, the willow represents the "chosen tree." The
braiding of its branches together represents the power of the woman in her
home. The center web, originally made from sinew, signifies the power of the
man's strength enabling him to provide for his family. The raindrop shape shows
that the rains fell to create rivers and ultimately the ocean, which represents the
children. The stone in the center has a hole in it to allow negative feelings and
thoughts filter through to the feathers where they disappear at dawn. That
leaves only the positive feelings to fill the crystal below. Manes believes that
within each person is the answer to many of life's problems, all you have to do is
look under your pillow.
tell us that dreams do hold great power and drift about at night before coming
to the sleeping ones. To keep the dreamer safe, the Old Ones created a special
web, The Dreamcatcher, to hang above their sleeping places. The ancient story
told by the Native Elders is that the Dreamcatcher's hoop, with the intricate
webbing at it's center, ensures a sleep undisturbed by bad dreams. The good
dreams would take the path of the web with great ease to its center and would
float gently down the trail of beads, and like the feather, drift down into the
minds of the sleepers below. The bad dreams would struggle with the web and
become entangled as the night would pass, leaving them to perish in the rays of
the new day sun in the morning.
Lakota tradition believe that the night air is filled with both good and bad
dreams.The dreamcatcher, when hung, moves freely in the air and catches
dreams as they float by. With the guidance of the spirit beads, bad dreams are
allowed passage through the center opening which then slip away into the
night without bothering the sleeper. The good dreams are held throughout the
night in the webbing and are passed to the sleeper at the light of day, so they
may continue to follow their dreams.
The world of a dreamer is a shadowy place where spirits - good and bad - work
their magic. For most people only memories transcend those hazy boundaries of
the surreal and the waking world. But to native Indian bands the link to that
other world came in the form of the dream catcher. Traditionally a dream
catcher is made of willow and woven into a sacred circle with a web center and
feathers. "It is one of the tools that will allow us to pass through the barriers of
time and space," said Doreen (Dino) Manes who creates these works of art in her
Cedar trailer. "Today we are so busy with modern life that the visions of dream
time must come during sleep time to get our attention," she said. "Dream
catchers allow us to pay attention to the gifts of dream time and become
aware of the talents and treasures within each one of It was from her
grandmother Lila Snow, that Manes first learned of the dream catchers and how
to make them. And it was those memories that helped sustain her when she was
taken from her grandparents and made to attend the white man's school.
Taken from her own culture, the dream catcher was a small link to her real
world. Something that would later help her rekindle happier times when she was
growing up in northern Ontario. It has since become even more important. "It is
a way to help others to understand our culture, it is something that I have
prayed for." To the Cree Native, the willow represents the "chosen tree." The
braiding of its branches together represents the power of the woman in her
home. The center web, originally made from sinew, signifies the power of the
man's strength enabling him to provide for his family. The raindrop shape shows
that the rains fell to create rivers and ultimately the ocean, which represents the
children. The stone in the center has a hole in it to allow negative feelings and
thoughts filter through to the feathers where they disappear at dawn. That
leaves only the positive feelings to fill the crystal below. Manes believes that
within each person is the answer to many of life's problems, all you have to do is
look under your pillow.
| Hang them in your home and enjoy pleasant dreams. |
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