Evil Dream Catcher

In some Native American and First Nations cultures, a dreamcatcher or dream catcher (Ojibwe: asabikeshiinh, the inanimate form of the word for 'spider')^[1] is a handmade willow hoop, on which is woven a net or web. The dreamcatcher may also include sacred items such as certain feathers or beads. Traditionally they are often hung over a cradle as protection.^[2] It originates in Anishinaabe culture as the 'spider web charm' (Anishinaabe: asubakacin 'net-like', White Earth Band; bwaajige ngwaagan 'dream snare', Curve Lake Band^[3]), a hoop with woven string or sinew meant to replicate a spider's web, used as a protective charm for infants.^[2]

Vintage Hanging Dream Catcher Key Chain Evil Eye Protection Silver With Blue I SHIP EVERY MORNING MONDAY-FRIDAY! 30 DAY RETURNS ACCEPTED FOR ANY REASON! SMOKE/PET FREE WORK/STORAGE ENVIRONMENT! HONEST SELLER WITH PROVEN TRACK RECORDS! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE! Mar 21, 2003 Directed by Lawrence Kasdan. With Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Damian Lewis. Friends on a camping trip discover that the town they're vacationing in is being plagued in an unusual fashion by parasitic aliens from outer space. Dream Catcher Native Americans believe that the dream catchers effectively ward off evil, thus, translating as a symbol of positivity and good luck. Considered to be the symbol of unity among various Indian Nations, it is believed to bring healing, good luck, and harmony to an individual’s life.

Dreamcatchers were adopted in the Pan-Indian Movement of the 1960s and 1970s and gained popularity as a widely marketed 'Native crafts items' in the 1980s. ^[4]

Ojibwe origin[edit]

'Spider web' charm, hung on infant's cradle (shown alongside a 'Mask used in game' and 'Ghost leg, to frighten children', Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin (1929).

Ethnographer Frances Densmore in 1929 recorded an Ojibwe legend according to which the 'spiderwebs' protective charms originate with Spider Woman, known as Asibikaashi; who takes care of the children and the people on the land. As the Ojibwe Nation spread to the corners of North America it became difficult for Asibikaashi to reach all the children.^[2] So the mothers and grandmothers weave webs for the children, using willow hoops and sinew, or cordage made from plants. The purpose of these charms is apotropaic and not explicitly connected with dreams:

Even infants were provided with protective charms. Examples of these are the 'spiderwebs' hung on the hoop of a cradle board. In old times this netting was made of nettle fiber. Two spider webs were usually hung on the hoop, and it was said that they 'caught any harm that might be in the air as a spider's web catches and holds whatever comes in contact with it.'^[2]

Basil Johnston, an elder from Neyaashiinigmiing, in his Ojibway Heritage (1976) gives the story of Spider (Ojibwe: asabikeshiinh, 'little net maker') as a trickster figure catching Snake in his web.^[5]^{[clarification needed]}

Modern uses[edit]

Contemporary 'dreamcatcher' sold at a craft fair in El Quisco, Chile in 2006.

While Dreamcatchers continue to be used in a traditional manner in their communities and cultures of origin, a derivative form of 'dreamcatchers' were also adopted into the Pan-Indian Movement of the 1960s and 1970s as a symbol of unity among the various Native American cultures, or a general symbol of identification with Native American or First Nations cultures.^[4]

The name 'dream catcher' was published in mainstream, non-Native media in the 1970s^[6] and became widely known as a 'Native crafts item' by the 1980s,^[7]by the early 1990s 'one of the most popular and marketable' ones.^[8]

In the course of becoming popular outside the Ojibwe Nation during the Pan-Native movement in the '60s, various types of 'dreamcatchers', many of which bear little resemblance to traditional styles, and that incorporate materials that would not be traditionally used, are now made, exhibited, and sold by New age groups and individuals. Some Native Americans have come to see these 'dreamcatchers' as over-commercialized, like 'sort of the Indian equivalent of a tacky plastic Jesus hanging in your truck,' while others find it a loving tradition or symbol of native unity. ^[4]

A mounted and framed dreamcatcher is being used as a shared symbol of hope and healing by the Little Thunderbirds Drum and Dance Troupe from the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota. In recognition of the shared trauma and loss experienced, both at their school during the Red Lake shootings, and by other students who have survived similar school shootings, they have traveled to other schools to meet with students, share songs and stories, and gift them with the dreamcatcher. The dreamcatcher has now been passed from Red Lake to students at Columbine CO, to Sandy Hook CT, to Marysville WA, to Townville SC, to Parkland FL.^[9]^[10]^[11]

References[edit]

^'Free English-Ojibwe dictionary and translator - FREELANG'. www.freelang.net.
^ ^a^b^c^dDensmore, Frances (1929, 1979) Chippewa Customs. Minn. Hist. Soc. Press; pg. 113.
^Jim Great Elk Waters, View from the Medicine Lodge (2002), p. 111.
^ ^a^b^c'During the pan-Indian movement in the 60's and 70's, Ojibway dreamcatchers started to get popular in other Native American tribes, even those in disparate places like the Cherokee, Lakota, and Navajo.' 'Native American Dream catchers', Native-Languages
^John Borrows, 'Foreword' to Françoise Dussart, Sylvie Poirier, Entangled Territorialities: Negotiating Indigenous Lands in australia and Canada, University of Toronto Press, 2017.
^'a hoop laced to resemble a cobweb is one of Andrea Petersen's prize possessions. It is a 'dream catcher'—hung over a Chippewa Indian infant's cradle to keep bad dreams from passing through. 'I hope I can help my students become dream catchers,' she says of the 16 children in her class. In a two-room log cabin elementary school on a Chippewa reservation in Grand Portage' The Ladies' Home Journal 94 (1977), p. 14.
^'Audrey Speich will be showing Indian Beading, Birch Bark Work, and Quill Work. She will also demonstrate the making of Dream Catchers and Medicine Bags.' The Society Newsletter (1985), p. 31.
^Terry Lusty (2001). 'Where did the Ojibwe dream catcher come from? Windspeaker - AMMSA'. www.ammsa.com. Sweetgrass; volume 8, issue 4: The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society. p. 19.CS1 maint: location (link)
^Marysville School District receives dreamcatcher given to Columbine survivors By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News. Posted on November 7, 2014
^'Showing Newtown they're not alone - CNN Video' – via edition.cnn.com.
^Dreamcatcher for school shooting survivors (paywall)

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dreamcatcher.

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dreamcatcher&oldid=1002034704'

Evil Eye Dream Catcher

CEREMONY FOR HANGING A DREAM CATCHER
Following, is a suggested ritual for initiating your dream catcher. You can follow this ceremony, or create your own.
Remember, ritual is important, for it triggers your subconscious mind into action. In this way the dream catcher becomes an extension of yourself and does what you want it to do.
Before hanging your dream catcher, go through your house and carefully and thoughtfully decide within what room you wish to hang your dream catcher. After you decide what room, carefully choose where you want it to hang.
Do you want it by a window where it will catch the rays of light?
Do you want it over a television set where it may act as a filtering system, catching any negative vibrations that can steal in and rob your family of peace and calm, allowing only what is worthy of being remembered to pass through the hole in the center?
Or do you want it over your baby's crib so that while the innocent one sleeps its mind will be blessed with joy and peace?
When you have decided where you want the dream catcher to hang, the next step is very important...Smudging (Read More on Smudging)

Dream Catcher Meaning Symbolism

THE ANCIENT CEREMONY OF SMUDGING
Smudging is a form of cleansing a room, an object, a physical body or place, of negative energy. You will need some sage to smudge your house, which you can gather from the hills or purchase in a metaphysical store.
When you get ready to hang your dream catcher, follow this procedure:
Lift the smoke upward, saying:
Stand in the center of the room and light the sage. When it has ignited and burned for a few moments, gently shake it over a shell or fireproof container like an ashtray to extinguish the flame so it will only smoke. Begin by purifying yourself with the smoke. Move the smoking sage around the perimeter of your body, paying particular attention to any area of your body which is not in balance, or which is manifesting any sign of ill health or pain. Then offer the smoke to the six directions.
1. To the Creator, the Never-ending Force that is all, I thank you.
2. Extend the smoke downward, saying: 'To Mother Earth, the place of nurturing and hope, I thank you.
3. Facing the north, lift the smoke upward, saying: To the Spirit of the North, the place of winter and intuitive understanding, of healing, and the place of beginnings and endings, I thank you.
4. Facing the East, lift the smoke in that direction, saying: To the Spirit of the East, where the sun rises, the place of new beginnings and the promise of Spring, I thank you.
5. Facing the South, extend the smoke in that direction, saying:
To the Spirit of the South, the place of summer and rapid growth, the place of our heart and emotions, and the place where we learn survival and endurance and develop a trust in life, I thank you.
6. Facing the West, lift the smoke, saying: To the Spirit of the West, where the sun sets and we find healing and self knowledge that gives us the power to use our head and our hearts to serve and to teach, I thank you.

Next, smudge the dream catcher.
When you smudge the dream catcher, slowly move the sage around the perimeter of the object, beginning at the front and covering the dream catcher thoroughly with smoke.
Then walk slowly around the edge of the room in a clockwise direction, allowing the smoke to be drawn thoroughly around the edge of the room.
As you do this ritual, allow yourself to experience the cleansing, healing power of the smoke.
Become aware of the higher power of the Universe called by many names:
Great Spirit, Heavenly Father, God, Wakan-Tanka, the Ascendant, All That Is, and allow yourself to feel the presence of the Power within you.