We explain what a dream catcher is, its history and what its characteristics are. Also, how to do it according to different versions.
What is a dream catcher?
A certain type of dream catcher is known as a dream catcher. manually made talismans, which consist of a decorated wooden ring with feathers, stones, seeds or other hanging objects, and woven like a net inside. According to popular tradition, Its function is to capture nightmares and promote good dreams during rest.
Today, dream catchers are extremely popular as a form of tribal decoration, lucky icon or even as keychains, but originally these objects were intended to be hung from a thread directly above the headboard of the bed, or in its immediate vicinity. This is because they were to act as dream filters, capturing the sleeper's nightmares so that they “burn” in the sunlight of the next day.
Features of dream catchers
Dream catchers are characterized as follows:
- consist of a ring usually made of willow or some other wood, whose interior is woven with fibers (and sometimes beads in the fibers) like a spider web, according to various patterns and shapes that can be more abstract or figurative. In the center of the network is the “heart” of the talisman, which is where the dream filtering work is supposedly carried out.
- are usually hung in strategic locations and decorate themselves with feathers, seeds and other colorful elements, which can be found in various colors and patterns. Their sizes can vary between about fifteen centimeters and other large ones of almost one meter in size.
- are usually made by hand and follow a certain mystical, religious or mythological imaginary, associated in its contemporary versions with the New Age and the imagination of pagan cultures. However, his origins are Native American (Ojibwa).
- Your interpretations may vary enormously, but it is generally accepted that its original meaning was to serve as protection during sleep, and that it imitated the patterns of the spider web.
History of dream catchers
The dream catchers are the creation of the Native American peoples, it is thought that the Ojibwa ethnic group one of the main ones along with the Cherokee and the Navajo. However, it is difficult to specify these issues, due to the loss of the cultural heritage of these peoples at the hands of European colonizers.
Initially, Ojibwa dream catchers were woven with plant fibers dyed red, and it was they who gave it its ritual meaning as a filter for bad dreams. However, this type of crafts was soon adopted by other neighboring towns and adapted to their particular motifs, imagery and legends.
Two of these founding myths survive to this day:
- In the original Ojibwa myth the dream catcher alludes to the legend of Asibikaashi or the spider woman, responsible for placing the sun in the sky each morning, and who instructed the grandmothers and mothers of the numerous human tribes in the art of weaving, given that the increasing number of people found it very difficult to bring the sun's energy to the whole world.
- In Lakota myth instead, tells the story of a tribe leader who ascended to the top of a mountain, seeking enlightenment, and was greeted by a deity called Iktomi, who in the form of a spider taught him about the cycles of life and how individual decisions affect the world around them. To do this, he wove his own spider web on a wooden circle, and in the end he gave the man the first dream catcher, so that he could instruct his people with it.
The dream catcher It was popularized in the 1960s and 1970s as a symbol of the pan-India movement that is, the attempt to unify and organize the surviving Native American peoples into a single great social and political force. However, since then their manufacturing for commercial purposes has distorted their original meaning for many, turning them into a trinket to sell to tourists.
How to make a dream catcher?
The following are some guides on how to make a dream catcher with our own hands:
- How to make a dream catcher at Talleres Infantiles Barcelona. An easy guide to using few and inexpensive knitting materials.
- How to make a dream catcher at Tortuga Art Academy. In this case, we aim for a better finished product, but more elaborate tools and products are required.
- Perfect Dream Catcher (English) in Globe Studio One. Step-by-step guide designed for knitting at home, with high-quality results.
Continue with: Cultural heritage
References
- “Dreamcatcher” on Wikipedia.
- “Dreamcatchers” in Native Peoples – Cosmogonía.
- “Meaning of dreamcatchers” in Mia Mare.
- “Dreamcatcher” in New World Encyclopaedia.
- “The Legend of the Dream Catcher” in History Daily.
