Dream traps were invented by the Indians to protect themselves from nightmares. According to them, the invention allows the good dreams that enter the sleeping person's head to pass through, and delays the bad dreams that are scattered by the morning light.
How to make a dream trap
A dream trap is a rim, inside which twigs are intertwined like a spider web. It is often decorated with semi-precious stones and bird feathers. Only one gem can be attached to one dream trap, because there is only one creator in the "web of life".
Originally, dream traps were woven from branches of red willow, using stalks of nettles as threads. Red willow and many other trees of the willow family, as well as dogwood, are native to the United States. The Indians collect the branches of these trees and dry them by rolling them into a rim or spiral, depending on their purpose.
The Ojibwe are an Indian tribe from North America. The idea of creating a dream trap belongs to these people.
The original meaning of this invention was to teach young people the wisdom of nature. The Indians revered nature as a great teacher. Grandparents created dream traps for newborn babies and hung over their cribs so that they could sleep soundly and peacefully.
Good dreams are clear and know the way to the dreamer by walking down the feathers. The lightest fluttering of the feather indicated the approach of another pleasant dream. Nightmares, on the other hand, are confusing and confusing themselves. They cannot find their way through the net and are trapped in it until the sun rises and dissolves them like morning dew.
The Indian rim is a symbol of strength and unity, as well as high position. Many others originated from this symbol, including the dream catcher.
The legend of the dream trap
Long ago, when word was sound, the old chief of the Lakota tribe stood on a high mountain and saw a vision. In this vision, Iktomi, a great trickster and seeker of wisdom, appeared before the leader in the form of a spider. Iktomi spoke to the chief in a sacred tongue. And, talking, the spider Iktomi took the willow band of the chief, which contained feathers, beads, hair from a horse's mane and tail, and offerings, and began to weave a web inside it.
He spoke to the leader about the cycles of life, about how people are born, grow up, mature. Finally, they age, becoming helpless, completing the cycle.
But in every period of life on the way, a person has a lot of strength. Some are good and some are bad. By listening to good forces, a person goes in the right direction. But, listening to bad forces, a person goes astray and hurts himself. These forces can bring harmony to nature, or they can break it.
All the time Iktomi talked, he weaves a web. At the end of the story, he gave the rim to the leader. “The web is a perfect circle,” Iktomi said. - Use it to help your people achieve their goals. Let them use their visions, thoughts and dreams for good. Believing in a great spirit, you can use the cobweb to embody good ideas that will pass through it, but bad ones will not be able to get through and get stuck."
The leader passed the teaching on to his people, and now many of them hang a dream trap over their bed. Good passes to them during sleep through the middle of the web, and evil dies, falling into a trap and evaporating in the sunlight in the morning.
The Indians believe that the trap holds the fate of the future. The fashion for dream catchers has found a response all over the world.
