Dreamcatcher Legends

1. Dreamcatcher Legend of the Big Spider

A long time ago, a desperate father sought advice from the great spirit. He went into the forest with his medicine pipe. In the middle of the forest, he sat down quietly and smoked his pipe, listening to the whispering of the wind. "I can help you," he suddenly heard. "Who is speaking to me?" asked the father, quite frightened. A large spider approached him and sat down in front of him on a blade of grass. "It is I who called you. I also know why you are plagued by nightmares. And I have an answer to your prayers." Said the spider. "I will show you my medicine. The confusion in your life does not come from yourself, because you lead a good life. The spirits around you who do not live in harmony want you to perish. They are evil, chaotic spirits who haunt you while you sleep." While the spider was telling the father all this, she pulled two blades of grass together and tied them together with spider thread. "Now bring me the following things so that I can help you," the spider ordered him. The father listened to the spider and immediately organized the things requested. When he had found everything, he returned to the spider.

The spider took the objects and first put the eagle feather in the web. "This feather stands for the air and the spirits of the air," said the spider. Then the spider put the stone in the web and said: "This stone stands for the spirit of the earth." Then the spider put the shell in the web and said: "This shell stands for the spirits of the sea. And finally I'll add the pearls, which stand for fire and the spirits of fire." Then the spider advised the father: "Now take this dream catcher, which carries the powers of earth, wind, fire and water. Hang it over your bed and you will rest well from now on. Because the peaceful spirits move in a straight line so that they can come to you in your dreams. But the evil chaotic spirits cannot move in a straight line and are caught in the web and burn in the first rays of sun in the morning." This legend has been preserved from generation to generation ever since.

2. Dreamcatcher Legends of the Lakota Sioux

Dreamcatcher Legends of the Lakota Sioux. A long time ago the medicine man of the Lakota Sioux went to a high mountain. There he had a vision of Iktomi, the great trickster and teacher of wisdom, who had the form of a spider. Iktomi spoke to the elder. While he spoke, the spider took the elder's willow hoop decorated with feathers and decorated the hoop with some horse hair, beads and offerings and began to spin a web and explained to the elder the cycles of life. How every living being starts as an infant and develops into an adult and then grows old and then needs help from others, just like an infant. After that the cycle closes again. "But," said Iktomi as he spun his web, "at every time of life we encounter forces - some good and some bad. If you listen to the good forces, they will guide you in the right direction. But if you listen to the bad forces, they will hurt you and mislead you.”

When Iktomi had finished his explanations, he gave the net to the Lakota elder and said: "Look, the net is a perfect circle, but in the center of the net there is a hole. Use the net to help you and your tribe achieve your goals and use the ideas, dreams and visions of your people. If you believe in the Great Spirit, the net will catch your valuable ideas, while the harmful ones disappear through the hole." The Lakota elder passed his vision on to his people. Since then, the dream catcher has been used by the Sioux Indians and is hung above their beds to sift their dreams. The good of their dreams is caught in the web of life and accompanies them, while the bad disappears through the hole in the center.

3. Dreamcatcher Legend of the Australian Aborigines

Dreamcatcher legends from the Australian Aborigines (Source: from the book "Dreamcatcher" by Marlo Morgan)

As we all know, we all dream, but not everyone makes the effort to remember our dreams and decipher the messages they contain. According to the wisdom of ancient Aboriginal legends, dreams are shadows of reality, a reflection of reality.

According to the indigenous peoples of Australia, the answer to all questions can be found in dreams. The Aborigines consult a soul woman or dream catcher. In the past, spider webs were used as an aid in ceremonies with dances and songs. In this way, the universe was asked to guide them through the world of dreams. The soul woman helped the dreamer to understand the message in their dreams. According to this wisdom, there were ancestral dreams from the time when thought created the world; there were waking dreams such as deep meditation; there were sleeping dreams and many others.

The tribesmen seek the help of dream catchers for a wide range of problems. When they were unclear about their relationship with another person. When they had health problems or when they did not understand the meaning of a certain experience, they always looked for the answer to their questions in their dreams. For us "changed people" there is only one way to access our dreams: through sleep. However, the "true people" can also enter the dream consciousness level when they are awake. Since they do not enter the dream world with the help of mind-altering drugs, but simply through breathing techniques and concentration, they act very consciously.

The tribesmen only dream at night if they have summoned a dream. Sleep is an important time of rest and recovery for their bodies. During these hours, energies should not be directed towards several projects at the same time. They believe that we "changed people" dream at night because our society does not allow us to dream during the day.