In modern society, Eastern and Western cultures, religions, beliefs are mutually integrated and complement each other. However, when accepting various amulets, talismans, and amulets of other peoples, it is important to understand their history, purpose and action.
Dream catchers came to us from the Indians of North America. In many tribes, such as the Ojibwe, Navajo, Cree, Cherokee, Iroquois, etc., such wicker amulets were used to protect the home from disease and evil spirits. It was believed that evil spirits, illnesses and bad dreams became entangled in the woven web, while good spirits and good dreams could pass through holes in the pattern.
Legends of the origin of the dream catcher
There are several stories about where the amulet came from. It is no longer possible to find out for certain - the amulet was invented so long ago. The classic version of the origin is associated with the Indian tribes of North America, but scientists have found that dream traps were used by indigenous Siberians many centuries ago.
The most famous myth is that of the Lakota people. He talks about an attack on a tribe by evil spirits, who turned all the people into ill-wishers. The bright gods sent the elder a prophetic vision: Iktomi, in the form of a spider, wove a web in the elder’s willow hoop, leaving a hole in the center, and promised that the talisman would help people. He explained that the circle is a symbol of life. The amulet is designed to catch good thoughts while letting evil ones pass. In the morning, the elder told his relatives about the vision and each made a trap for their home. Since then, life for the tribe has improved.
The Ojibway legend is another popular myth. It tells about Asabikashi, a spider woman whose children are all human. Before, she was a universal goddess who created reality. One day, Asabikashi will pull the thread she has woven and return the world to its roots. As the Indians became more and more numerous, it was difficult for the goddess to look after everyone, so she taught the women to make traps through which she could communicate with everyone. The shape of the catcher symbolizes the movement of the luminaries across the sky, and the 8 points of connection of the web with the hoop symbolize the 8 legs of the mother goddess.
Dream snares - a symbol of Indian culture
Another legend tells about a woman saving an ordinary little spider: her son tried to kill the insect, but his mother did not allow it. In gratitude, the rescued man gave her a gift - an amulet that protected from bad dreams and evil thoughts, ill-wishers - a round dream catcher.
One Indian legend connects the origin of the amulet with the Sun. As tribes spread across the continent, people became angrier, so the luminary, filled with disappointment, could not rise to the sky. The sun did not even want to appear in the sky, just so as not to see the actions of the previously loved people. One sage climbed the mountain and called out to the spider goddess, asking him to take away bad thoughts and return the luminary. The wise spirit listened to the request and wove a net before dawn to catch the sunlight. He ordered each person to make a catcher for themselves so that together they could capture more and more light. It turned out that the amulet not only returns the luminary, but also captures and expels bad thoughts, leaving only good ones in people's heads. The Indians kept the amulets as a reminder of dark times.
Varieties of dream catcher
Making any catcher begins with creating a round base. This shape symbolizes the daylight, the daily cycle.
Feathers are woven into the trap, associated with lightness and free breathing.
All other decorative details are different. There are 3 directions for designing traps.
There are several types of amulets
Among the Navajo tribe
In the photos of artifacts of Indian tribes you can see a variety of traps. These are round amulets, the interior of which is filled with woven threads. The resulting web catches good dreams and thoughts, sends them down the feathers to the person, turning the rest into a pleasant, useful one. You can sleep safely with a trap - it will hold you back and will not allow anything dangerous to approach a person. Unkind spirits trying to harm will get entangled in the weave of threads and disappear as soon as the daylight rises.
Siberian
The shamans of Siberia knew that a person needed a dream catcher to attract night visions, and not only good ones. Even bad dreams are a tool of the shaman. Sorcerers and sorcerers used traps especially actively. They used amulets to attract spirits. They got entangled in the trap and became accessible to the sleeping person. The fight against evil spirits allowed the sorcerer to penetrate into the depths of the subconscious. In Siberia they believed that for the inexperienced and uninitiated, traps were dangerous amulets that could cause harm.
Siberian dream snares are different from Indian ones
Ojibwe
In this Indian tribe, dream snares were used to make people see only good dreams. They believed that the bad ones get caught in the web, so they won’t interfere with their rest. But good visions can slip through a small hole in the center of the amulet. The feathers that decorated the talismans are a manifestation of universal energy in the minds of the Ojibwe tribe. The shape of the amulet is associated with the mystical wheel - the most important magical Indian figure.
“Caught” ideas need to be implemented
The dream catcher is an amulet of the Indians who lived on the shores of North America and the Siberian Shamans. This is a legendary amulet - a trap to protect a sleeping person from evil spirits, bad dreams, nightmares and negative thoughts. The talisman visually looks like a hoop wrapped in threads in the form of a cobweb and bird feathers. For many centuries, the mysterious talisman could only be found on the territory of the North American continent and eastern Siberia. But today this amulet is in any souvenir shop and is very popular.
How the amulet works and its meaning
It is difficult to describe the action of a trap using only logical rules. This is a mystical product filled with special energy that cannot be deciphered by words. Experts believe that the trap captures spirits - good and evil. She directs the former towards the owner, giving him good dreams, and delays the latter, not allowing him to interfere with the person.
Shamans are sure that there is no division into good and evil spirits. They all exist because they have a specific mission. A trap in the shaman’s understanding is a way to catch a spirit during the day, which at night will descend along laces and feathers to a person and protect him in the kingdom of sleep, turning visions into bright and light, pleasant and joyful.
In the modern world, the meaning of an amulet is protection from attack in a dream. The product protects against insomnia, drives away nightmares, helps to see lucid dreams, attract joy and understand why in reality events develop this way. The semantics of the catcher depends on the colors and decorative elements.
Some mystics are sure that the catcher has no owner. The amulet helps everyone living in the same house. Changes in the perception of dreams can be noticed from the first day a new thing appears in your home.
Snares improve the dreams of everyone in the household
Can such an amulet cause harm?
Only an incorrectly made amulet can cause harm.
A dream catcher can really cause harm, like any other amulet that serves as a conductor between a person and other forces. It can cause harm only in one case - if it is done incorrectly. For example, if non-natural materials are used: synthetic fabrics, plastic beads or base, glass decorations, chicken feathers.
An improperly made catcher can cause bad dreams, which contributes to fatigue and chronic sleep deprivation.
How to choose
In order for the trap to help, the features of its appearance are taken into account. Avoid buying generic cheap products. A talisman made of plastic and artificial feathers is useless. Some even attract insomnia and bad dreams. An amulet made from natural materials with positive thoughts will bring goodness to a person.
Selection rules:
- for a woman's trap with owl feathers;
- for men - eagle feathers;
- for insight into the past with parrot feathers.
Feathers from live birds are used for production.
You can use taken from:
- polar owl;
- falcon;
- hawk;
- buzzard;
- eagle owl.
When choosing a trap, look closely at the pebbles woven into it. Plastic and glass counterfeits make the product useless. Only natural ones are appropriate.
The most useful:
- rauchtopaz (protects, increases sensitivity, improves memory);
- amethyst (clarifies thoughts, drives away bad dreams, helps to get to the heart of events);
- rock crystal (promotes lucid dreams);
- obsidian (protects, protects from attacks of ill-wishers).
You can decorate snares with stones
When choosing, do not pay attention to the sizes - any fit. Focus on your taste.
Another factor of choice is the design of the center. If it is open, the amulet attracts good visions. It is universal and suitable for everyone. The product, the center of which is covered by a bead, must be regularly cleansed of negative energy. This is suitable for a person experienced in working with amulets.
Where should you hang the amulet?
Rules:
- choosing a place so that air currents pass through the catcher (this way he will catch more dreams);
- being near the owner’s sleeping place, preferably at the head of the bed (strengthens protective qualities);
- exposure to sunlight during the day (morning rays destroy evil spirits).
The best place for the amulet is the head of the bed at a short distance from the wall, in a strip of morning light. If it is not possible to place the talisman exactly this way, hang it in the center of the room or near the window.
If there are natural stones in the snares, they do not need to be cleaned of negative energy, but it is important to protect them from irradiation so that the minerals do not lose their beauty. Mystics believe that in a room guarded by a catcher with stones, you can never open the curtains, but the space will still be clean of negativity. If protective minerals are used (turquoise, hematite, carnelian), hang the item in the center of the room.
The best place for snares is the head of the bed
If a trap is made with malachite and without other stones, it requires regular energetic cleansing.
Those who practice lucid dreaming are advised to hang a trap near the place of spiritual practice.
The influence of the catcher on the house and the owner of the amulet
Most types of catchers perform the function of a talisman. They attract the spirits of sleep, while allowing good ones to penetrate the owner’s visions. Evil forces become entangled in a network and burn out with the first rays of the sun. With the help of a catcher, you can protect yourself from insomnia, fears and phobias.
Also, catchers do not allow negative and unreasonable thoughts to lead the owner astray. It is believed that amulets also save from diseases. Some versions of amulets help develop creative abilities, attracting successful ideas.
Asian amulets, for example kytgyem, unlike most others, not only attract spirits, but enhance their effect on a person, without eliminating evil influences.
Do you use such a talisman?
Three-dimensional amulets support the unity of loving hearts, help to find a common path and overcome any problems in relationships.
Making a dream catcher with your own hands
Snares are easy to make and accessible to everyone. To make them, they prepare natural materials and reserve time and perseverance.
When making the amulet, natural materials are used
Materials and tools for creating an amulet
To make a trap you need:
- willow branch (wooden hoop);
- threads, cords;
- stone beads;
- feathers.
Wooden and bone decor is allowed. Among the minerals, Bacchus stone, rauchtopaz, Satan's claw, and Marmarosh diamond are especially useful.
Feathers are taken from living birds.
Color Meanings
Color symbolism:
- white is the color of recovery, purity, sublimity, light strength;
- black – infinity, vitality, firmness, ability to finish a job;
- red – will, power, energy, creativity;
- pink – love, relaxation, self-understanding;
- red – harmony, balance between masculine and feminine, the ability to resist evil;
- yellow – spirituality, health of mind and body, acute spiritual perception;
- green – life, an objective view of the world, the ability to realize your plans;
- blue - truth, foresight, enlightenment of consciousness;
- blue – harmony, purification of the soul, logical thinking;
- purple – soul, inspiration, humility.
When making a Siberian amulet, they prefer dark blue and black threads, sometimes weaving red details into the pattern.
Each color has its own meaning
Step-by-step instruction
Sequencing:
- Wrap the base with a cord, leaving a free end (10 cm).
- Attach the cord at the free end.
- Tie a thread on the hoop in a loop.
- Repeat the loops around the circumference of the base, making the first row of the pattern.
- The 2nd row is woven using the 1st row as a base.
- They are randomly decorated with beads.
- Having completed the web, secure the thread with a knot.
Making an amulet is easy
Dream catcher weaving patterns
Simplified snare diagram
Weaving option
Catcher diagram
Amulet embroidery
More often, catchers are embroidered, decorated with images of an owl, fox, lion and wolf. This is due to the Indian tradition of choosing a totem animal. The totem and night amulet work together, giving a person strength and courage.
More often the amulet is embroidered with a cross. It is preferable to depict the pattern on natural fabric, using natural threads.
You can make a cross stitch pattern from any picture you like. It is advisable to choose an image in natural shades.
You can embroider an amulet on clothes, bed linen, or as a decorative picture.
Embroidery is the easiest way to make an amulet
Embroidery option
Possible scheme
Photo gallery
Dream Snares
Catcher with feathers
White snares
Video master class
It’s easier to understand how to make a snare by watching a video of the process.
How to clean and activate
To cleanse the catcher of negative energy, it is placed in direct sunlight. Half an hour in the bright rays of daylight is enough. For greater reliability, hang the amulet so that a fresh wind blows on it.
You can activate the catcher with sunlight or a lit candle by simply holding it near the object. Some mystics advise mentally turning to the catcher and asking him to open the world of dreams and protect him from evil and ill-wishers. When activating the amulet, imagine how it is filled with good energy. It is important to concentrate on good thoughts.
Ritual for charging the amulet
When the amulet is made with your own hands, it is charged with the energy of the master. Therefore, after purchasing a catcher, you should clean it and perform a special ritual with it in order to charge it with your energy.
There are different rituals for charging the amulet. One of them is charging with the help of the sun.
The ritual is carried out during the waxing moon. To do this, you need to take the “trap” outside and expose it to the sun’s rays.
Activation of the amulet using the sun's rays.
Then try to feel the love for nature, the universe and pronounce the spell:
“Reveal to me all the secrets of the universe, Guardian. Surround me with warm light, protect me from dark thoughts and evil intentions.”
Using a talisman in the modern world
The dream catcher is a popular talisman that has spread throughout the world. It is used as room decor, for mystical purposes and even for competitions. The largest specimens are included in the Guinness Book of Records. The largest existing catcher was created in Lithuania. The diameter of the object is 1014 cm.
The largest Russian catcher was made in Kalevala in Karelia. Its diameter is 742 cm.
Modern catchers have been popular since the 60s of the last century, when the pan-Indian movement became widespread. The traps symbolize Native Americans. For many who are passionate about Native American culture, trappers have become a source of inspiration.
Dream Snares
