Spiritual Meaning and Purpose of Dream Catchers

Dream catchers are popularly regarded as a spiritual adornment that hovers over your bed in hopes to filter out bad dreams and maintain the good ones. According to legend, the dream catcher web represents good and bad forces. But what is its purpose? Should dream catchers remain in the past? Or are they used just for decor? Read on to learn more about the origin of dream catcher’s and maybe you’ll think differently about it next time you see one or maybe it will urge you to get one of your own.

Origin

The dream catcher origin has many layers, mostly from the indigenous tribes of Canada and United States. Out of many legends, there are two which stand out and are the most popular beliefs about existence and usage of dream catchers.

In one it is believed that dream catchers originated from the Ojibwe tribe. As the Ojibwe story goes, the Asibikaashi (spider woman) was the village caregiver who protected babies and young children from evil forces at night. As the village continued to grow, Asibikaashi struggled to reach each child at bedtime. Mothers and grandmothers of the village started making magical webs with willow hoops. Then they would place them over the children’s beds.

The other legend originated from the Lakota tribe. The Lakota describes a story of an old spiritual leader who encounters Iktomi – a spiritual sage who appears as a spider in a vision. The spider finds a willow hoop and begins to weave a web and tells the leader that we begin our lives as babies, then children, adults, and lastly elders, which then completes the web of life. And in each life, we as humans, go through good and bad experiences. After the spider finishes the web, he hands it to the leader and tells him that the web represents good goals and dreams, and the bad ones go through the hole. The spider directed the leader to spread the word to the land of the people and to tell them to use the web to achieve their goals.

Purpose

The web is also considered to be a representation of visions, goals, and dreams. Similarly, dream catchers are like vision boards; we make them and allow good things to come into our lives in efforts to change ourselves for the better. The dream catcher also serves as a medicine wheel. The web restores eternal life and the ring symbolizes the path we make on Earth. The original dream catcher has multiple colors- all representing different aspects of personality, mood, and emotions.

Home Decor Importance

Today, most people use dream catchers as home decor. Although dream catchers are aesthetically pleasing to the eye, they carry meaning and weight. And if you don’t believe the Native American legend tales, you can still place dream catchers in your home to achieve a distinctive look or theme. At Sivalya, we have beautiful colorful dreamcatchers that will look beautiful hung nicely above your bed or dresser.

However, you use them, remember that dream catchers allow good energy to flow in and bad energy to flow out, so having one in your bedroom is a good thing, one way or another.