The dreamcatcher is a traditional Native American charm which is widely available nowadays. Perhaps some of our readers have a dreamcatcher hanging above their beds, as an interior decoration – maybe even believing in the charm’s supernatural powers. These charms are sometimes produced with natural feathers, beads, leather or other cheaper materials, and sold by creative merchants dressed in Native American costumes or discount stores.
Dreamcatchers originate from the traditions of the Ojibwe people (also called Chippewa) – one of the largest groups of Native Americans and First Nations on the North American continent. The Pan-Indian Movement during the second half of the 20th century spread the Ojibwe dreamcatchers to other Native American communities and later over the Atlantic. In the Ojibwe language the charm is called asabikeshiinh, which describes the charm’s spider-web shape and is also a reference to the mythical Spider Woman known as Asibikaashi – a character from Ojibwe legends who took care of the children and people on the land.
The Ojibwe people believe that a dreamcatcher has the power to protect against disease and that it can change a person’s dreams by catching all of the bad ones to let only the good dreams pass through its holes, down the soft feathers and into a person’s sleep. In 1976, California’s oldest newspaper the Mountain Democrat published a description of a dreamcatcher as part of Mendocino County Museum’s exposition. It describes this charm as a “queer, woven device…[which] was hung in every tepee of Chippewa villages…”.
If you are prone to bad dreams, don’t panic and get yourself a dreamcatcher to ensure a sound night’s sleep. If you wake up and life still seems like a bad dream, however, take comfort in the mantra of Stephen King’s novel of the same name: “Same Shit, Different Day”.
