Awakenings and Beginnings

• ·         Catch a Dream
        According to Native Americans, dreams that humans have while they sleep, are sent by sacred spirits as messages.  According to their Legend, in the center of the Dream Catcher there is a hole.  Good dreams are permitted to reach the sleeper through this hole in the  web.  As for the bad dreams, the web traps them and they disappear at dawn with the first light.   For some, they try to determine what messages are being passed onto them and what the message represents.      The Dream Catcher represents several meanings.  All of the decorations and materials used to decorate them, all have a special meaning.  A single bead in the middle may represent the spider that is on the web.  Scattered beads throughout the web may represent good dreams that may have been caught throughout the night.  A feather represents a symbol of breath or air which is attached so it hangs from the center of the ring. It is essential for life. A baby watching the air playing with the feather on her cradleboard is entertained while also being given a lesson on the importance of  good air.    
  ·         Also known as Spider Web Charms, are believed to trap unimportant or bad dreams that float in the air, pretty much the way a spider traps insects that flies into its web.      The Ojibwe Tribe were the very first to design these decorations to protect their infants against bad dreams that could possibly come throughout the night.  Both bad and good dreams were caught within the web, but only the good dreams were permitted to slide down along the feathers to the infants head.  Thus, the bad dreams would become lost within the web and would not be able to find the way to the infant.  By morning, when the sun rays would bring in light to the child’s room, it would destroy the bad dreams. Here is the Ojibwe Legend that was traditionally explained verbally.     Long ago in the ancient world of the Ojibwe Nation, the Clans were all located in one general area of that place known as TurtleIsland.   This is the way that the old Ojibwe storyteller say how Asibikaashi (Spider Woman) helped Wanabozhoo bring giizis (sun) back to the people:    
  ·         Asibikaashitook care of her children, the people of the land, and she continues to do so this day.  When the Ojibwe Nation dispersed to the four corners of North America to fulfill a prophecy, Asibikaashi had a difficult time making her journey to all those cradle boards.  So,  the mothers, sisters, and Nokomis (grandmothers) took up the practice of weaving the magical webs for the new babies using willow hoops and sinew or cordage made from plants.  They are in the shape of a circle to represent how giizis travels each day across the sky.  The dream catcher will filter out all the bad bawedjigewin (dreams) and allow only good thoughts to enter into our minds when we are just abinooji (babies).     
  ·         You will see a small hole in the center of each dream catcher where the good bawedjige may come through.  With the first rays of sunlight, the bad dreams would perish.When we see little Asibikaashi, we should not fear her, but instead respect and protect her.  In honor of their origin, the number of points where the web connected to the hoop numbered eight for Spider Woman's eight legs or seven for the Seven Prophecies.    
  ·         To this day, Asibikaashi will build her special lodge before dawn.  If you are awake at dawn, as you should be, look for her lodge and you will see this miracle of how she captured the sunrise as the light sparkles on the dew which is gathered there.     
  ·          The Dream Catcher was originally made by tribes such as the Ojibwe, from a hoop of bent willow with a webbing of sinew. Hung from a baby’s cradleboard or near the sleeping area in the lodge, it was believed to sort dreams.Good dreams flowed through the center of the catcher where they then slid down a feather to the dreamer below. However, bad dreams got caught up in the web and kept until the first rays of morning light melted them away.This is an accounting of the legend of the dreamcatcher:
  ·         A spider was quietly spinning her web in her own space. It was beside the sleeping space of Nokomis, the grandmother.Each day, Nokomis watched the spider at work, quietly spinning away.
  ·          One day as she was watching the spider, her grandson came in, he shouted, glancing at the spider. He stomped over to the spider, picked up a shoe and went to hit it … the old lady whispered,  don’t hurt her. why do you protect the spider”, asked the little boy.The old lady smiled, but did not answer. When the boy left, the spider went to the old woman and thanked her for saving her life. The spider said to her, For many days you have watched me spin and weave my web. You have admired my work. In return for saving my life, I will give you a gift, She smiled her special spider smile and moved away, spinning as she went.
  ·         Soon the moon glistened on a magical silvery web moving gently in the window.  See how I spin? she said. This is my gift to you. See and learn, for dreams, both good and bad, float on the night air searching for their destination. This web is a dreamcatcher. If it is hung in the home above your bed, it will catch your dreams. Only good dreams will go through the small hole. The good dreams will go through the hole and slide down the webbing. The good dreams know the right way to avoid getting caught and easily find their way to the center hole of the Dreamcatcher.
  ·         They work their way down the web, catching all the good energies of the stones and other adornments, and finally filter down through the long soft feathers to the sleeper.The bad dreams, being confused and ill-intentioned, will become hopelessly entangled in the web of the Dreamcatcher, and will perish in the heat of the morning sun. When Morning comes, the bad dreams will melt away with the sun as dew upon a spider’s web.
  ·         One native legend tells of Grandmother Thought Woman, a Spirit Being. To help guide the people, she asked the willow tree for a branch, which she bent and bound until it formed a perfect circle, representing the unending cycle of life, death, and rebirth.From the mighty eagle, Grandmother Thought Woman took a single feather and suspended it from the circle.Then she transformed herself into Grandmother Spider Woman and wove a beautiful and protective web of fate in the circle.
  ·         She placed a single stone in the middle of the web. The stone was a symbolic connection to the Creative Force, clarity, peace, and communication.Grandmother Thought Woman then gave the Dream Catcher to the people and explained, “Hang the Dream Catcher above where you sleep, and it will sort all your dreams.The good dreams will pass through and bring joy. The bad dreams will be caught in the web, turn to dew, and drip down the feather, which will cleanse the dream.It will then return it to Mother Earth, where it will never disturb you again.” 

  
  A Butterfly called Hope
  

  
   A Papago legend tells, gathering all the most vivid colors --- black from a maiden's hair, yellow form the sun, and blues from the lakes and sky, he puts them in a bag.  When the children opened the bag, colored butterflies flew out.  Beautiful but silent (lest the song birds of the world become envious) butterflies became the guardians of secrets.

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        So the story continues these days, if you capture a butterfly and whisper your heart's desires, they fly to the heavens to tell their creator who will answer your prayers.

  
  A Queen Summons the Fairies
  
  ...From her celestial car

  
  The Fairy Queen descended
        And thrice she waved her hand
        Circled with wreaths of Amaranth;
        Her thin and misty form
        Moved with moving air,
       As the clear silver tones,
       As thus she spoke, were such
       As are unheard by all but gifted ear.
  
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