He spoke to
the elder about the cycles of life; how we begin
our lives as infants, move on through childhood
and on to adulthood. Finally we go to old age
where we must be taken care of as infants,
completing the cycle. “But”, Iktomi
said as he continued to spin his web, “in
each time of life there are many forces; some
good and some bad. If you listen to the good
forces, they will steer you in the right
direction. But, if you listen to the bad forces,
they’ll steer you in the wrong direction and
may hurt you. So these forces can help, or can
interfere with the harmony of Nature. While the
spider spoke, he continued to weave his web. When
Iktomi finished speaking, he gave the elder the
web and said, “The web is a perfect circle
with a hole in the center. Use the web to help
your people reach their goals, making good use of
their ideas, dreams and visions. If you believe
in the great spirit, the web will catch your good
ideas and the bad ones will go through the hole.”
The elder passed on his vision to the people and
now many Indian people hang a dream catcher above
their bed to sift their dreams and visions. The
good is captured in the web of life and carried
with the people, but the evil in their dreams
drops through the hole in the center of the web
and are no longer a part of their lives. It’s
said that the dream catcher holds the destiny of
the future.
