Long ago when the world was young, an
old Lakota
spiritual leader was on a high mountain
and had a vision.
In his vision, Iktomi, the great
trickster and teacher
of wisdom, appeared in the form of a
spider.
Iktomi spoke to him in a sacred
language.
As he spoke, Iktomi the spider picked up
the elder's willow hoop which had
feathers,horsehair,
beads and offerings on it, and began to
spin a web.
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.
artist: Cole Kramer
The Dreamcatcher Lore
The Indians believe that the night air
is filled with dreams
both good and bad.The dreamcatcher when
hung in your place of rest,
swinging freely with the air, catches
the dreams as they flow by.
The good dreams know the way,slipping
through the outer
holes and slide down the soft feathers
so gently
that many times the sleeper does not
know that he/she is dreaming.
The bad dreams not knowing the way, get
tangled in
the web and perish with the first light
of the new day.
The Dream Keeper
Bring me all of your dreams,
You dreamers,
Bring me all of your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue-cloud cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.
