The Legend Of the Dream Catcher

"The Ojibwa (Chippewa) believe that night is full of both good and bad dreams. When a dream catcher is hung above the place where you sleep it moves freely in the night air and catches the dreams as they drift by. The good dreams, knowing their way, pass through the opening in the center of the webbing while the bad dreams, not knowing the way, are caught in the webbing and destroyed at the first light of the morning sun.

There are many variants to the dream catcher legend, some which say both the good and bad dreams are captured and some which say the good dreams slide down the feather to those sleeping below. Although the Ojibwa are credited as the first people to use Dream Catchers many other Tribes and Native peoples have adopted Dream Catchers into their culture. Even though the designs and legends of Dream Catchers differ slightly, the underlying meaning and symbolism is universal and is carried across cultures and language barriers.

Everybody dreams."

As a part of our discussion about dreams and how they can relate to writing inspiration and processes, let's try to create dream catchers in class this week!

Dream catchers have been a part of Native American and other cultures for many years. You can do your own research at places like this one to find out more about the various interpretations of this universal symbol. This, on the other hand, appears to be something different... :)

To prepare, take a look at some online tutorials and do some thinking about what you'd like yours to look like. Click here and here and here for some ideas.

These are certainly not the only ones--feel free to do your own search. You'll be using a tutorial of your choice to create your dream catcher during class.

I will provide the hoops, basic supplies, and a few embellishments. If you'd like to or are able to get your own supplies to really customize your dream catcher, please do so and bring them to class tomorrow.