Dreamcatchers & Suncatchers

Apr 12, 2023

The legend of the spider woman

There are several legends from different tribes describing the beginnings of the tradition of the dreamcatcher. Some are polar opposites on the workings of the dreamcatcher, but all agree that it was a gift from the great spirits, in the form of a spider, to protect the people from bad dreams and help them retain the good ones and ideas derived from them.

The most prolific legend appears to be that of the old Ojibwe storytellers about Asibikaashi the Spider Woman. It is said that she helped snare the sun in its path around the world. If you are awake at dawn you can look for her lodge and see the miracle of how she captured the sunrise as the light sparkles on the dew of her web. Asibikaashi took care of her children and still does to this day. To fulfil a prohpecy the Ojibwe people were spread to the four corners of the land and it became too difficult for Asibikaashi to visit all the cradleboards of the children, so the women of the tribe learned to weave the magical webs themselves from what they had at hand. Usually sinew and willow hoops. The reason dreamcatchers are generally circular is to honour the sun's path through the sky each day.

Dreamcatchers traditionally have a hole in the middle to allow the good dreams through, although one tribe believes the opposite that the good dreams stay in the web and the bad ones fall through. No matter which you think is best they both have the same result. The good thoughts and dreams will be retained while the bad ones will perish with the sun's rays in the morning.

Homage to the sun

The sun is the great giver of life and its path has been charted by our forefathers for millenia. There are burial chambers of some of our oldest ancestors dating back over 5,000 years that capture the sun's rays inside the tomb but once a year from a specific path of the sun at the height of it's glory. This is quite an incredible feat especially when it dates back so far into our past. Today the power of the sun on our psyche seems to have diminished form our every day lives, that is of course until we haven't seen it for a while behind all the rain clouds! The simple but effective suncatcher is an ode to the sun splitting it's pure light into the myriad of colours it contains and reflecting it in joy around the area it is hung.

Dreamcatchers

Keeping bad dreams away

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Please note that our range of dreamcatchers is updated all the time. Some styles may not be available as fashion changes.