Fascinating, mesmerising, hypnotizing and stupefying, these are few of the words that come to our minds when we think about dream catchers. These man-made creations have always enthralled us and likewise, we too have taken quite a liking to them. We hang them at our houses, in our bedrooms, our hostel rooms and so on. They have been passed down from generation to generation and their existence can be traced all the way back to the Native American civilizations. An age-old tradition, dream catchers can be found in every nook and corner of this world. But what is the story behind the dream catchers? And what do they really do?
There are several stories behind the creation of dream catchers. Most of these are traditional folklore which have been passed down from generation to generation. The dream catchers were a native American tradition. The Native Americans created these dream catchers to protect themselves from nightmares and at the same time to allow beautiful dreams to soothe their slumber. The good dreams flow through the center of the dream catcher and then glide through the feathers down to the person sleeping below. Therefore, it’s always recommended to hang the dream catcher right above your head when you sleep. Otherwise, it’s said that the dream catcher won’t work. The nightmares get caught up in the feathers of the dream catcher and hence it allows us to get a good night’s worth of sleep.
That is the belief. But in today’s society, people follow trends rather than ancient folklore. And dream catchers are in trend now. They are the next big thing. And dream catchers come in all shapes and sizes these days. The designs that our ancestors followed are a rarity these days. The native Americans were more concerned with their beliefs and spirituality and these reflect on the dream catchers of their time. The dream catchers that we get today are more fashionable and fancier. Whether it be for warding off bad dreams or just to follow today’s trends, we can all agree that dream catchers are pretty and that they make quite a nice addition to our rooms.
