The Dream Catchers

The Legend of the Dream Catcher "A spider was quietly spinning his web in his own space.  It was beside the sleeping space of Nokomis, the grandmother. Each day, Nokomis watched the spider at work, quietly spinning away.  One day as she was watching him, her grandson came in.  "Nokomis-iya!" he shouted, glancing at the spider. He stomped over to the spider,  picked up a shoe and went to hit it. "No-keegwa," the old lady whispered, "don't hurt him." "Nokomis, why do you protect the spider?" asked the little boy.   The old lady smiled, but did not answer. When the boy left, the spider went to the old woman and thanked her  for saving his life.  He said to her,  "For many days you have watched me spin and weave my web.  You have admired my work.  In return for saving my life, I will give you a gift." He smiled his special spider smile and moved away, spinning as he went.  Soon the moon glistened on a magical silvery web moving gently in the window.   "See how I spin?" he said.  "See and learn, for each web will snare bad dreams.  Only good dreams will go through the small hole.  This is my gift to you.  Use it so that only good dreams will be remembered.  The bad dreams will become hopelessly entangled in the web."  Beyond - A lullaby Sleep well sweet child Don't worry your head Your Dream Catcher is humming Above your bed Listen so softly I know you can hear The tone of beyond Close to your ear Love is alive And living in you Beyond all your troubles Where good dreams are true Dreamcatchers:  are an authentic American  Indian tradition,  from the Ojibay(Chippewa) tribe. The people would tie  sinew strands  in a web around a small round or tear-shaped  frame - in a somewhat similar pattern to how they  tied webbing for Ojibway snowshoes--and  hang this "dream-catcher" as a charm to protect  sleeping children from nightmares. The legend is that  the bad dreams will get caught in the web. The Dreamcatcher allegedly helps us remember  our dreams. It is regarded by some as a serious tool  that is much more than a decorative ornament.  The opening in the center determines the volume that you are asking to receive and parallels the changes  that will occur in your life. Hang the dreamcatcher near the place where you sleep,  on the wall, or perhaps from a lampshade or bedpost.  During my recent trip to the US, I came across   the Dream Catcher, and my son told me the  story behind the Dream Catcher, and I was really fascinated by it, and I bought one. I also read  about it in the internet, and  I also found some  interesting videos about the philosophy of the  native  American, and found, that it is no different  from our own philosophy: it reinforces the universal belief that we are all one. Although we all know about the Native Americans, still it feels good to go back and refresh ourselves with their history, their struggles, and their determination to keep their identity intact. It shows us we may lose everything, but nobody can take our spirit. Happy New Year !!