The web works like a sieve for dreams: nightmares tangle in its threads and perish in the morning light, while good dreams slip through the center hole and glide down the feathers to the sleeper. It is above all a symbol of protection over children and family.
The dreamcatcher comes from the Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) people of North America and the legend of Asibikaashi, the Spider Woman who watched over children. As the nation spread across the land, mothers and grandmothers wove webs of sinew on willow hoops to guard their children's sleep, and the craft became widely known through the pan-Indian movement of the 1960s and 70s.
The web works like a sieve for dreams: nightmares tangle in its threads and perish in the morning light, while good dreams slip through the center hole and glide down the feathers to the sleeper. It is above all a symbol of protection over children and family.
Traditionally it hangs above a cradle or bed, or by a window where the morning sun can reach it. As it comes from Native American culture, it is best used with respect for its origins.