Your Experiences With Dream Catchers. Do You Believe They Work?

The Native American Indians believed that Dream Catchers caught negative dreams (Nightmares) in their web-like structure and held them until daylight, when the sunlight hit them at dawn the negative energy caught in the web was destroyed.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/1a3edc612874.jpg[/atsimg]

It got me wondering if anyone here on ATS has used/uses one, and if they really work, if it's all in the mind, or if it's just a money maker.

I was curious because my mum get occasional nightmares sometimes that wake her up, and she finds it hard to get back to sleep after them, which is bad because she has work in the mornings.

Personally my view on them at the moment is that they're money makers. But maybe they do work?

Cheers
Brady

reply to post by GetRadNZ


Very interesting.

I have wondered about the same thing before. I have never tried it, so i don't know. Maybe i should get one and see what happens.

Or maybe, it is just money makers.

vvV

I made one once at a bush hippy rave....Its rather pretty, but it is currently hanging in a cupboard. I am not too sure if it works... I have not had bad dreams in a very long time. I would make one rather than buy one... Here is some Linkys

Dreamcatcher1

Dreamcatcher2

Dreamcatcher with video

I have one that I picked up years ago. I used to have nightmares fairly regularly growing up, as do many kids. As I got older I learned to control my dreams more, so I could change the outcome in my favor. Then, as an adult, I started a study of NA beliefs and I discovered the dreamcatcher. I put mine directly over my bed, hanging from the ceiling. I told myself that it would work, and it did. Still does. I can't tell you if they "actually work" or not. I can tell you that I think it is, in part, a matter of mind over matter. If you tell yourself something will work and truly believe it will, then it will work. I also strongly believe that when you put your positive intent into an object, even if you aren't aware that you are doing so, then it will result in a positive outcome and your intent will be fulfilled. Same holds true for putting negative intent into something, ie, voodoo doll, etc. It is all about energies and what you put out there. That is what prayer is, what magick is, what positive thinking is, etc. It is all about putting your intent out there or into something. Mine works for me. If you wish to get one for your Gma, and she is not opposed to using it, then by all means, do so. Just make sure she puts her positive intent into the thing that she will no longer or not as often, as you will, have those nightmare. Good luck and let us know if it works!

reply to post by GetRadNZ


Sounds like a money maker to me. I haven't had nightmares for 10 years or so and that is without the aid of anything but my mind. Then again this could work for people due to the very fact that they believe it works. Just my thoughts.

reply to post by GetRadNZ


Traditionally Dreamcatchers feature charms...items of importance to the person, feathers are also of sacred value to Native American cultures.

None of the above however is present in any mass produced Dreamcatcher, it's commercialism...pure and simple.

reply to post by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep


I haven't had a nightmare since I was 9. And that was of me getting chased by a mountain lion through a forest of pines which I couldn't reach the branches on. So i was pretty much going to get eaten. But my mum has nightmares sometimes. My dad works at a company called NorthPower here in New Zealand which is one of the main electric companies in NZ. Once she had a dream of someone in an electric chair, screaming but no noise. She woke up to a hooded black figure beside her bed. Just standing there. The next day my mates dad got electricuted the next day at work, he lived but had 3rd degree burns everywhere. Maybe these nightmares aren't bad dreams, but are warnings?


reply to post by nonelikeithot


Cheers for the links, I heard they have to be made of willow branches?
Still not sure if they work.
Anyone used one before?

Cheers
Brady

Nightmares are sub conscious thoughts, dreams, aspirations, your worst fears..of which you do not know, or your greatest regrets.

I use my dreams as a sort of pro-cognition and tend to pay close attention to them, If i want to force lucidity I eat lots of Red Leicester.

reply to post by GetRadNZ


I had a authenticated dream catcher. Never worked for me. In fact I still believe I have it somewhere in my room. Lost in a pile.

reply to post by GetRadNZ


I heard that too, and I am pretty sure mine is made with a willow branch for the circle, then I used natural wool fibres for the 'web'...feathers too... The post was more for how to do the webbing, cos I could not remember how to do it...To be honest I can hardly remember making it, considering the situation ....Maybe you could get some will from a craft store if there is no willow trees in your area? Google it - pretty sure will trees are a pest plant in some parts of NZ... I am in Aust and they can be an issue here on farms and the like

reply to post by Crutchley29


Yeah, I was in the understanding that nightmares and dreams come from subconscious thoughts as well.
Maybe it was just to do with their beliefs.

reply to post by Romantic_Rebel


Did you ever hang it in your room?
Not saying that it'l work if you do it, just wondering if you did.


reply to post by nonelikeithot


Yeah I'd probably not end up making one, I think it's one of those things that if you believe it'l work, it'l work.
Just wanted to find out if it actually helped people.
Not sure if willows are a pest tree here, I don't see many around so they could be.

Cheers
Brady

reply to post by GetRadNZ


Yes I did hang it in my room. On my door, my light and the wall. Looked nice. Yet it didn't do everything it was supposed to do.

reply to post by Romantic_Rebel


bet it cost you a lot?
Did the guy that sold it to you wear a huge white and red hat and look kind of like a cat?

Cheers
Brady

I bought one when I was in my early twentys just for the novelty of it really, was not suffering from nightmares or anything. Hung it above my bed and had some of the worst nightmares I'd ever had in my life!

Took the damn thing straight back down and they stopped?! So it did the complete opposite for me....very strange experience.

reply to post by GetRadNZ


Not at all. I believe my neighbors who are Native American made it for me.
That's all I can recall when I got it.

I think the only reason why they "work" is becouse you trick your own mind to think, that its actually works. If you think it works, then it works.

Like if you take some medicine, and you think its really works, well then sometimes it will actually work. Thats just my 2 cents. I dont think they work. You could put a spoon over your head, and they would work as the same way.

It was'nt a money maker when the Native Americans used it but it is now. Really its the adult equivalent of a night light. You use it because you believe it works. If you use one and then the dreams stop, then for you personaly its worked and its fulfilled its purpose. You probably have to believe it will work before hand. It kind of a faith thing.

Well, my kids made dreamcatchers from a craft kit years ago. I realize they are not authentic. But they believed in them for a while, and that is what counts. No nightmares for a long time, maybe 6 months. Now my 6 year old has nightmares twice a week and my 9year old every now and again. So, no I do not believe they work just by hanging them up. I feel that many times nightmares indicate something you need to deal with in life, or they play out fears that you have.

reply to post by GetRadNZ


Take it from a funky old red skin...
the dreamcatcher is less about dreams then it is a way for my people to remember the story behind it...

Each style of dream catcher has a different story
the one in your picture is a Cree Northern Nights dreamcatcher...

My favorite version is this one from the Lakota people.

Long ago when the world was young an old Lakota spiritual leader was on a high mountain and had a vision. In this vision, Iktomi, the great trickster and teacher of wisdom, appeared in the form of a spider. Iktomi the spider picked up the elder's willow hoop which had feathers, horsehair, beads and offerings on it, and began to spin a web. He spoke to the elder about the cycles of life; how we begin our lives as infants, move on through childhood and onto adulthood. Finally, we go to the old age where we must be taken care of as infants, completing the cycle. "But," Iktomi said as he continued to spin his web, "in each time of life there are many forces; some good and some bad. If you listen to the good forces, they will steer you in the right direction. But, if you listen to the bad forces, they'll steer you in the wrong direction, and may hurt you. So these forces can help or can interfere with the harmony of Nature."
While the spider spoke, he continued to weave his web. When Iktomi finished speaking, he gave the elder the web and said, "the web is a perfect circle with a hole in the center. Use the web to help your people reach their goals, make good use of their ideas, dreams and visions. If you believe in the Great Spirit, the web will catch your good ideas and the bad ones will go through the hole."

The elder passed on his vision to the people, and now many Indian people hang a dream catcher above their bed to sift their dreams and visions. The good is captured in the web of life and carried with the people, but the evil in their dreams drops through the hole in the center of the web and are no longer a part of their lives.

PS the feathers are supposed to hang just above your head while you sleep... so the good dreams can drip down on you

reply to post by GetRadNZ


Yes they work, but this is a bad thing. People need the bad dreams to be prepared for bad realities.