The Dream Catcher comes from a Native American Indian Tradition. You hang them by the window in your bedroom or at the head of your bed. Bad Dreams get caught in the web, while Good Dreams work their way through the web to the hole in the centre and float down the feather like a dewdrop on a blade of grass. These Good Dreams come to rest on your pillow and are slowly absorbed by your mind, then they gently evaporate to Great Spirit in the morning sun. Meanwhile, the Bad Dreams have been trapped by the Dream Catcher during the night and are absorbed by the prayer beads strung into the web. As the morning sun rises the Bad Dreams are burnt up by its power.

There are several hundred different Native American Indian Peoples (tribes), whose natural environments range from the Arctic wastes of Alaska, northern Canada and Greenland through to the forests of Canada and the Great Lakes. They are found on both the east and west coasts of the United States of America, on the plains and badlands, in the Rocky Mountains and in the arid deserts of Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico.

With these vast differences of experience, environment and therefore upbringing it is not at all surprising that their traditions vary greatly. This can be seen in the traditions surrounding the Dream Catcher.

The information about Dream Catchers in the Introduction comes from the Plains Indians, the Sioux. However, the Navajo and other Pueblo Indians of the South West have a very different story. They believe that you should hang your Dream Catcher directly above your bed. The Good Dreams get caught in the web so that you can hold onto them and remember them in the morning. The Bad Dreams pass straight through the web and return to Great Spirit. You are completely unaffected by them. This is almost the complete opposite of the Plains Indians' beliefs.

The fact that Dream Catchers work is not disputed. They work when a Native American Indian, brought up with the traditions and beliefs surrounding them, has made it. As each web is weaved the Power of the individual making it is incorporated into it, in much the same way as your energy is in anything that you make, from baking a cake to building a motorcycle chopper! It is the maker's belief and Power that makes it work. Avoid buying Dream Catchers not made by Native American Indians. There is no guarantee that they will work and you are taking the living and livelihood from Native Peoples steeped in tradition.

How exactly Dream Catchers work remains a mystery. Some say it is psychological, but whilst there may be a degree of psychological healing with adults there can be none with babies in cots. Dream Catchers will stop disturbed sleep patterns of babies almost instantly, and babies neither understand nor even realise that the Dream Catcher is supposed to catch dreams!

Dream Catchers are also a representation of our dreams, goals and aims in life. The web of the Dream Catcher represents the web of life contained within the circular representation of the Wheel of Life. As you have a new idea, you attach a new and different object to the web to represent it. This object helps you to focus on any dream or goal or creative project.

Working with Dream Catchers like this is excellent in the office. Any team can use the Dream Catcher to focus the group energy towards a specific project in this way. When the project or aim is completed or fulfilled leave the object on your Dream Catcher to hold the good energy of your success.

However Dream Catchers work and however you choose to use them, one thing is certain. You will add beauty to your life and bring Good Dreams into it.