Dream catchers are handmade crafts that consist of a round hoop woven with a loose web of yarn, decorated with beads and feathers that hang below the hoop. They are part of the Native American oral tradition and are considered to be talismans and charms that protect from bad energy. Dream catchers were traditionally used by the Ojibwe tribe to protect sleepers, especially children, from bad dreams, nightmares, and evil spirits. They believed that at night, the air was filled with dreams, both good and bad, and the dream catcher would attract and then catch in its web all kinds of dreams and thoughts.

The main function of a dream catcher is to protect the sleeper from harm and to filter through good energy while leaving the bad energy caught in the webbing. Some believe that good dreams pass through the web and float down the hanging beads and feathers to sleeping children, while bad dreams are caught in the web and disappear when the first rays of the morning light hit the dream catcher. Others believe that bad dreams pass through the holes in the web and exit out the nearest window, while good dreams get caught in the web and slide down the beads and feathers to the sleeping child below.

Dream catchers are shaped like a circle, which represents the circle of life and is a metaphor for the journey of the sun and the moon across the sky. The web catches and destroys bad dreams at night, while the feathers allow good dreams to pass through and gently slide down to the sleeper as a way to comfort them. Beads symbolize the spider, the web weaver itself, or the good dreams that couldnt pass through the web.

In conclusion, dream catchers are objects full of magic that can bring a wide variety of benefits if one believes in them. They serve a protective purpose and are used to protect sleeping people from bad dreams and nightmares. Dream catchers can be hung above the bed where the morning sunlight can hit, and they can capture good dreams and get rid of bad ones.