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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Dream Catchers	Jon	Monday, May 12, 2014
Question: Dear Brother, My daughter has brought a Dream Catcher into the house? What is the significance of this object? I understand it is from Native American spirituality. Would you advise me to remove it from the house or is it benign to have one in the house as a cultural item?
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r), CCL, LTh, DD, LNDC Dear Jon: There is nothing inherently evil about a Dream Catcher. The issue is the interest your daughter has in the Dream Catcher and if she wants to use it for superstitious reasons. Otherwise, it is a beautiful artifact of Ojibwa and Lakota culture. I use to live nearby Lakota reservations in South Dakota, about 60 miles from Sitting Bull's grave near Mobridge, South Dakota, his birthplace. There are monasteries in South Dakota that produce Dream Catcher key-chains and similar products. As to the historical purpose of a Dream Catcher, quoting from a Dream Catcher website: The dream catcher of the Ojibwa was intended to teach natural wisdom. Nature is a profound teacher. Dream catchers of twigs, sinew, and feathers have been woven since ancient times by Ojibwa people. They were woven by the grandfathers and grandmothers for newborn children and hung above the cradleboard to give the infants peaceful, beautiful dreams. The night air is filled with dreams. Good dreams are clear and know the way to the dreamer, descending through the feathers. The slightest movement of the feathers indicated the passage of yet another beautiful dream. Bad dreams, however, are confused and confusing. They cannot find their way through the web and are trapped there until the sun rises and evaporates them like the morning dew. Simply stated, the Dream Catcher is suppose to trap bad dreams, but allow good dreams to get through to the person sleeping. I have a Dream Catcher in my office that was made for me. Instead of feathers dangling from the hoop, mine has strings of beads of different colors dangling from the hoop that forms an image of St. Michael the Archangel. If your daughter's interest is in the cultural artifact there is no problem. If she actually thinks that the Dream Catcher will protect her from bad dreams, then we have a problem of superstition. If she is having bad dreams it is most likely caused by anxiety. Once the anxiety ceases so do the bad dreams. There can be other similar reasons for bad dreams. In most cases the bad dreams will pass. In other cases counseling may be needed. If there is a suspicion that the dreams may be caused by demonic sources, then prayers such as the Bedtime Protection Prayer and other prayers found in our Spiritual Warfare Catalog linked below may be useful. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Dream Catchers

Jon

Monday, May 12, 2014

Question:

Dear Brother,
My daughter has brought a Dream Catcher into the house? What is the significance of this object? I understand it is from Native American spirituality. Would you advise me to remove it from the house or is it benign to have one in the house as a cultural item?

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r), CCL, LTh, DD, LNDC

Dear Jon:

There is nothing inherently evil about a Dream Catcher. The issue is the interest your daughter has in the Dream Catcher and if she wants to use it for superstitious reasons. Otherwise, it is a beautiful artifact of Ojibwa and Lakota culture.

I use to live nearby Lakota reservations in South Dakota, about 60 miles from Sitting Bull's grave near Mobridge, South Dakota, his birthplace. There are monasteries in South Dakota that produce Dream Catcher key-chains and similar products.

As to the historical purpose of a Dream Catcher, quoting from a Dream Catcher website:

The dream catcher of the Ojibwa was intended to teach natural wisdom. Nature is a profound teacher. Dream catchers of twigs, sinew, and feathers have been woven since ancient times by Ojibwa people. They were woven by the grandfathers and grandmothers for newborn children and hung above the cradleboard to give the infants peaceful, beautiful dreams. The night air is filled with dreams. Good dreams are clear and know the way to the dreamer, descending through the feathers. The slightest movement of the feathers indicated the passage of yet another beautiful dream. Bad dreams, however, are confused and confusing. They cannot find their way through the web and are trapped there until the sun rises and evaporates them like the morning dew.

Simply stated, the Dream Catcher is suppose to trap bad dreams, but allow good dreams to get through to the person sleeping.

I have a Dream Catcher in my office that was made for me. Instead of feathers dangling from the hoop, mine has strings of beads of different colors dangling from the hoop that forms an image of St. Michael the Archangel.

If your daughter's interest is in the cultural artifact there is no problem.

If she actually thinks that the Dream Catcher will protect her from bad dreams, then we have a problem of superstition.

If she is having bad dreams it is most likely caused by anxiety. Once the anxiety ceases so do the bad dreams. There can be other similar reasons for bad dreams. In most cases the bad dreams will pass. In other cases counseling may be needed. If there is a suspicion that the dreams may be caused by demonic sources, then prayers such as the Bedtime Protection Prayer and other prayers found in our Spiritual Warfare Catalog linked below may be useful.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.