The spider web design is the original dream catcher.  This web was traditionally woven on a hoop of ash. The charms have a hole in the middle, which allows good dreams to pass through and the web catches the bad dreams. This allows a person to sleep peacefully throughout the night. 

The dream catcher represents the sacred hoop, the great circle of life of which we are all a part. The web design is symbolic of our brother, the spider. The spider’s web is spun in one continuous strand. So is the Dream Catcher, making it symbolic of eternity; reminding us that the spirit is eternal and lives on even after death. 

The Dream Catcher is made of the four elements necessary for life to exist. These elements are as follows: 

Earth is symbolized by the hoop and the beads used in making the frame and supports. Metal comes from within Mother Earth as do the beads which are in reality sand, rock, or clay. 

Air is symbolized by the feather attached to the dream catcher, as well as by the breeze that blows through and around it. 

Water is symbolized by the materials making a dream catcher. Without water, we would not have the soft hide of the deer to wrap the hoop, nor the sinew or feathers from the birds.  They all need water to exist. 

Fire is represented by all these things which make up the dream catcher. Without the help of Father Sun, none of these things would exist. 

While the four elements are necessary for life to exist, they must all be treated with the greatest of respect. 

A spider was quietly spinning his web in his own space. It was beside the sleeping space of a grandmother. Each day, the grandmother watched the spider at work, quietly spinning away. One day, as she was watching him, her grandson came in. He glanced at the spider, stomped over, picked up a shoe and was going to hit it. The grandmother whispered, “No, don’t hurt him”.  “Grandmother, why do you protect the spider?” the little boy asked. The grandmother smiled, but didn’t answer. When the boy left, the spider went to the grandmother and thanked her for saving his life.  “I will give you a gift.” said the spider. He smiled his special spider smile and moved away, spinning as he went. Soon the moon glistened on a magical silvery web moving gently in the window.  “See how I spin?” the spider said, “See and learn, for each web will snare bad dreams. Only good dreams will pass through the small hole. This is my gift to you. Use it so that only good dreams will be remembered and bad dreams will become hopelessly entangled in the web.”