Today I thought I'd change up a new class I've been wanting to teach. My daughter loves dreamcatchers being 1/4 Indian, I decide to have a class in her honor.
One of my next door neighbors is part of the Jamul Indian Nation. I asked her if she would come and cleanse the class and talk about dreamcatchers. Unfortunately, she hurt her back and was on bed rest and couldn't attend today class. I asked her questions and drummed up all the info I could find about dreamcatchers and gave my spill on the topic.
Here is how the first part of my class went today. Image -- Native American flute music playing in the background, six attentive students waiting to hear about this well known item that many of us have purchased over the years.
My wonderful neighbor, Liza, made sage wrappings for all the students at class today. I passed out one to each of them,. Not knowing if Beverly's Fabric wanted to have a cleansing in the Fabric store (I didn't ask - I guess I knew the answer, fire hazard), I opted to just hand them out and they could go home and cleanse (smudging) what they wished. FYI, a couple teachers said they would cleanse their school room.
A side story about that... when I went home from class and told Liza the class went well, and that one of the teachers was going to cleanse their classroom, Liza said that she worked in the classroom thru the years and would cleanse the room as well, and had great results with calm, good feelings brought to the room.
SMUDING: brings person back onto balance and cleanses the body and mind of negative spirits and impurities. The practice of smudging, or purifying a room with the smoke of sacred herbs, can help clear negative energy from a space.
Native Americans believe that night is full of both good and bad dreams. When a dreamcatcher is hung above where you sleep, it catches the dreams that drift by. The good dreams go thru the center of the web and slide down the feathers to those sleeping below. the bad dreams are caught in the web and destroyed (burned) at the first light of the morning sun.
Traditional dreamcatchers are only 3-5 inches across. They must be made from natural materials. Every part of a dreamcatcher has a meaning. The dreamcatcher represents the mind, body, spirit aspects of our personality, mood and emotions. The ring (hoop) and the web represents love, honesty and purity. All of the combined elements on the dreamcatcher represents aspects of earth, fire and water - all things we need to live.
Once the dreamcatcher is hung freely, it represents the element of air. The hoop represents the earth - "the circle of life" and made from a willow.
The web is patterned after a spiders web to catch bad dreams and keep them from entering the dreamers head. Each dreamcatcher will have items selected to represent the person the dreamcatcher was designed for.
Feathers are added as a symbol of breath that is essential for life. Owl feathers represents wisdom (feminine), and Eagle feathers represent courage (masculine).
Beads are added, one for the spider that made the web, and many beads represent good dreams that get trapped during the night.
Arrowheads on the dreamcatcher increases strength and protection.
Here is a group picture of the dreamcatchers drawn today 'Zentangle Style'. All look similar but yet individual flair to make each one unique to that person - like a dreamcatcher.
I posted each one by themselves so you can enjoy the beautiful of them all.
Not only did the class complete a dreamcatcher,
but also made a coloring book page to go home and color if they wish.
Here are a couple..... colored dreamcatchers. Fun class to teach !!!
Gina's 
Linda's
Wendy's 
Susan's
Olivia's
