By Nanci Des Gerlaise
(author of Muddy Waters: an insider’s view of North American Native Spirituality)
Dream catchers—those spidery “sacred hoops” with feathers. They originated with the Ojibwa tribe during the ’60s and ’70s, supposedly to protect a sleeper by “catching” bad dreams or evil spirits. Then they caught on with other tribes and spread through the New Age movement into popular culture. Today, it is not uncommon to see dream catchers in gift and variety stores. Dream catchers are even used in some public school settings, as the following describes:
Every classroom displayed at least one dreamcatcher—a magical spider web inside a sacred circle. The students explained that dreamcatchers protect them from evil spirits and nightmares by catching the bad dreams but permitting good dreams to pass though the center. According to fourth grade teacher Ms. Preston, the amber crystal in the center of her dreamcatcher meant proper spiritual alignment with the energy of the universe.1
But you can be sure, most of the general public has no idea of the meaning and purpose of dream catchers.
Basically, using a dream catcher in its intended purpose is nothing more than a form of practicing occultism. How can an inanimate object “catch” evil spirits, much less bad dreams? And why attempt to “catch” evil spirits or nightmares when you cannot fight them physically?
Although Native people can sometimes see into the spiritual world of darkness, dream catchers, or anything having to do with the occult, merely attract evil spirits and demonic activity and provide no means of protection from them. Using dream catchers is an open invitation for more spiritual works of darkness.
If you are a born-again Christian, you have a Protector—God Almighty—who stands between us and the evil realm. We need nothing more than Jesus Christ Himself who overcame all works and powers of darkness by His death and resurrection. If we pay attention to God’s Word and not to seducing spirits, we can walk in His freedom from fear.
Ephesians 6:12 says that our battle is not against “flesh and blood,” but is against “principalities,” “powers,” “the rulers of the darkness” and “spiritual wickedness in high places.” And in Hebrews, we read:
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14–15)
(To understand more about Native Spirituality, read Muddy Waters, by Nanci Des Gerlaise).
Notes:
1. Berit Kjos, Brave New Schools (Kjos Ministries, http://www.crossroad.to/Books/BraveNewSchools/1-globalvillage.html), ch. 1.
Our Ojibwe neighbor gave us one and to be kind we put it up. Didn’t know about its power. My husband also started to have bad dreams and he rarely dreamt at all.
He took it down right away and no more dreams!! Evidently the spirits attached to it were not comfortable with the Holy Spirit in us! God be praised for keeping us.
What should be a huge discernment red flag in this article is the statement of “although native people can sometimes see into the spiritual world of darkness” That is just as, if not more so, demonic as a pagan dream catcher idol itself. ANY lost person group communing or seeing into a false demonic world are all the same category throughout time from the beginning. Period. Nothing ‘normal’ or ‘casual’ about American Indian statement of connecting with dark demons, as that’s what it is. My Sioux Indian historical family member was rejecting just the same as my german and other ancestors, along with my current family (for now) as i was until 2014; praise God!
After I placed a dream catcher in my bedroom, I started to experience dark and disturbing dreams. I disposed of the dream catcher and the dreams stopped. Rather than preventing bad dreams, it attracted them.