Dream Catcher
I first became intrigued with dream catchers when I was exploring my Native American connections. I was living near Wathena, Kansas in a farmhouse that was built around 1850. The land was originally homesteaded by the Rice family and still belonged to them. The house had been remodeled but still retained many of the original features. The location was selected because of the spring that was on the property. During dry years, farmers would bring their wagons here to fill their barrels with water. When I moved there in 1996 with my wife, we spent several months cleaning the property and exploring the 400 acres that was in our back yard.
Several months before moving there I had gone on a scouting trip with my wife Pearlene and sister in law, Aloma. We were living at Lake Viking in Missouri. A friend told us about Wathena and we wanted to see the area ourselves.
We drove through St. Joseph, Missouri and crossed over the Missouri River to Kansas. This is a farming community filled with rolling hills of corn, soy beans, and maize. It is also Indian country. Wathena is named after a well-known chief of the Kickapoo Indians who settled on this land in 1852. Kansas was named after the Kansa. A southwestern Siouan tribe. Northeastern Kansas remains home to four Indian reservations inhabited by members of the Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Sac and Fox, and Iowa tribes.
As we drove East along highway 36 toward Wathena we knew something special was about to happen. When Pearlene and Aloma got together with a common goal in mind, magic happened. This day was no different from the other adventures that we had all experienced together.
There was a kind of energetic anticipation that we could all feel.
When the energy began to form around us, it felt like we were entering into a time warp.
“Turn left here,” I was instructed.
Down Monument Road we went. The pavement ended after a few miles and we found ourselves traveling a dirt road used by the farmers. To the left was the Missouri River gently winding around the hills. We passed a spring on the right that was flowing along the road. It was summer time and the trees were green and lush. The hillsides were covered in redbud trees, their red leaves blending with the dense undergrowth of the lush countryside.
“Can you feel it?”
“What?”
“The energy.”
“Yes.”
We could all feel the energy. The scenery went slightly out of focus and then came back into focus as we moved through a meadow.
There was a shift in our perceptions. It felt like we were entering a different time.
“Turn right here,” they both said together.
“Can you see it?” Said Aloma. She was visually psychic and could see the energy forming.
“No, but I can feel it,” said my wife. Pearlene could feel the mounting energy.
Up the hill we went.
When we get to the top of the hill, “turn left,” I was told.
We traveled down Sheridan Lane south for a couple of miles while both Pearlene and Aloma became more and more animated.
“I remember this area,” said Aloma and Pearlene.
I had to admit that it did look somehow familiar.
“Stop!”
“This is where we lived.”
We all got out of the car and looked out over the hillside. The green rolling hills of the Kansas countryside was beautiful. Trees covered the hills, grass grew everywhere, to our left we could see the Missouri River snaking its way through the low lying hills. It was a beautiful scenic overlook.
“I remember this area,” they both said together.
“Our tipi was over there.”
“We were a family together.”
I listened as they described different parts our lifetime. It was like hearing a story for the first time, but knowing that it was all true at the same time.
Aloma was the Chief. Pearlene was Medicine Woman for the tribe. Native villagers would come for healing and council. When the time came for Pearlene to leave, I couldn’t bear the separation. As her son I was next in line to become Medicine Man. She promised we would be together again. With that promise, she entered a starship and left.
Each of us had contributed part of the story. We each fell silent as we contemplated the events that we had just relived. We looked over the beauty of the land and stood there for a long moments. The shimmering of the sun and the gentle breeze added to the magic we felt that day.
We were under the spell of that day for the next few months. It was no wonder that we ended up living just a few miles from this area. There was a blending of time and space for me there in Kansas. We spent the next 4 years in that farmhouse. I revisited that hillside many times and discovered many more vortexes that connected me with more otherworldly memories.
Our landlord decided to harvest some walnut trees from our 400 acres for gun stocks. The part they used came from the small area where the main trunk branched off into the branches. Much the tree was wasted and left behind. I went out and got some of the walnut branches and made staffs. I took the trunks and made several drums.
I learned how to make dream catchers during this time and made numerous ones as part of my rediscovery process. This was my way of reconnecting with forgotten memories.
I still have some of my dream catchers. I put them up in my house as a reminder of other times. They serve as a useful method to focus a blessing on me and my house.
A dream catcher is a spider web design on a willow or wooden loop. It is decorated with beads, feathers, and other personal items to protect the individual from harmful dreams, visions, or spells that may be directed toward an individual. The Souix believe that a dreamcatcher only allows the good dreams to filter through. Bad dreams would stay in the web, disappearing with the light of day. Good dreams would pass through and slide down the feathers to the sleeper.
They must work, I have used them for many years. First as a decoration and then as a focused intention of protection. My dreams are often filled with wonderment and instruction. They reconnect me. I am entertained and taught. My totem birds are the Red Tail Hawk and the Owl. My prayer for feathers was answered many times as I traveled along the highways in Kansas. Road Kill. These feathers help form the matrix of my personal dream catcher.
My dreams help to form the realities that are manifest in my outward world.
My upward causation is focused on creating harmony and peace in this time of change and transition.
Blessings to all from Wind in our Heart.
