Dreamcatcher Tattoos: Its Symbolism and Meaning

A tattoo no matter who gets it is something that is personal to that person. And dreamcatcher tattoo among them is something that is extra personal. This is why dreamcatcher tattoos are very popular with the females as they mostly have a very deep and emotional reason for getting it inked. Women are attracted to or prefer a dreamcatcher tattoo also because of its mystical qualities. Women from all age groups and also men get this tattoo inked.

Symbolism of Dreamcatcher Tattoo

Dreamcatcher is a symbol from Native America that has been around for more than a thousand years. These are symbols that inspire hope about a positive future and about its safety.

The Anishinabe people are the ones who are associated with creating the dreamcatcher tattoo. They are a tribe from Native America who lived on the borders Southern Canada and North –Central United States. Their name, Anishinabe stands for original people and that is what they liked to be called as.

According to popular Anishinabe legend, there was a Spider Woman who used to go all over the world and all the time. She would visit the cradles of the infants and the new born babies. She would then weave intricate magical webs above the infant’s cradles to keep them safe from any bad dream and only let the good dreams to enter their sleep.

Over a period of time the tribe grew in number and spread wide. Now, the Spider Woman started facing difficulty in reaching all the infants in time. So the women in the tribe took up the onus of protecting the babies themselves and started creating dreamcatchers themselves to protect their babies.

Meaning Of Dreamcatcher Tattoo

The intricate designs and feathered strings with a wooden base give it unlimited scope for potential new designs. The dreamcatcher designs are widely recognizable all around the world. Though there is plenty of scope for new tattoo designs within the dreamcatcher, they mostly follow a standard format. The wooden base can either be circular or tear shaped and also in abstract design forms like the shape of a heart.

The net that forms the center of the dreamcatcher is to be designed from the outside towards the inner part of it.  It is crucial to have a hole in the center of the net. The last part usually consists of the light beads and feathers or can be substituted with other things soft that will hang from the net of the dreamcatcher.

The dreamcatcher is adorned with different items that come from nature like feathers, gemstones, shells, beads and leathers. These are things that are associated with nature. These are things that is used to hang in the doorway, bedroom or above the bed as it symbolizes happiness, optimism of happy dreams passing through the weaving of the net and the bad dreams holding back. Another popular belief is that the good dreams stay trapped in the net symbolizing good destiny while the bad dreams pass far away through the hole in the net.

In any way, the dreamcatcher is the symbol of a tattoo that chases away bad dreams and holds back good dreams for the ones who have the tattoo on them.