But, if you listen to the bad forces, they will hurt you and steer you in the wrong direction.” If you listen to the good forces, they will steer you in the right direction. “But,” Iktomi said as he continued to spin his web, “in each time of life there are many forces - some good and some bad. Finally, we go to old age where we must be taken care of as infants, thus, completing the cycle. We then move on to childhood and in to adulthood. He spoke to the elder about the cycles of life and how we begin our lives as infants. As Iktomi spoke, he took the elder's willow hoop - which had feathers, horse hair, beads and offerings on it - and began to spin a web. Iktomi spoke to him in a sacred language that only spiritual leaders of the Lakota could understand. In his vision, Iktomi - the great trickster and teacher of wisdom - appeared in the form of a spider.

Long ago, when the world was young, an old Lakota spiritual leader was on a high mountain. The bad dreams are trapped in the web where they perish in the light of dawn. According to dreamcatcher legend, the good dreams pass through the center hole to the sleeping person. Native Americans of the Great Plains believe the air is filled with both good and bad dreams.

Sioux dream catchers