The dream catcher is a traditional Turkic talisman used to protect people, especially children from bad dreams and nightmares. As we know nights are filled with both good and bad dreams. According to belief when a dream catcher is hung above the bed where the morning sun can touch it, it attracts and catches all kinds of dreams and thoughts in its web. Good dreams pass through and slide slowly down. The feathers act as a soft, pillow like ladder allowing the good dreams to descend and comfort the sleeper without disturbing sleep. Bad dreams are caught in the protective web and dissolved in the sunlight.
All the parts of the dream catcher have a meaning. The outside is circular because it represents the cycle of life. It depicts how forces like the moon and the sun move through the sky each day and night. The web catches the dreams through the night and when the day comes it destroys them. . according to some Native Indians the beads symbolise the spider itself, others believe the good dreams that cannot pass through the web are immortalized as sacred jewellery.
The dream catcher is indigenous to Turkey and has been used by the Shamans in the area since ancient times. 20,000 years ago when the Turkik tribes started to migrate from Middle Asia they journeyed through Siberia, crossed the Bering Strait and spread out through the Americas. They brought with them their traditions and beliefs and this is how the dream catcher also became a part of Native Indian heritage.
We were lucky enough to find a collective of artisans who work next to Patara's ancient city. Patara was once a flourishing maritime and commercial city that was for a period the capital of Lycia. The site is located on the Turkish coast near to the village of Gelemis in Antalya Province
St Nicholas (Santa claus) was born in the town in 270, and lived most of his life in the nearby town of Myra. Patara formed the first ever parliament , this Assembly was the parliamentary building of the Lykia League, where the philosopher Montesquieu's book “The Spirit of the Laws” is regarded as 'the greatest of the ancient world' in the context of democracy.
It is a truly magical place and it seems fitting that these beautiful dream catchers are handmade on its doorstep using ancient shaman traditions passed down through the ages.
Check out our beauties and experience the gift of peaceful sleep.