Navajo native Indian crystal shield.

A dream catcher (< English dream catcher) is a traditional object, originally from the Ojibweg (Anishinaabeg), an Indian people of North America. Due to its spiritual or esoteric associations, this object also came into use among New Age adherents in the late 20th century. A dreamcatcher consists of a ring (usually made of willow wood) containing a web. Often there are beads or stones in the web and feathers hang under the ring. The Ojibweg believe that making and hanging a dreamcatcher above the bed prevents bad dreams. For centuries, parents have been making dream catchers to hang above their children's cribs or carrycots. It is believed that the sky is soaked with dreams, good dreams, but also bad dreams. During the night the bad dreams are caught in the web and according to tradition they slide off in the morning and dry in the morning sun. Good dreams can pass unimpeded in the center of the dreamcatcher and thus enter the dreamer's life.