Khustyanka told how this talisman won the hearts of people.
Transcarpathians have a lot of their own, native amulets, but someone else's always seems to be something more interesting, mysterious and unusual. Mrs. Tamila, a woman from Khust, has been engaged in needlework for many years. She started with making horseshoes for good luck, which she decorated with cereals, then she "retrained" sewing for rag dolls, and now she is interested in eco-décor with "protective functions" – dream catchers. He says that these souvenirs are incredibly popular in Europe, writes "Carpathian Lens".
I made my first catcher for myself
A dream catcher is an amulet. It was used by ancient Indian tribes. Nowadays, it is an interesting ethnic decoration and an element of home design, incredibly fashionable in many countries.
"I won't talk about the magical properties of dreamcatchers, although they are indeed attributed to these charms. I will tell you how this talisman won the hearts of people. First of all, in the original, it should be made only from natural materials. And now décor made from natural ingredients is in trend. In addition, many people love exclusive pendants and earrings. With "catchers", jewelry has a rich look and can suit any girl. For the first time, the general public became interested in fishermen in the 60s and 70s of the last century. There is a very beautiful legend about this amulet. One day, the Dakota leader was sitting on a high hill and meditating. Suddenly, a heavenly messenger appeared to him in the form of a large spider. They talked for a long time until the "spirit of heaven" took a willow branch, twisted it, and wrapped it in cobwebs. He also explained to the leader that from that time on only the good would penetrate into his life through the cobwebs, and all the bad things would become entangled there at night and burn along with the rays of the dawn sun. This is how the first catcher appeared. Over time, people began to decorate it with bird feathers and precious stones. It is believed that good dreams penetrate a person through a hole in the middle, and bad dreams get entangled in cobwebs and do not have access to the sleeper if such a talisman hangs over the bed," the craftswoman shared her thoughts.
However, why did amulets from North America inspire a woman to make them?
"My sister lives in Germany. Three years ago, I visited her and she gave me a catcher bought in the United States, saying, if you have a child, hang it over the bed, sleep well. I was pregnant at the time. Indeed, my daughter always has a great night's sleep. At that time, I often had nightmares. I started looking for information on the Internet about dream catchers. I found a lot of interesting things, learned how to make a similar amulet with my own hands... I was so carried away that I wandered around the city for hours in search of bird feathers, pulled them out of pillows, cut willow twigs wherever I could, and experimented day and night," the craftswoman admitted.
Although the first catcher turned out to be good, over time we had to improve a lot more in the production process.
"Working on a catcher is really not as easy as it might seem at first glance. Each product seems to be alive, because it is created with his own hands and a person transfers a piece of his own energy to it. Willow branches are needed for the frame. They need to be cleaned, trimmed and tied into a circle. The workpiece should dry for two whole months. I have the whole basement in such "wreaths". Only then can you decorate the base and knit a spider web. Materials used: cotton, linen, wool, metal, stones, glass, bird feathers, but preferably from those that live in the wild. When the dreamcatcher is ready, at least in some peoples, certain prayers must be read over it in order to "tune" the amulet to the same wave as the owner. In general, the amulet, in my opinion, is interesting and worthy of attention. Moreover, with such an amulet, you can simply dress up the reduction, at least for beauty," Ms. Tamila convinces.
The most difficult thing is to weave a "spider's web"
According to the craftswoman, a five-year-old child can make a simple catcher, and even an experienced craftswoman needs to work on a complex one for several weeks.
"The hardest part of creating catchers is weaving webs. It has to be perfect. To do this, I tried several techniques. I settled on two. The frame itself can be replaced with a metal hoop, it is not necessary that the amulet should be made of wood. I also had difficulties with feathers until I found out that it can either be ordered online or replaced with tassels made of thread. A small simple amulet can be made in 2-3 hours. You have to work on a complex, multi-level one for 3-4 weeks. Most of all, it took me to work with a height of 1.5 meters. I have been "weaving" this catcher for a relative for almost two months," Tamila Kovach emphasizes.
Also, the Transcarpathian woman advises to pay special attention to the colors that are present in the amulet, because each of them also has a symbolic meaning for dreams.
"I really like dark colors. I love all things black. In the East, this color means perfection, goodness and purity. In addition, the night is also associated with blackness. In design, the black amulet looks very beautiful and will suit any walls, furniture and curtains. If the catcher is for a child, it is still advisable to give preference to light colors. For example, white is a sign of virginity, a symbol of healing, or pink, which gives energy and love of life, yellow, which provides physical and mental health, wealth, and helps to understand yourself. If the catcher is green, it will help the owner to look more objectively at the plans and bring them to life, blue activates logic, purple will give inspiration, and orange will resist negativity from others," the craftswoman assures.
Mrs. Tamila considers her amulets to be talismans, so she considers even jewelry in the form of catchers appropriate.
"It is believed that if such a talisman is worn on the chest, then there will be no bad thoughts. Whether this is true or not – I do not undertake to say, but in Europe, pendant catchers are in great demand. Although the Indians argued that the amulet really protects the owner. Be that as it may, such interesting souvenirs are always beautiful to look at and can bring at least aesthetic pleasure from contemplation. I make not only wall talismans, but also earrings, brooches, pendants, various hair clips in the form of dream catchers. Most often they are bought by Germans, my sister helps to sell. However, I have clients in other countries: Portugal, the Czech Republic, Poland, Australia, Canada. Transcarpathians most often order amulets either as their own decoration or as a design element, without attaching importance to any symbolism. They usually take what they like, because it is exotic and fashionable," says the Khust resident.
As the craftswoman assures, every detail is important in dream catchers, so it is impossible to radically change their shape.
"The base-circle is like our land. It sustains life, gives us strength and energy. The grid is a web that does not let all the bad things into us. The center of the circle is a spider, our heart that filters good and evil, the 13 nodules are the phases of the moon that signify wisdom, and the feathers are our accessibility, flight, overcoming any obstacles... It's as if we have a firebird that crashes fire from the sky and is immortal," she says.
Tamila Kovach considers working on dream catchers a kind of art therapy and emphasizes that while weaving a spider's web, she takes a break from everything ordinary.
"It's as if I'm switching to other frequencies while weaving. For me, such an activity is a kind of meditation, when I can relax, fantasize and listen to pleasant music. When my daughter grows up, I will also teach her needlework. In the future, I have a desire to master the technology of making some more folk amulets. I also want not only to communicate more with craftswomen who are engaged in such creativity and exchange experience and secrets with them not only on the relevant sites, but also in real life," the craftswoman assures.
Author: Marina Aldon
Read also: Can shoe a flea: a Transcarpathian woman creates miniature masterpieces from the material that everyone throws away /PHOTOS
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