Are your fears rational or irrational?  Are you “conditioned” to fear?  I know if I walk out into my own back yard, and see a lion facing me…well I’m running for safety…clammering for shelter.  Or maybe I stumble on a coiled rattle snake while I’m mowing my grass that I should definitely back off, grab a weapon, and try to rid myself of the reptile so it never reappears in the same threatening way.  To me, these are examples of totally “rational” fears.  I’ve been taught, and retain, the awesome and maneating power of a lion, and also the venemous strike a poisinous reptile can bring to my flesh.  An alligator, a plane crash, even a pink slip or a write-up at work….they are all designed and well orchestrated in our phyche to generate fear.   Most, for good reason.  We can rationalize most of our fears because they have tangible, direct consequences if we don’t heed them.  After all, you know by now not to “pet”the live lobster in the seafood restaraunt tank, or pick up someone’s baby as a stranger.  These have dire consequences. Hurtfull at least, but possibly deadly.

But what of the “irrational fears” or the phobias we possess?  What consequences do we really face when we face them head on?  Phobias are ghosts that appear in our minds as real threats to our being.  Maybe a child was locked in a closet and abused, to him/her it is rational to fear closets or closed in places or even the dark.  What if daddy came home drunk every night and threatened violence or even committed violence every night he was drunk?  Wouldn’t this perpetuate a fear of alcohol and associate it with violence.  What if it’s just a spider or an elevator ride or being on the fifth floor looking down?

I was employed and supervised by a man who sat in his executive chair on the far side of me.   I came in from lunch one day to find his arms frantically flailing at the air.  He was litterally screaming  “someone get it!!!….someone get it away from me ..” as he was diving his head under his desk and frantic about escape, I kept searching for something dreadful and deadly.  I said to him excitedly “what is it?…what’s the matter”?  and half bent over, still flailing and flushed he screamed (with eyeballs popping out), “get the moth!” get it outa here!!!….I’m leaving NOW if no one kills it”! Well I was releived, shocked, and flabergasted at the same time.  This guy had degrees I only dreamed of, ideas I thought were superb, and a back-bone (I thought of pure steal), but here he was reduced to nothing but jello over a small white moth that had manged it’s way in to the building…We got the moth out, and for almost two hours my supervisor had to recoup and regain normal blood pressure.  Again, phobias are a ghost, but to those that have them they are very very real!

I also had a very good and loyal dog..(to show phobias go beyond man), and he played happily in his own yard, protecting his own territory vehemently and loyaly.  One day two young boys next door threw live fire-crackers over our privacy fence.  The dog from then on could not tolerate thunder, lightning, loud noises, and had to be sedated on the fourth of July for his fear of that noise! Another dog I now have, has a strange but very apparent phobia.  One day I was watching him play in the back-yard.  All of a sudden I saw him back up and start barking furiously.  I thought to myself “snake“!, and I grabbed a shovel to kill the vermon if needed.  I came up to the spot of the ruccus, and what did I find?- A bluejay feather.  That’s right. A feather had fallen off of a Jay and he was barking and backing up like as if it would kill him!  I, again, was stunned.  I picked up the feather and pointed it towards him…”is this what you’re afraid of boy”? I asked as he recoiled in pure petrified fashion.  Since then I have had to remove at least 3 more bluejay feathers from the back-yard each time he shows me his discovery of them by totally freaking out!

I know there are rational fears that every day we know exist.  There are fears that something “could” happen like a plane crash or auto accident. (Enter the insurance giants)… Some people are afraid of cats or other animals even though they have never been harmed or even alarmed by them.  Some fears are explainable by one incident from childhood, or a condition they lived in.  But there are inexplicable fears that people have that seem to emerge out of nowhere.  Unconditioned fears that hold a person captive to the fear.  The pure imagination of that fear actually happening perpetuates the growth of the “ghosts” and then…how do you kill a ghost?  It’s already non existant. and thrives upon just our minds “creating” it’s very existance. (JEALOUSY)!!

John F. Kennedy said “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”. What a wise man. For in fearing unwisely, we take the reigns from God’s hand and put our imaginations ahead of Him and His infinite power. 

I can’t tell you why my dog is afraid of bluejay feathers,  I can tell you why a child is afraid of the dark, if I talk to him long enough.  I can’t tell you why my big boss was afraid of a little moth, but I can tell you I’m afraid to be burned by fire. I can’t tell you if your fears have been a product of your reality or your imagination, but I can tell you there is one God who says “Fear Not, For I Am With You Always..Even Unto The Ends of the Earth” Now if He’s with you……what’s an elevator gonna do?…….God Bless Everyone, and May He Help You Conquer All Fear!

Dreamcatchers were originally made by the Native Americans. Although there are many versions produced by companies, the best way to get an original and authentic one is to buy from a Native American themselves, perhaps at a pow wow ceremony.

The legend behind the dreamcatcher is that they are believed to catch and preserve dreams. Native Americans of the Great Plains believed that the air is filled with good and bad dreams. The dreamcatchers are given to people who are cherished so that good dreams will follow them all their lives. It is believed that the woven web will catch your dreams in the night. The bad spirit dreams become tangled in the web and  disappear in the morning sun.  However, the good spirit dreams will sift through the center hole of the web
and float down the sacred feathers to bless the sleeping one with trouble free dreams.

Traditionally, the dreamcatchers were hung in the tipi or lodge and on a baby’s cradle board. But more modernly, they are hung in the doorway of the bedrooms.

The legend varies slightly from tribe to tribe, but all focus around this main point. Some believe that the dreamcatcher only works if made from supplies harvested from the earth, and not man-made items such as plastic. This is why it is probably better to get yours from places such as a pow wow or reservation rather than a mass-marketing store. But whether you want it to work and free you of your bad dreams or just want one for decoration is up to you!