Asibikaashi & Sacred Dreamcatching

From my father's side of the family, I have Native American ancestry of the Cherokee (Tsalagi) and Potawatomi (Anishinabe) tribes. The Potawatomi are known as keepers of the sacred flame. This too, is my heritage.

The "sacred fire" consciousness bequeathed to me through my Native American ancestors contributes to the reality where I see the Hebrew word כבשן as "cauldron" (Bava Metzia 84a). The word כבשן derives from the root כבש which also can mean "spider". The two meanings "cauldron" and "spider" are linked via Native American sacred myth as well.

The sacred fire, the cauldron of creation, is intimately interwoven with the Native story of Asibikaashi (Spider Woman) and the origin of the dreamcatcher (asubakacin, net-like).

Not only is Asibikaashi a keeper of the sacred flame, she is the creatrix of creation and one who weaves the world into being each morning, filtering and catching the dew of one's nightly soul journeys (dreams, bawedjigewin) into the web of memory. Consequently, we can see the the "fiery cauldron" of creation and "spider" are not only connected through the Hebrew root כבש, but they are connected through Native American sacred myth as well.