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The Medicine Wheel

Traditionally, a Medicine Wheel is a circle of stones which are aligned to the four cardinal directions and divided into four quadrants. This ancient symbol represents life, cycles of time, the Earth, and the Universe. It is a place to come to create, to meditate, to pray, to deepen your inner being, to mark a change in your life and to seek guidance. Each direction or quadrant of the Medicine Wheel holds attributes to assist in your journey around the Wheel.

In the East sits the Eagle. The Eagle walks the Mental path and brings Illumination, Clarity & Wisdom.

In the South sits the Coyote. The Coyote walks the Emotional path and brings Growth, Trust & Love.

In the West sits the Bear. The Bear walks the Spiritual path & brings Introspection, Strength & Experience.

In the North sits the Buffalo. The Buffalo walks the Physical path and brings Cleansing, Renewal & Purity.

MAKING YOUR OWN LITTLE MEDICINE WHEEL KIT.

Medicine Wheel Mix--A blend of sweetgrass, tobacco, cedar, and sage. Use as an offering to give thanks to the four directions, Mother Earth, and Father Sky.

Shell--Use as offering/Smudging bowl.

Turkey Feather--For fanning smoke while smudging.

Stones--Each stone represents a quadrant.

Candles--Each color represents a cardinal direction.

Candleholder--Place in center or in particular quadrant of the Wheel-to represent yourself.

There are many ceremonies and ways to constructing a Medicine Wheel. This is an introduction to the most basic concepts; for more in-depth information about the quadrants and how to construct a full Medicine Wheel, refer to Sun Bear's "Dancing with the Wheel, the Medicine Wheel Workbook".

DIRECTIONS

Direction: North, Spirit Keeper: Buffalo, Color: White, Plant: Sweetgrass, Season: Winter, Stone: White Quartz, Element: Earth

Direction: East, Spirit Keeper: Eagle, Color: Red/Gold, Plant: Tobacco, Season: Spring, Stone: Gold Calcite, Element: Air

Direction: South, Spirit Keeper: Coyote, Color: Green/Yellow, Plant: Sage, Season: Summer, Stone: Rose Quartz, Element: Water

Direction: West, Spirit Keeper: Bear, Color: Black/Blue, Plant: Cedar, Season: Autumn, Stone: Obsidian/Apache Tears, Element: Fire

YOUR JOURNEY

Begin by smudging yourself and the gemstones while focusing on this journey around the wheel.

TO SMUDGE : Using Medicine Wheel Mix(You can also use Sage or Sweetgrass), put a pinch in shell & ignite, with feather, direct smoke to yourself, tools, & the Environment in and around your wheel.

YOUR WHEEL : Place each stone in the appropriate direction. Place the candleholder with the color candle that calls out to you in the center of the wheel or at a particular direction. Add other items to any direction or to the center, as feels appropriate. This is your Wheel-Create with your Heart.

OPENING YOUR WHEEL : Add another pinch of the Medicine Wheel mix to your shell(lit or unlit). Starting in the East, offer the mix by raising the shell to the Eastern quadrant. Call in the attributes of that quadrant i.e.-

PLEASE EAGLE, Spirit Keeper of the East guide me on my Journey to Illumination...Continue around the Wheel, moving clockwise, offering to each quadrant:

South-PLEASE COYOTE, Spirit Keeper of the South guide me on my Journey to Growth;

West-PLEASE BEAR, Spirit Keeper of the West guide me on my Journey to Inner Strength;

North-PLEASE BUFFALO, Spirit Keeper of the North guide me on my Journey to Renewal.

Offer mix to the Great Spirit by lifting the shell above to Father Sky and then by touching the shell below to Mother Earth. Ask for their guidance-feel their essence.

SITTING WITH YOUR WHEEL

Sit within the center of your Wheel, take 3 deep breaths, breathing from your belly button-allow yourself to feel Mother Earth below and Father Sky above you. Open to this Circle of safety and love you have Created. State the guidance you seek and begin to pray, to meditate, to give thanks, to cry, to chant, to laugh, to celebrate-do what feels best. This is your Wheel-come with an open Heart and remember to listen to the guidance given. When your Journey is complete it is time to close your Wheel.

CLOSING YOUR WHEEL

Start in the East, move counter clockwise(East, North, West, South) offering the Medicine wheel Mix to each direction, thanking that quadrant for its guidance along with thanking Father Sky and Mother Earth.

To disassemble your Wheel, smudge the gemstones and all other items you have brought to the Wheel, Place them in a pouch or bundle them up in a cloth for use another time.

If your Wheel was constructed outdoors, you may leave it and allow the elements to continue to hold your message.

Your Journey around the Wheel has ended-Take a moment to reflect on the experience. This might be a good time to write in your journal.May your Journey be useful and Abundant.Ah-Ho(It is so)Or Aho.

THE DANCE BEGINS

Like most earth-based ceremonies and tools, the Medicine Wheel appears to be simple. After all, it is merely a structure of thirty-six stones. Yet there are untold levels of meaning to this simple circle and lines within the circle.

To understand the Medicine Wheel dance you must first know that the Medicine Wheel of this vision is similar to the 20,000 Medicine Wheels that existed on this continent before the European people immigrated here.

These Medicine Wheels served many purposes for the Native people of the Americas. They were the ceremonial centers of culture, astronomical laboratories, and places people would come to mark the times and changes in their own lives as well as the life of the Earth.

They were places to pray, meditate, contemplate, strengthen your connection with Nature, and to come to a higher degree of understanding of yourself and your relationship with all the creation.

Medicine Wheels were usually placed on areas where the energy of the Earth could be strongly felt, and their use in ceremony made this energy get even stronger. Consequently, Medicine Wheel areas became what people now call vortexes: Places of intense Earth energy and healing. The new areas where Medicine Wheels have been built are serving the same function.

A COMPLETE MEDICINE WHEEL

Forms of the Medicine Wheel exist all around the globe from the great stone circles of Europe to the mandalas of India. All of these are reminders of our past when the World was guided by the law of right relationship, and humans respected themselves and all their relations-mineral, plant, animal, spirit-on the Earth Mother.

Learning about the Medicine Wheel can help you remember your connection with all these aspects of the Universe.