The Medicine Wheel Ritual is especially significant in a group, but it can be done individually. This active practice has a few important purposes. One purpose is to give reverence and thanks to all the four directions of Great Spirit, relating also to the four great kinds of Life - mineral, plant, animal, and human. Great Spirit Sky and also Great Mother Earth all enter into this as well. Another purpose is to understand and balance the four great parts of our own being -- physical, emotional, mental, and soul power. So one purpose is to give respects to Our Relations, while another purpose is to develop balance and harmony in our own self.
There is no exact right way to perform the Medicine Wheel Ceremony. Different tribes may have their specific ways of doing this, but there is no Absolute Universal formula and no exact right in this. What is important is the Intent, the Attitude, the Sincerity, and the openness to Spiritual Reality when doing it. The fundamental ritual involves moving gradually clockwise in a Circle, stopping for a time at each major direction to give thanks and also to receive some blessing. Different tribes may have different versions as to which direction is to begin. Our version here begins in the South and ends in the East. Ending in the East seems appropriate as the final direction, since it is the direction of Fire and Spirit. However, some tribes begin in the East and end in the North.
Balance and wholeness is represented in the Native American Medicine Wheel, which is actually a healing tool as well as a symbol of holistic health. Medicine means good energy, or healthy, healing energy, and wheel signifies a dynamic flow of energy, so the Medicine Wheel is a dynamic power of healing energy. The Medicine Wheel is a sacred circle formed on the ground by placing at least four stones at the four directions, and then possibly more stones to form a circle.
In the center may be placed a large stone, or some natural object or maybe a person to be healed. The Medicine Wheel, or circle, helps concentrate and balance the fundamental sacred energies of Nature or Spirit, as the circle becomes a sacred focus of healing. It is also meant to be an efficacious instrument to bring into balance and wholeness the four fundamental aspects or energies of Spiritual Natural Life.
Face the South Wind and immerse yourself in this power of spiritual water. Allow your emotions or feelings to flow freely and emerge from within you, like waters from a spring. We begin with feelings because our feelings or emotions are what most gives us the sense of being uniquely who we are. The attitude in this allowing of emotions is the attitude of innocence and accepting ourself as a child of Spirit. We begin with innocence and self-acceptance, and we allow our feelings to freely emerge, to be acknowledged, accepted and understood. Spend some time in this direction of knowing yourself by knowing your feelings, and allow your deepest feelings to emerge. We all need to allow our feelings to flow and not hold them back or dam them up. This allows the spirit of water to move freely, which will become a key element in the nurturance of our spiritual growth. While allowing the emotions to flow freely, see if you can discover a deeper current of love and joy, and if you go really deep you may discover the deeper current of peace within.
Then, go clockwise and face the Spirit Wind of the West. Here we are faced with the needs of our earth body and the need to be practical in life. Here, we must reflect on what needs to be done and all that we so often wish to avoid or forget about. It is good to reflect upon the needs of other earth relations, as well as our own physical needs, and to root ourself in a practical sense of responsibility for the maintenance of this earth ecology. Here, we might reflect on what we can do for the good of the planet, and how we might give to life, as well as get what we personally need.
After reflecting in this practical manner, begin to see or visualize each of your practical needs being fulfilled, and you might even see the various stages to that fulfillment. And enter into a faith that the western Power of Great Spirit will bring your physical needs into fulfillment. Then, see the healing power of rainbow light come into your body, cleansing you and giving you all the vitality and strength you need on the Good Path of life. Accept this healing energy and be grateful for it. Have faith that the Spirit of healing will be with you always.
After giving some time to this direction, we then move to face the North Wind. This is the power which brings wider clarity of knowledge and vision. It is the power of truth and certainty. Here, allow the mind to break free of conditioned thinking and the patterns of mental worry. Let go of all limiting beliefs about yourself and others, and just be open to a greater vision and understanding of life. Be open-minded, and let truth be revealed to you, through symbols and intuition, as they come into the mind. But you will probably find that your mind scatters itself in repeated thoughts and worries, and cannot seem to become still and just receptive. This is reflective of your inability to break free of conditioned and habitual thought patterns, which makes problems remain as they are, because the mind is not free enough to allow in new intuitions and new visions of possibility.
The Spirit of the north Wind will come to enlighten us and teach us, but we can only hear this Voice or Vision when we are just listening and just conscious, and not talking, thinking or chattering in the mind. So the practice of facing the north Wind is a surrender of our usual thinking, and an emptying of mind, so that true vision and guidance may come through the receptive silence.
Once we have entered the great silence and have achieved a receptivity and clarity in the mind, and have opened the mind to greater wisdom and vision, we may turn to the East Wind of Spirit. From here comes spiritual inspiration, which emerges as a fire in the heart. This is the creative fire of Spirit and the will to bring good to the world. It is the will to create good and beauty in ourself and in the world. For as we are now allowing of feeling, and working toward getting what we materially need, and being receptive to the greater wisdom, all of which brings balance to the three needs of emotion, body and mind, we are ready to bring in the inspiring fire of the soul, which gives direction and spiritual power to personal expression. In your meditation, center your attention in the heart and begin to feel a spiritual inspiration emerge from within. Feel the fire of life and love deep within the heart. This is your own fire to be and to become, though it is part of the great Fire of Spirit. Here you will feel and know the Spirit of Love and the will to express this love. Let the fire of love grow within you and begin to send out this love into the world.
Breathe in, deep into the heart, deep into the fire at your very source of being. Go deep into yourself and find that fire which feeds you with the inspiration to be alive and expressive. This is the energy of your soul, which is like a great sun within you that brings forth fire and light. It is your true spiritual will to love and expand love. Then, breath out this deep fire of the soul into the world. Breathe out all the love within you. Feel the fire of love expand into the whole world. This love is your gift to the world, originating from deep within you. Allow the love to freely expand out into the world, like the light of the sun and with the feeling of warmth. For only as we give freely of our love are we free. This practice expands the fire and light of the soul, which begins as a small flame and eventually expands as a great fire of love radiating out into the whole world. As we give of ourself, and give of our love, the fire of the soul grows larger and brighter, and it heals all parts of our being through its free expression in the world. This is the true secret of complete spiritual healing.
The secret is in giving, giving totally. You become more and more identified with this fire of love, as this is the true essence of being, and you begin to feel this as the will to love and the will to creatively express love. We all need the power of spiritual creative expression, and know that the creative will to express love and beauty, which emerges from within, is the spiritual will of Great Spirit coming through in a unique way, for the benefit of all life.
----
Remember that Great Spirit is alive and conscious throughout Mother Earth and in all natural things, so when we give thanks to Great Spirit or to the Mother Earth, or to any of the giving Nature Spirits, our gratefulness is heard, when it comes from the heart and from love, and this is partly how we can give back love to Mother Nature and to Great Spirit. Recognition and appreciation for love given, is love returned.
So be grateful for all which is provided by Mother Earth and All Our Relations. Give thanks to each of the kingdoms of Nature and to all the powers of Great Spirit. This is how the nature powers will hear you and know your sincerity. And this is the way you can give your love to Great Spirit and all the Relations of Mother Earth, for we give our love through our gratefulness. And through gratefulness we open the door to greater love, wisdom, and spiritual power.
Recognize and reflect upon what is given by each Relation and Power of Spirit, then simply and sincerely say in your heart, “Thank you for being and all that you give.” This is the key to opening that particular spiritual power and quality. Know that recognition and gratefulness is the key to receiving the special power of any form or presence in Nature. Then, an added energy and quality begins to awaken within yourself.
The inner and outer worlds each effect the other. This is a very important Spiritual Law. The Native peoples very directly realized that their natural environment, and their group cultural rituals as well, profoundly effected the individual psyche and well-being of each person.
The body of nature, that is, the environment of animals, plants, trees, geological formations, and weather, all has profound effects on the human mind and the emotional feelings of well-being. You cannot really separate the mind from body, or the human psyche from nature or environmental influences. Yet the Law goes both ways, and the Native peoples realized also that their emotional attitudes and feelings and good thoughts have significant effects on the natural environment. They discovered that feelings of respect and gratitude directed to nature spaces, trees, etc., actually opened up communication with nature spirits and that the spirit of Nature appeared to come alive with radiance when one’s mind and heart was humble and receptive. We’ll speak more about all this in due time, but for now we must simply realize the interrelation between the physical natural environment and the spiritual or psychic life of man and woman, and we each can observe this relationship and feel the affects in ourselves.
I will speak now of the Medicine
Wheel as a sacred symbol, representing a
variety of different meanings and relations, though not forgetting
that it is used ceremoniously and practically for healing, prayers,
celebrations, and other purposes. The simplest Medicine Wheel is made
of just four stones or four signs of the four directions, but even in
more complex wheels the four major directions have the greatest
significance. The four stones or
four directions divide the circle in four parts and they are placed
equally and symmetrically around
the circle. This creates a perfect balance of forces or parts of the
circle. So, in essence, we have a circle which represents complete,
interconnected wholeness, or unity, and we have four forces or
directions of energy, each balancing the others and creating a
balanced stability in the circle. From the four directions, such as
in front, in back, to the right and to the left, or from the north,
east, south and west, come the four great Winds of Great Spirit or
the four Gatekeepers or the four Pathways of Spirit. Many different
names might be given to these four, but essentially they are the four
fundamental Qualities or Powers of Great Spirit, which we can relate
to life in different ways. Remembering that all spiritual or natural
powers come from the One Great Spirit, Who is the One Essential
Creative Power within this whole Great Mystery. All true
powers, and all true qualities of Self,
come from the One Great Power and Creative Mind of One Great Spirit.
The many powers and qualities are aspects of the One Great being,
which you can call God, or Spirit, or simply the Mystery.
Thus, the plurality and diversity of spiritual forces and aspects of self all emerge from the essential Unity. Since creation comes from Unity, and since this Unity pervades that creation and is at work within it, then it follows that there should be harmony among the diversity of that Unity. Yet this harmony within creation is not determined nor forced by Great Spirit. It is always possible but not necessarily manifested, and this is because Great Spirit gave us the power of free choice and the opportunity to learn from our own efforts and by our growing intelligence which learns by trial and error. This opportunity to learn, but also to make mistakes and be stupid, is seen as blessing, because then we can spiritually grow from challenges and we can acquire a self-accumulated honor and dignity from making good choices and doing good works by our own will and not forced by an authority outside ourself. Such is the value of free will. It can be a curse upon the land and the people, but it is meant to be a blessing and opportunity. Still, at all times the Great Spirit is here with us and can help us along the Good Path to Harmony and Beauty, that is, if we choose the power and guidance of Great Spirit. For if allowed, Great Spirit will lead and evolve all life toward greater harmony and beauty, because Great Spirit has the power, the wish, the love and the wisdom to do so.
In order for any life or person to manifest and bring about a greater harmony and beauty, one needs power or directive energy, one needs intelligence or know-how, and one needs love or goodwill to motivate that choice and intelligent direction of power. These are all energies or spirit-qualities, which are aspects of the Great Spirit and are given to human beings by Great Spirit. The basic aspects of Great Spirit, or the basic qualities of Spirit-power, can be represented on the Medicine Wheel.
Let us say that there are four essential Winds of Great Spirit, the wind meaning power in action, or there are four sides to the wholeness of Great Spirit. What are these four? They are the four ways we can describe the Great Spirit, and they are the four ways that Great Spirit works through us. One is power. I will call this the power to make things happen. It is the power of will and inner determination. It is an inner power, which can be understood as an inner inspiration. When one is deeply inspired to accomplish something or when one feels inspired by a great purpose or aim, then this is truly a power which moves and activates many other energies. One could say that this power is the Will or Determination of Great Spirit to manifest creative diversity, harmony and beauty. And this aspect of Great Spirit, which we can call the Creative Will or the Inspired Determination, can be reflected and brought to life through the human spirit. So its microcosmic reflection is found in the spiritual creative will and inspiration of man and woman.
This aspect of the Spirit, and aspect of the spiritual human being, is related to the element of Fire, for it is the fire within the soul, or the fire within the heart. And we can see this power of Spirit come through the eastern direction, where comes the rising sun.
Our sun is, of course, the heat giving and light giving Source for our Earth Mother, and as such it can be known as the Impregnator or Husband of our Earth Mother, which potentizes the living potentials of the Earth. The Sun is also known by certain tribes as the first creation of Great Spirit, or as Grandfather Sun, and it is sometimes thought to be the most powerful Spirit within this small part of the overall Great Cosmic Mystery.
Another aspect of the Great Spirit, or another way in which the Wind of Divine Spirit moves through us, is the working of intelligence. Intelligence is needed to direct power in way which promotes harmony of diversity in the world. So we can understand the Great Spirit as the Great Wisdom which created and forever guides life. We can let this Spirit Wisdom into our Medicine Circle, as it were, from the northern direction, from where the great Spirit Chiefs sit in their Council of Wisdom. And we can find this spiritual wisdom, this intelligence, within ourself, because as children of Great Spirit we have inherited the potential for divine wisdom. The spiritual wisdom is within us. It is naturally within. It is our Spirit-given natural intelligence, or the intelligence of Nature within us. So if we open our mind, in humility and in purity, to this wisdom-power of the North, then the connection between our limited mind and the All-knowing Wisdom of Great Spirit, the Creator and Sustainer of existence. Remember that we each need wisdom and intelligence to sustain our health and to make adjustments for healing imbalances. The body needs its natural intelligence, in order to stay healthy or to heal itself when ill, and each person on the Spiritual Path needs a developing intelligence, in order to coherently understand the sciences and laws of Nature and in order to see the way to one’s inspired creative goals and dreams.
This intelligence, or wisdom mind, is another of the significant aspects which make up the whole person, and the awakened intelligence is necessary to holistic health, just as the inspired spiritual will is necessary. This wisdom aspect of Great Spirit, or the whole person, is related to the element of Air. Above us is the great space of the sky, which is the huge expanse of Air. This Sky of Air is the Mind of Great Spirit, and each of us has the mind potential to travel distances and fly to many different places through the Sky World of Spirit-Mind. The Spirit-Mind is a great expanse of possibility, of ideas, visions, and dreams, and our consciousness can travel anywhere within this expansive Sky of the Mind, sometimes called Freedom Sky.
The secret to this traveling, or free flying in the Mind, is thought and imagination. Thought and imagination have great power, because through these abilities new possibilities and new ideas and dreams are opened up and revealed. Also, our thought and imagination help pattern and direct creative energies, so that manifestation tends to follow thought. First the dream, then the doing, then the done.
Creation and manifestation begins with a dream, a vision, an idea, or a thought. The Medicine People say that Great Spirit in the Sky World first imagined the world and the various creatures, and then these Thoughts rained down onto the fertile soil of Mother Earth, where they grew upon the Earth into manifestation, and those imagined thoughts of the Creator continue to live within the seeds and eggs of each life.
Sometimes the Creator slightly alters His Thought or imagines new forms and ideas to be grown on Earth. Thus, the Creator, the Great Creative Spirit, uses imagination and intelligence to invent new possibilities and to make pathways toward harmony and beauty. And so can you. As you work in this way, then the Creative Spirit can work through you.
A third fundamental aspect of the One Great Spirit is Love. This is an unconditional love for all creatures, all lives, all parts of this creation. It stands to reason that the Great Creative Power and Intelligence, which creates and sustains creation, must also love creation. Love is the great motivating Spirit-Quality for creation.
Great Spirit loves all its creation, and because of this love the Great Spirit seeks to guide all lives to their unique happiness and fulfillment. And since this creation is actually the manifestation of the creative potentials of Great Spirit, that creation reflects the essential unity of Great Spirit, and so Love is Quality of this Unity.
This Spiritual Love can flow through us, if we allow it, and give us the divine feeling of unity and enjoyment in life. This love is actually inherent within the essence of all people and all lives, because Great Spirit, as Love, permeates all life. This love is related to the element of Water, and we know that our bodies are made mostly of water. This water carries the quality of love and it is meant to flow freely. Like water the Spirit of Love can flow through us and flow out from us to the world around us. The free circulation of love and joy within the unity is an essential purpose of this creation, and this can become our own purpose and motivating aim in life. Love carries the flowing water of healing, because deep healing is a return to the Unity of Life and a feeling of joy within this realized Unity.
So the love flow, or love feeling, is one of the essential qualities of the One Great Spirit, which comes from the South into our Medicine Circle, into our life. And this love is an essential aspect of holistic health and healing. The feeling of love and joy is an essential aspect of the balanced and complete person. It is spiritually given and naturally inherent within us. But it has to be allowed to flow in and through us, rather than be suppressed or ignored. It has to be felt, or allowed into feeling. It is the feeling of joy for being alive and the joy of being related together with all creation, with all the other lives of Nature, the feeling of being in the Unity and part of it. So the South Pathway of Spirit and healing is this flow of love and joy through through the emotional life. It is way of healing the emotional aspect of the person, just as wisdom and the creative imagination is the healing of the mental life of the person, and just as spiritual inspiration and creative determination is the healing of the soul or will of the person.
And lastly we come to the Spiritual Pathway of the West, to complete the balance of the Medicine Wheel. This is related to the physical body and to physical health and vitality. Our physical body is also an essential aspect of being a whole person, and it too should be respected and cared for. Through the physical body one is able to manifest creativity, love, wisdom, and beauty in the world. Through the body one can sing and dance and make celebration, and enjoy life through the senses. This is the manifestation Quality of Great Spirit, and it is related the element of Earth or Solidity. It is the spiritual power of embodiment. The earth, and all its physical forms, is the embodiment of Great Spirit. In our bodies and through our bodies and through our physical activities we can manifest the qualities and potentials of Great Spirit. Through the physical we can do things and make things. This requires physical energy or vitality.
So we can understand this aspect of Great Spirit, or this aspect of the Medicine Wheel, as physical vitality and manifesting energy. And for health and healing of the whole person to be complete, there needs to be this vital energy circulating through the body, which is the key to physical health.
So, by the fulfillment of each of these four fundamental aspects or powers of Great Spirit, each relating to a fundamental aspect of the whole person, there is complete balance and a continuous unfoldment of healing. And we can see how the Medicine Wheel symbolizes this wholeness and balance of the complete person, in their body, emotions, mind, and creative will. There are practical applications, involving these powers of Spirit, or powers of the Medicine Wheel. We can work with each aspect of the person, in turn, and very often it is possible to work with several aspects in combination.
For the creative will, one can ask for the Spirit-Fire of creative inspiration, that Great Spirit may awaken the spiritual will-power within. One can go deep within one’s own sacred space of the heart, to discover the spiritual fire within, the flame of spiritual determination, and to feel and know this fire or flame within, which is the will of the spiritual soul, the inner power, the inner desire of life to be creative and to journey toward self-wholeness and to help participate in the bringing forth of beauty, truth and goodness in the world. Go within your heart and find the Rising Sun, the Fire of Spiritual Will rising from within deep you, finding your soul-purpose or the next step on your passionate journey to explore life and to serve life in some way or another. This discovery of purpose, of the inner Wish, and of your own determination to be and to do, to explore and to serve; this is your inner spiritual power, your true personal power. Nurture this power, this fire, and protect this central fire which will empower your envisioned aim and direction. Be true to the inner spirit, the inner fire, the inner wish, and allow it to grow strong.
For the creative and understanding mind, one must open the intuition and enter into the greater Mind of Great Spirit. One must free the mind from the bondage of old conditioned thinking and limited beliefs about oneself and the world. The mind must become empty and pure, by not dwelling on old patterns of thought and worry, and then allow truth and honesty to reveal itself in the receptive mind. Let the truth be known, and let the natural intelligence and intuition guide the way. The unfolding natural intelligence and intuition is the awakening and emergence of Spirit-Mind within us. Be open to new ideas and visions, as they emerge from the Spirit-Mind of the Sky, or from Spirit Guides who speak through you, but always trust in your own sense of the truth and your own natural instinct for knowing the right way, for spiritual intelligence and wisdom is already inherent within you. As a healer, counselor or helper, one can give suggestions, opinions and helpful intuitions as to guide the person along a path to holistic fulfillment, but the ultimate help one can give is to help lead the person to their own Spirit-Wisdom connection and to the Voice and Vision of truth naturally within them, that is, to help awaken and bring forth their own natural wisdom and intuition, that they become self-sufficient in their own unfolding intelligence and connection to Spirit-Mind.
Let the mind and imagination explore the realms of possibility and learn from Nature Qualities and Powers of the Animal Spirits and Tree Spirits and Crystal Spirits. Let the mind explore the vast spaces and potentials within itself, and also let the mind explore the powers and beauties of Nature and the physical world. Let the mind learn from the senses and keep expanding awareness and understanding. Exploring, learning, and recognizing everything as a lesson for understanding, and that every presence of nature is a reflection of one’s own self-powers and self-qualities, as everything in the natural creation is part of the wholeness of One Great Spirit and that wholeness is our own potential of being.