Working With the Medicine Wheel

Using the Medicine Wheel
The Medicine Wheel is a tool that can be used to check in with yourself and receive insights to problems. Think of the wheel as an onion, where you can peel away layers spiralling down into your center. The wheel represents the circle of life.It is a cross set in a wheel. The cross is the four directions. The circle represents the circle of the earth and the metaphysical circle of all creation. In each of the 4 corners, many groups of correspondances can be used to focus on different aspects of your life. This is not a finite list of correspondances ,but some examples to start you thinking. It is important to keep all our aspects in balance-mind, body, emotions and spirit. Work with the medicine wheel to reflect on your strengths and weaknesses

 Running Hawks representation of a medicine wheel

NORTH
Mental/Manifestation
Death
Winter/Night
White-snow , purity
White Buffalo-the spirit of the white buffalo gives totally of itself in order to sustain all in existence

 EAST
 Spiritual/Enlightenment
 Birth
 Spring/Sunrise
 Yellow-colour of the sun
 Eagle-the eagle soars high and sees the furthest

SOUTH
Physical/Transformation
Youth
Summer/Daytime
Red or Green-red-life in people, green- life in plants
Sacred Mouse-The sacred mouse looks onto the world with childlike innocence and openess

WEST
Emotional /Introspection
Adulthood
Fall/Sunset
Black - nighttime, dreaming
Bear-the bear represents hibernation and dreaming

The North is the path to work on for the perfection of any endeavor, to gain strength of will and clarity in ones intentions.

White Buffalo- teach me how to give away, to share what I have learned, to nourish others with the bounty of my being. Teach me to face the cold, to stand alone when I must , to take care of others in the true circle. Provide me with wisedom, knowledge and with the ability to share what I have learned.

The East is the path to work on to seek enlightenment, when starting a new project, or when looking for a fresh approach.

Eagle- teach me to take my vision to my higher self and to let the vision of my higher self down into my daily mind to revitalize my life. Teach me to prey upon whatever does not feed my higher purpose and to rid myself of false paths that do not serve me.

The South is the path to work on when seeking growth and development or when desiring to learn the lessons of change.

Sacred Mouse- teach me to trust , to find again my innocent eyes, my fresh vision, my childlike wonder of the world. Teach me to see what is right in front of me, so I may gather trust,learning and the power of touching others in gentle healing ways.

The West is the path to work on to seek transformation or evaluation and to prepare for new action , forgiveness and flow.

Sacred Bear- teach me to go inside all the winter of my life, into the darkness, to go inside and listen. Teach me to go without fear, with excitement. With your power Sacred Bear, I pray that I will learn to be quiet , to distinguish my voice of intuition from the false voices of fear, doubt and indicision.

Use this wonderful exercise by Lynn Andrews to see how balanced your life is. You may find that you are strong in one or two directions and weak in others. Seeing it laid out can help to realize where you need to focus in your life to bring balance .

Moving Around The Sacred Wheel - Lynn Andrews

The wheel is a tool for self-discovery. Explore the following list of questions and place your answers on the wheel to discover which direction is your home, the direction you feel closest to. Place a symbol of your choice in the corresponding direction each time you answer yes to one of the questions.

North-Mental
1. Are you a logical person?
2. Are you mentally disciplined?
3. Do you question "why" before acting on someone elses decision?
4. Do you question authority?
5. Do you enjoy shaking up existing structures?

East-Spiritual
1. Do you have a sense of oneness with all life?
2. Do you have a personal experience of your relationship to God or Spirit?
3. Are you aware of moments of inspiration?
4. Do you sense shifts in the energy around you?
5. Do you feel drawn to the mysteries of life?

South-Physical
1. Do you have a regular exercise routine?
2. Do you enjoy physical work and using your body?
3. Do you enjoy dancing?
4. Do you like to garden?
5. Do you like your body?.

West - Emotional
1. Are you an emotional person?
2. Are you comfortable expressing your emotions?
3. Do your emotions get you into trouble?
4. Do you remember your dreams?
5. Do you welcome change?

Now look back at your wheel. Do you find yourself drawn to one direction more than the others? How is the balance with the direction directly opposite? Consider this:

- People who relate to the South, love the physical realm and feel strongly connected to Mother Earth. They may also love having stones and crystals around them.

-Those drawn to the West , the emotions , are often dreamers both awake and asleep. West people are drawn to water and expansive open spaces with room to contemplate and dream. Dreamers can be incredibly productive when they understand how to manifest their dreams.

- North people can be very mental and seem to be without emotion ,trusting their mind and ability to figure things out. They can also move quickly from one thought to the next and may be a challenge to keep up with . They can appear very serious, deep in thought, and in an instant, can turn around and poke fun at anything important and serious.

- In the East we find the trickster and the wise one often in the same person. East people often have the ability to see energy in and around people and objects. They sense their own spiritual strength and connection.

 The following journal exercises are a wonderful way to explore more fully the aspects touched on in the previous exercise.

Journal Exercises -Anodea Judith/Selene Vega The Sevenfold Journey
We begin with an examination of where you are right now. Make it more of a scientific survey, than a judgement of your faults and virtues.

Spiritual
.What is your basic form of spirituality?If you don’t have any form of spirituality in your life, do you feel a lack or are you content? Do you think of spirituality as a waste of time?
. Is your form of spirituality inherited (i.e. your parents religion) or self-chosen? If self-chosen , what events led to this choosing?
. How satisfied are you with the spiritual aspect of your life?
. What portion of your life is spent in the practice of your spirituality? Would you like this to be more or less?
. What goals would you like to set for yourself spiritually, if any? Is there spiritual programming from a childhood religion that you would like to recover or remove?

Mental
. What portion of your life is spent in mental activities(reading, writing, thinking, reasoning, solving problems, daydreaming)? Would you like it to be more or less?
.How mentally stimulating is your work? Your friendships? Your home life?
.How many books do you read in a month? How many hours of TV or other entertainment?
. Are you satisfied and confident with your mental abilities?
. Are you satisfied with your level of education?
. What is your favorite mental activity and what do you get out of it?

Emotional
.Over the course of a month , what emotional states do you spend the most time in (depression, elation, fear joy ect.)?
.How emotionally fulfilling do you find your life, your relationships, your work?
. what goals would you choose for yourself emotionally (i.e. to feel more confidant, less angry, more patient)?

Physical
.Take time now to feel your body. Where is it chronically tense, numb, painful? Where does it feel good, full of energy and life, or pleasure? Go into yourself deeply, exploring without judgement. Write down the places in your body that comes to your attention and what you feel there-both the good and the bad.
. As a whole , how do you feel about your body? Do you pay attention to it? Are you happy with the way it feels and behaves? Is it pleasurable to be in your body? Does your body feel like excess baggage you have to carry around? Do you have chronic pain , or addictive disorders?
. How much time in each week do you give to your body (working out, getting a massage, going for a walk, making love ect.)?
.What are you goals for your body (teeth fixed, new clothes, weight loss or gain ect)?

The medicine wheel is a tool you can use whenever you have a question about your life. Look at the problem from all four directions to find an answer that brings balance to your life.

Blessings,