Greetings from My Mountain Cabin,
According to the belief systems of several Native American tribes, the Medicine Wheel is a living model for spiritual actualization. Independent of it's cultural origination, all can learn from the metaphors represented in the Medicine Wheel, even as all can be inspired by symbolism of the Tibetan mandala (a Sanskrit word for "circle.") as a tool for gaining wisdom and compassion.
A typical Medicine Wheel has four defined locations existing along its periphery, each corresponding to a compass direction and a totem animal. The wheel represents a person's journey through the learning stages of life. A newborn comes to this planet in one of the places along the wheel and then migrates to others as her or his spirit evolves.
Individual people can arrive at different locations. Some stagnate and remain in their arrival place for most of their lives. Ideally, the migrating soul will learn the lessons represented by each totem animal and move on to a different one. Sometimes going back and re-visiting is appropriate.
Here are the quadrants depicted on the Medicine Wheel.
✶ South—the Path of the Mouse
A mouse is an innocent little critter—somewhat naive, vulnerable, and curious about the things at hand. Persons in the place of the mouse enjoy physical affection—touching and being touched—as well as gathering things—facts, information, material objects, or even ideas. When in the South, gut feelings and intuition play an important part in decision-making.
✶ North—the Path of the Buffalo
The thought process and matters of the mind take precedence. A person in the North is curious about how and why things work. Knowing has a more powerful attraction than feeling. How did I come to be on this planet? Why am I here? S/he prefers to weigh logical consequences before acting.
✶ West—the Path of the Bear
When in the West, the migrating soul tends to dwell in the Looks-Within-Place, a retreat site for going over the same thoughts again and again. Important decisions are rarely made with full confidence; there are often haunting afterthoughts of Did I do the right thing? The answer to problems come from within. I must first come to terms with myself before I meaningfully interact with the outside world.
✶ East—the Path of the Eagle
An Eagle possesses the vision to see far and wide and is able to gain the broadest picture without getting hung up on details. An Eagle is able to soar above life's minute considerations. Possessing a lofty perspective of all that is, few things impact an Eagle adversely.
Whether taken literally or metaphorically, the Medicine Wheel offers a creative paradigm for framing our lives. Where are you on the Wheel as you read these words? Where were you yesterday? Where do you need to move in the immediate future?
Wishing you wonderful insights on your journey,
Ed
p.s. The Dance of the Four Directions, as taught by yours truly, symbolically combines the wisdom of the Medicine Wheel with movement central to the gentle form of moving meditation known as tai chi chuan. To view a short video clip of this exercise, click on the weblink following (or copy into your browser window):
http://www.kesgen.com/addons/dance4.mov.
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