MEDICINE WHEEL TEACHINGS IN THE 21st CENTURY

Excerpt from my book entitled:
 Medicine Wheel, Character Education and the Environment in the 21st Century: A Practical Guide to Health and Wellness for both Humans and Mother Earth. (Copyrighted)

The Medicine Wheel has been adopted by most First Nations people as a universal symbol of healing, interconnectedness and a holistic foundation of peaceful interaction and personal growth. The teachings mirror your life and it sometimes requires courage to look and really see what is being reflected back to you because some experiences are painful, while others joyful and reflective. However, it is ultimately facing it all that makes you a stronger and better person. In the tribes, my Ancestors were encouraged to think and walk in a positive way, for if they were angry, remorseful, and bitter, their earth walk would reflect that negativity. Traditional Hawaiian’s have a saying, "As you think so it is." In other words, if you believe that you are a worthy person, then you are. If you believe that you do not matter in the Universe, then you won’t. Greet every day with sacred honour songs and prayers because life is a fleeting thing.  

MEDICINE WHEEL & FOUR INTERSECTING THEMES

 Spending time creating a Character Education Environmentally-friendly Medicine provides a tangible mechanism upon which the healing of individuals, families, communities and nations can be focused. As noted earlier, it creates a safe, holistic foundation for character building that speaks to us at every level of human experience (love, courage, humility, respect, truth, honour, generosity). They are moral guides to our personal growth as humans who live in communion with one another and all of creation. Therefore, as the Ethic of Non-Interference teaches, it is not our place to judge how another person chooses to live her life. It is our place, however, to be there in friendship, love, balance, support and harmony when needed and even then our personal opinions remain our own.

The Medicine Wheel increases self-esteem and just simply makes you feel good about yourself; it grounds you in the truth of who you are as someone who matters.

ELDER TEACHING: "All birds, even those of the same species are not alike, and it is the same with animals and with human beings. The reason Wakan Tanka [Creator] does not make two birds, or animals, or human beings exactly alike is because each is placed here to be an independent individual and to rely upon itself."[1] 

ELDER TEACHING: Listen to the waves crashing into the shore. Hear the musical sound of the water. Choosing to hear the glorious sound teaches you a lot about where you are on your current earth walk.

• Do you hear the hum (rest) between the waves? Or,
  ·        In the blend (connections) between voice (sound), rhythm and changing patterns? Or,
  ·        In terms of individual notes, that is the millions of molecules that create the wave, each one separate and not related? Or,
  ·        Only on the ‘mass’ side with one crashing cacophony of sound with no discernible texture,

Each of you is surrounded by four intersecting circles.

SELF: Your personal Wants and Needs; they can sometimes be confused in the heat of the moment, particularly if a strong feeling of victimization is present. Your goal is to sort out what really matters in your life - the grass is only greener on the other side, if you did not tend to your own garden. Determine what elevates your soul; find the silence and clear your mind of inner chatter and clutter. Move old patterns and memories away from the centre to a safe and loving place in your personal history data bank. In other words, do you practice Hanta Ho, the Lakhota term of 'Clearing the Way' between a want and a need?

OTHERS: Meeting the needs and wants of people you interact with in good and balanced ways is a powerful healing tool for both parties. The goal is: (a) not to sell your soul to the lowest bidder, (b) discourage ideas and opinions that seek to overwhelm your own sense of self. (c) not buy into shame-based attitudes as they try to mold you in their images. Remember, a bully is someone who cannot face h/his own personal healing work and this fear usually drives the desire to criticize and change others as compensation for the lack of personal leadership. Are you able to lay aside your own wants to be in service to others, why is this important for your overall well-being.  

SOCIETY: Earning a living being responsible and accountable while doing so. Be careful of traps. The wider world often tries to dictate morality and standards of behaviour that contradict your own good sense, i.e., marketers trying to tell you that your body doesn’t measure up; your behaviour isn't cool enough; you are not making enough money; you don=t own enough stuff; you don=t own the right stuff, and on and on. Is your inner core strong enough to withstand the negative images others try to lay upon you?

ANCESTORS: They are your connections to that which is greater than you. By rising above the mundane world and embracing the idea that you are simply the next in a long line of ancestors, helps to root you in your personal history. It doesn’t mean you ‘have to go home again’, but knowing where you come from is critical in the journey of knowing where you are going. Does your ego get in the way of a connecting to Energy greater than yourself?

To order a CD of 'Medicine Wheel, Character Education & the Environment in the 21st Century'
(In Canada: $35.00 including S&H)

VOICE@SHANNONTHUNDERBIRD.COM

 The book (on CD) contains a chart for a forty-stone Medicine Wheel along with both a Character and Environmental teaching. Forty Stones = Eighty Teachings! The book is a valuable tool for Educators in helping to incorporate the teachings into the curriculum.

One of my greatest joys is to create a Human Medicine Wheel, using the participants as the 'Stones'. Participants receive so much more out of the teachings in terms of understanding their own lives in relation to the bigger picture. By the end of the exercise the circle looks wonderful. 

For a detailed description of adult/professional workshop, Click Fire     

Medicine Wheel teachings are among the oldest of First Nations people and are based on the seven directions (North, East, South West, Life above the earth, life on the earth, life below the earth).  They are vast and limitless and form the basis of most First Nations belief themes. For example, the natural world was created in groups of four to honour East, South, West and North. They are connected in the centre by Mother Earth's heart beat.  

The Wheel's sacred teachings assist us along our healing paths, and the relationships among the teachings form the basis of what it is to be human. After all, humans are the weakest of all creation and therefore, as the world’s ‘takers’, we must be cognizant of what we take, how much we take, who we are taking it from and why we are taking it. This includes: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual realms.

An Elder once told me that the grains of sand on a beach will never equal the number of teachings contained within the mysteries of the Medicine Wheel.  Anthropological discoveries have shown that the wheels are mainly clustered in southern Alberta and various spots in North and South Dakota, Montana, meaning tribes such as the Lakota and Blackfoot (loosely grouped as 'The Plains')  were the main builders and the Wheels were created to honour the power of the Sun. 

Note: What direction does each of the four colours of human belong?  There have been many books written about the Medicine Wheel, and they often differ as to the placement of some of the teachings, for example, there are some Lakhota teachers who place the yellow race in the west and the black race in the east; Anishinaabe version places the Red Race in the South and the Black Race in the West; others suggest the wheel is walked in a counter-clockwise direction. As so little is really known, there is really no wrong way to build a wheel, A circular walk after all has no beginning and no end no matter which direction you start.

It is more of a question of what resonates with each tribal culture as they seek their own understandings through the expression of building a medicine wheel.  I can only speak from my own knowledge, research and what has been taught to me. "Some things on the wheel", an Elder once said to me "are based simply on geographic logic." Therefore, based on where current races moreorless currently originated, logic says, White in the North, Yellow in the East,  Black in the South, Red in the West. 

Unity Button Celebrating Four colours of human (Red in West, Black in South, White in North, Yellow in East)

Medicine Wheel in Southern Alberta - you can see the spokes extending out from the centre

Big Horn, Wyoming (largest), seventy meters across

(Age estimate: 2500-3000 years)

On the June Solstice, a ray from the Sun cuts directly across the Wheel.

Scattered across the plains of Alberta are a number of stone Medicine Wheels. Some are extremely large, greater than 12 meters across. They are the remains of special ceremonial dance (called "Sun" or "Thirst" Dance) and celebrated by the Plains First Nations people.   The term "Medicine Wheel" was first applied to the Big Horn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming, the most southern and the largest in existence. Big Horn consists of a central circle of piled rock surrounded by a circle of stone; "Rays" of stones travel out from the central core of rock and its surrounding circle. The whole structure looks rather like the wheel of a bicycle.

Alberta has about 66% of all known Medicine wheels (46) which suggests that Southern Alberta was a central meeting place for many Plains tribes who followed Medicine Wheel ceremonies (usually on and around the Summer Solstice - June 21st). 

Despite their physical existence, there is a lot of mystery that surrounds the Medicine Wheel, because without written records, so little is understood as to their true meaning. Many theories abound, including: (a) the wheels contain significant stellar and cosmological alignments, specifically designed in other words to point towards the rising sun or to certain star nation constellation(s); (b) the performance of specific rituals and ceremonies that have been lost to the mists of time.

WALKING THE MEDICINE WHEEL

The Medicine Wheel assists in helping to seek: strong, healthy bodies (East); strong inner spirits (South), inner peace (West),  healthy minds (North). The term "Medicine" as it is used by First Nations people does not refer to drugs or herbal remedies. It is used within the context of inner spiritual energy and healing or an enlightened experience,

The central essence of the medicine wheel is that each of you must make your own choices. More often than not, however, these choices are influenced by other individuals (families, co-workers, friends, social and political environments). Not of all your experiences are good ones, there is a lot of hate, terror, jealousy, fractured families and societies in a very unsettled world which has resulted in an increase in various kinds of cancers. Sometimes you are not successful in working around the pain and you become caught up in a jungle of tangled emotions, followed by ‘not right action’. It is difficult to walk the earth walk with care always looking to your future in healing, positive and understanding ways, when it is so easy to just give up. But, then, this is the challenge isn’t it? To learn from those experiences that have not elevated your life, (even though it can be a scary process!) and keep moving forward in a manner that pleases your Ancestors.

A good starting point on the wheel are birth dates. The Medicine Wheel is walked in a clockwise direction (the direction of the Sun). The time needed to walk a complete circle is whatever time it takes - time, in other words, time is relative to the process of building your life and is no one else's business. 

To emphasize, there is no right or wrong way to walk the wheel or live your life, how we do it is our choice, and how we do it should not be judged by anyone. This is where the Five Native Ethics come in, which is a whole other teaching. Suffice it to say, that the Ethic of Non-Interference, teaches it is not my place to judge how you choose to live your life. It is my place to be there in friendship, love, balance, support and harmony when needed and even then your personal opinions remain your own.

After all, Great Mystery does not make mistakes, and each person is created as a 'perfect soul' which reflects the central essence of the medicine wheel.  It is hard to understand sometimes that where you are at this point in your earth walk is  exactly where you are supposed to be, and guess what, at the same time you are still perfect!

In other words, moving around the great medicine wheel circle is an ongoing journey of personal redemption and evolution.  If you wish to become a self fulfilling prophecy, it is best to think and walk in a positive way, for if you are angry, remorseful, and bitter, then your earth walk will reflect that anger. In ancestral times, Indigenous People greeted every sacred day with honour songs and prayers because physical life was a fleeting thing. There were songs to greet the morning Sun, songs to put Grandfather Sun to bed, Songs for Guardian Spirits, Prayers for Mother Earth.

Everyday should be a good day with good thoughts, good feelings and prayer because being called to your day of quiet could be at any time. As one of my teachers once said, "If someone says to me, 'I'm not spiritual', I'll say, you breathe, don’t you’? If you breathe you are spiritual for Spirituality is breath and breath is hope." As the beginning of the Great Spirit Prayer says, "Oh Great Spirit whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me I needy our strength and wisdom."

The ‘Old’ People say that you are never the same person coming out of a circle as when you went in because so many new connections have been made. All things that live within the Sacred Hoop are equal and protected. It is a place where you come together in safety, trust and sanctity to share stories and feelings and help each other heal through both communal and individual laughter and tears. Eventually you will return to your starting place older and hopefully a little wiser to begin the process of walking the Wheel again, this time with new understanding, insight and inner strength.

MEDICINE WHEEL TEACHINGS IN THE 21ST CENTURY 

"Thanks for the day! Building the Medicine Wheel using us as the 'stones' really opened my eyes to what it is to being a good person. I will take what I've learned into my job. You are also pretty cool, and funny." (P.A., Student, Police Foundations Course, University Ontario Institute of Technology."

  "What a fabulous day. I can't think of a better way to bring us all together than building a human medicine wheel. I laughed, cried, you were wonderful, your energy and compassion is simply inspiring." (M.E., Canada Employment & Immigration Union, Conference held in Niagara Falls, ON)

"Shannon, I hardly have the words to thank you and Sandy adequately. People have been buzzing since the workshop ... I've received lots of positive e-mails about the event, and verbal 'enthusiasms' too. I'm not sure how you'd follow up on such an amazing day, but many have suggested bringing you back next year ( works for me! ). I knew we were going to have a wonderful day together, but who could predict that it would turn out the way it did ... it is the single best example of team building that I have ever seen.  Your personal power is awesome, and your ability to read the people in front of you is truly a gift." (M. Lee, Institute of Education and Learning).

For a detailed description of adult/professional workshop, Click Fire     

BOARDS OF EDUCATION, TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS

Click FIRE to view C.E. Webster School & Their Outdoor Medicine Wheel

Click FIRE to view a few of the recent schools who have hosted the Medicine Wheel/Character Education workshop

Click Fire for a Description of Medicine Wheel Workshop

"Spiritualism is the highest form of political and social consciousness.  Native people are among the last surviving teachers of this kind of enlightened experience. It is important to use spiritualism wisely and well in the 21st century -- which will be a time of bridging ancient wisdom into the creative tapestry of contemporary times. "No one knows this better than Natives whose 'religion' is a deep connection between nature and spirit." (Author unknown)

Here is a simple song that I wrote, it is sung with  enthusiastic drums.

Sit in a circle, talk in a circle
Speak of the things of the Spirit
He-ya, He-ya, He-o, He-ya

Over the mountains, under the sea
Live in the arms of Creator
He-ya, He-ya, He-o, He-ya

Dazzle your spirit with Nature's Beauty
Celebrate Grandfather Sun
He-ya, He-ya, He-o, He-ya

Sparking Starlight and Pearls of Rain
Shimmer with Grandmother Moon
He-ya, He-ya, He-o, He-ya

Dance in A Circle Love Mother Earth
Listen to songs from Eagle
He-ya, He-ya, He-o, He-ya

NOTE: There is no word in any First Nations language for the word "Religion". The word religion creates an unnecessary barrier between Indigenous People and their reverence and connections to nature, the secular and supernatural worlds. There are, however, many sacred symbols that cross most First Nations belief systems. Below are descriptions of the sacred circle and the placement of some medicine wheel teachings.

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