Healing and the Medicine Wheel

June 19, 7:10 PMMiami New Age Spirituality ExaminerMargaret Ann Lembo

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Dancing with the Wheel

A Medicine Wheel is a tool for inner reflection, prayer, ceremony and connection with All That Is. It is an ancient tool that stems from indigenous cultures. I have seen Medicine Wheels in the Four Corners region of the USA, in Peru, in Mexico, in England and in the Angel Room at The Crystal Garden.

The original Medicine Wheels were permanent structures. There is an amazing Medicine Wheel at Big Horn amidst the mountains of Wyoming on a ridge called Medicine Mountain. It is sitting in what most would consider the middle of nowhere. That nowhere is more somewhere than most places because of the sacredness of the site which holds that wheel.

As the name indicates, the Medicine Wheel consists of rocks that are placed in a very specific circular fashion. Stonehenge in England is a standing stone Medicine Wheel. From my personal visits to Stonehenge, this circle of stones was used for prayer, ceremony, magic and healing. The energy within the wheel, especially while performing ceremonies, is surreal.

I can attribute my first connection in this lifetime with the Medicine Wheel to my friend, Karen McCoy, who is an astrologer and author of Spiritual Astrology. During that experience, it felt like visiting an old friend. The wheel is an integral part of me and it is a tool for healing, communion with the Source and for teaching myself and others. Sun Bear, wrote Dancing with the Wheel and Medicine Wheel: Earth Astrology, co-authored with Wabun Wind. Sun Bear was the founder and Medicine Chief of the Bear Tribe Medicine Society. He is the one who really brought the Medicine Wheel to our current culture.

Through years of study and meeting with my own tribe, the Angelic Warriors Tribe, which I founded in 1991, we re-created the Medicine Wheel to incorporate Sun Bear’s teachings and other teachings we learned from many other Medicine Teachers. The Angelic Warriors Tribe met every Wednesday for about 6 years at The Crystal Garden.

The Medicine Wheel I work with is a traveling Medicine Wheel. I have 36 stones, which are river rocks from Durango, Colorado. Victoria Martin, an amazing artist, painted these stones back in the early 1990’s. They depict the energy of that particular position within the Wheel. The Medicine Wheel I build is usually approximately 7 feet in diameter when in the Angel Room at The Crystal Garden. When at the Sacred Circle Gathering it triples in size as it is built outdoors.

Anyone can build a Medicine Wheel. Pick up Sun Bear’s book or go online and print out a diagram. One can make a Medicine Wheel with tumbled stones or pebbles from the garden 7 inches or so in diameter. Size doesn’t matter. It is all about intention. One should always have intention when building the Wheel. Is there a prayer in your heart? Is there a person, place or thing to which you want to dedicate the Wheel?

Building a Medicine Wheel, in itself, is very specific and ceremonial. Prayers are said, sage and other smudge products are burned, and songs are sung. Each and every one of the 36 stones has a story and significance. As with any ceremony, it takes as long as it takes. Stories can go on for a while just as prayers and meditation take the time that they take! Each story is a teaching, a lesson and a position of power. The stones are reflections of the sky above us and the earth beneath our feet. Although it looks flat on the floor or ground, it is truly multi-dimensional and multi-layered.

Once the Medicine Wheel is complete, we walk the Wheel in a very specific way, in a very specific order and direction. As we walk the Wheel, again in a very specific way, we sing songs. We stop and contemplate at the teachings of the various positions. We sit in meditation at specific positions within the Wheel to gain insight and a greater perspective of ourselves and our lives.

Each position has astrological significance which is why it is also referred to as earth-centered astrology. Each position also has an animal associated with it. Therefore, that animal brings a teaching to that position with its own energy. To learn more about what animals have to teach us, observe their behavior. Each animal gifts us with a teaching and medicine to bring us healing and balance. Animals appear in our lives to bring us a message and remind us where we are and what we are doing with our lives . . . or not doing in our lives. I had an otter show up in my backyard by my sliding glass windows that go across the back of my home. As the otter frolicked and looked into my house, I was amazed at the appearance of this creature as it is not something I’ve seen or heard of often in our tropical climate. They do exist here, but it’s not a common sighting. After figuring out that this creature was an otter, I ran to my Animal Speak book, by Ted Andrews, to look up Otter medicine. Otter showed up to help me remember to play.

Over the coming months I will provide you with more insights about the Medicine Wheel, the Seven Directions, the power of animal medicine and earth-centered spirituality. Please leave your comments or stories about your interactions with Medicine Wheels or animals who cross your path to leave you a message.

Refer to my article called Honor the masculine energy for a bit of information about the position of the Sun in the Medicine Wheel.
 

For more information: Read Dancing with the Wheel and Medicine Wheel: Earth Astrology, by Sun Bear and Wabun Wind and Animal Speak book, by Ted Andrews or contact Margaret Ann Lembo at info@thecrystalgarden.com if you would to be added to her newsletter to know when the next ceremony will be held.