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Working with the Medicine Wheel

The word medicine in a shamanic context means inherent power - the drive for completeness that comes from within. The word Wheel means a hoop or a container in which inter-related' and interdependent energies pulsate and flow in circular, cyclical and spiraling movements. The Medicine Wheel encompasses the whole Universe and represents also the totality of our own personal space, for w are each a miniaturization of a greater universe and function in accordance with similar laws. The Medicine Wheel is not confined to Native American traditions for it is a universal symbol and a catalyst for effecting change. It operates as a process of integration. Integration might be defined as a bringing together of fragmented portions into a harmonious whole so they may function together in harmony and thus create beauty. It can be represented as an encircled cross or an eight-spoked wheel- a circle within which are directional indicators. Native peoples used circles, and spirals and labyrinths as a means of coming to an understanding of the Universe and themselves, because nature itself was perceived as working in circles, cycles and spirals, and the Life Force itself moved in a similar way. When humans come into balance with nature we come into harmony with the rhythm, vibration, and pulsation of life itself with the result that we, too, become vibrant, joyful, and harmonious beings.
      There is no beginning or end to a circle. Any place on a circle is both a starting and a finishing point. Beginnings and endings are thus wherever we are on the circle. The "Wise Ones" understood the implications of this. Even Life and Death were not regarded as a beginning and ending, only changes a transition from one plane of existence to another. A change in the way aliveness is experienced. A move from one ring of a spiral to another. Shamanic understanding of human life is that we are each a Spirit with a body, not a body with a Spirit. Since Spirit is eternally alive, one's birthplace on the circle of cycle of life is but a perception from which Spirit is enabled to experience its aliveness in physical reality.
When shamanists sit in a circle they indicate that no one is more important than anyone else. No one has predominance. Each person is a circle of awareness contributing his or her individual energy - expression to the well- being of the whole group and in furtherance of the development of each and all. Each is an energy -system touching and being touched by other energy - systems, all connected by the circle for the benefit of each and all.
      A Circle establishes a position in Time and Space and a means of "belonging". It provides, too, a sense of direction, for from the centre of our own individual "circle of awareness" there is that which is in front of us, that which is behind, that to our left, and that to our right. There is an above and below also, for the Medicine Wheel is not a two ¬dimensional flatness but is spherical and has a centre. The circle can thus be perceived as having four segments - one in front, one behind, one to the left, and another to the right. North, South, West, and East. Sky above, Earth beneath. The point of balance in the centre leads also to the discovery of the "Within". In Ancient times and among some indigenous peoples, the direction in which things were located, or moved to and from, was given significance, whether it was the direction of winds that signaled weather changes, or the Sun which determined the time of day, or the comings and goings of people and events. Each direction was associated with features of the spiritual ecology and the way energies moved, with the elements which affected the way things were formed, and with relationships between living beings who shared the Earth's environment.

" From the book Shamanic Spirit Kenneth Meadows "

The earth medicine wheel with the totem animals associated with the twelve time periods
- the influencing moons or months (moon-ths) of the year

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