Hi and welcome to Part 3 of this article on Shamanic Healing Wheels.
In Part 1 we dealt with the four quadrants of the Medicine Wheel and their meanings. We looked at the purpose of a Medicine Wheel, working with the wheel, and we spoke about the Medicine Walk.
Now the Medicine Walk is an integral part of the Medicine Wheel and you can't work with the wheel if you've not first done the Medicine Walk.
That’s why I set you the task in Part 1 of going on a Medicine Walk and collecting 64 items that caught your attention and had meaning for you. These items will represent the lessons and medicines of the wheel.
I trust you’ve done this if you want to continue creating your own Medicine Wheel.
In Part 2 of the article, we looked at building a Medicine Wheel. We spoke about the general structure and what features were necessary.
Then we went on to explore the seven lessons and seven medicines of the Medicine Wheel and understanding their context in the spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental realms.
The spiritual realm is about our intuition, our gut feel.
The emotional realm is about our imagination and our creativity.
The physical realm is about our integrity, our truthfulness to purpose.
The mental realm is about our intention, and what we aim to do.
Your Thirty-Five Day Journey
Now I’m sure you have your 64 items all collected in a bag or box. It's preferable to keep them in a nice fabric bag because for the next 35 days you’re going to be picking out two items (one on the last seven days) and laying them on your Medicine Wheel.
It’ll help that you can't see the items so that you don’t willingly choose a particular one. The picking of an item needs to be left up to the spirits, and not influenced by your biases or preferences.
In the photo above, you’ll see how I have laid my 64 items down on my Medicine Wheel. I have done this according to the Journey I did a few years ago when I did the Medicine Wheel.
You’ll see the items I collected range from feathers to sticks, old coins, pebbles, crystals, seeds, and marbles.
Using my Wheel, I’ll go through the process and assist you with your 35-day journey and the interpretation of your items as you lay them down. It's best to pick your items at the end of the day to make it a reflection journey.
Process and Tool
As with any practical activity, it helps to follow a process and make use of a tool. A recording and interpretation tool will work best to help you on your Journey. I recommend the one below:
Day
How was my day?
Lesson and associated understanding
Medicine and associated understanding
Realm
Skill
Item - lesson
What does this item represent to me?
Item - medicine
What does this item represent to me?
Considering this representation, what does my intuition tell me about myself?
Note: Depending on the skill and realm, it will either be intuition, feelings, imagination, your body, or your mind.
Using a journal is a great tool for capturing your reflections while taking your Medicine Wheel Journey.
Your Own Medicine Wheel Journey
Now in order to assist you in understanding the process, I’ll take you through some of my own notes in relation to the Medicine Wheel Journey I took a few years ago.
Unfortunately, I can’t take you through all 64 lessons/medicines, but I'll show you a couple of days from this thirty-five-day Journey in order to assist you on your own Journey.
My Journey: Lesson 1/Medicine 1 - Spiritual
Day
1 of 35
How was my day?
My day was boring, I didn’t get much done at work. I had a slight altercation with a work colleague, I feel he was taking advantage of me. I couldn’t focus most of the afternoon and I’m feeling a bit down.
Lesson and associated understanding
Patience – waiting, being patient, not seeking instant gratification.
Medicine and associated understanding
Confidence – I am in the right place at the right time, I literally have nowhere else to be
Realm
Spiritual
Skill
Intuition
Item - lesson
A small, rather attractive piece of old driftwood.
What does this item represent to me?
This piece of wood has seen things. It has been weathered by the elements and shaped into quite a beautiful piece of wood. It was once part of a tree, clearly hardwood, and now it has been transformed into this small piece of wood. This has taken many years I’m sure and there are little bits of it lying in every corner of the country now I’m sure
Item - medicine
A marble with colors in it
What does this item represent to me?
This marble is glass. It's hard and round, with colors on it. To me, this marble represents the world, my world, and the fact that I must be solid, contained, and colorful. I have to be hard as well as soft and creative.
Considering this representation, what does my intuition tell me about myself?
My intuition tells me that the wood has had the patience to reach this point. It started many years ago as a tree and now has ended up as a small piece of driftwood. I need to be like this piece of wood and realize
I am on a long journey. I need to be patient and understand I am where I’m supposed to be now, even if I’m bored, people are irritating me and I feel down. Also, I must understand that there are fragments of me everywhere that I need to discover. Life is a journey of self-discovery.
The marble tells me I need to see everything as a cycle, everything that goes around comes around, and if I’m patient and I accept that I am supposed to be here in this time and place, everything that I have experienced will come around again and I'll get another opportunity to grow.
My Journey: Lesson Two/Medicine 2 - Emotional
Day
6 of 35
How was my day?
My day was fairly uneventful, I had a few meetings and saw some old friends/colleagues. I felt quite frustrated with my job because things never happen quickly. I’m feeling better emotionally and managed to do a nice session of yoga.
Lesson and associated understanding
Unity – there is a duality within me, I’m a lover and a killer.
Medicine and associated understanding
Through balance and creativity, I can accommodate the duality within me and express both sides without causing harm.
Realm
Emotional
Skill
Imagination and Creativity.
Item - lesson
A Two Rand coin.
What do these items represent to me?
Money - something I need, I don’t have enough of, and something which allows me to live a comfortable life. I have a good job but would like to make more money. However, the coin represents a modest amount and tells me I need to be grateful for what I have and by doing so I will always ensure I have it.
Item - medicine
Some hair from Rachel, a very powerful healing dog that belonged to one of my therapists.
What does this item represent to me?
Rachel was a beautiful dog. She was so friendly and intuitive and had such healing power. She knew exactly when people needed love and when they needed space. She was a true healers’ dog. A dog to me represents unconditional love and loyalty.
Considering this representation, what do my imagination and creativity tell me about myself?
I have a lot to be grateful for and I need to always show my gratitude. I must be creative in expressing myself and abundance and healing will come. Never underestimate the power of imagination. I must accept that I won’t be a stinking rich person but through balance and gratitude, I will never be without. I must always choose to be compassionate and loyal, resisting the temptation to be negative and do negative things to people. This is where my healing will come from.
Integration
The key when taking your journey is to integrate the lesson and the medicine with the realm and the skill. For example, what does the lesson of Origin and medicine of Creativity mean to you spiritually, and emotionally, physically, and mentally,? And how can you use the respective skills of intuition, imagination, integrity, and intention to explore the Self?
The 64 items are there to guide you and give you hints and clues.
Commitment and Introspection
One must realize that the journey on the Medicine Wheel requires commitment for the full thirty-five days. Once you've started, you need to continue and go all the way.
This is a journey of introspection, going within, and exploring everything that makes you YOU. It's not a journey for the light-hearted and should be undertaken with respect. It’s a communion with God.
The Seven ‘Song Stones’
Once you’ve completed day 28, you'll move on to the seven Song Stones. As discussed in Part Two of this article, they have the following representations:
Grandmother Moon – the giver of love, patience, and wisdom.
Grandfather Sun – the giver of light and warmth.
Mother Earth – the nurturer, also the turtle.
Father Sky – the embracer, home of the stars.
Fire – the cleanser, the one who renews, also the eagle.
Water – the duality of things, home of the frog.
People – the 7 people: Stone people, Standing people, Winged ones, Finned Ones, the Four-leggeds, the Two-leggeds, and the Creepy Crawlies (many and no-leggeds).
During this final stage of the journey, we're asked to explore our relationship with these above entities and what they mean to us.
When journeying through the Song Stones, one needs to ask the following questions:
What does this item mean to me as a giver and receiver of love, patience, and wisdom?
What does this item mean to me as a giver and receiver of light and warmth (i.e. positivity)?
What does this item mean to me as a nurturer?
What does this item mean to me as an embracer of all my experiences?
What does this item mean to me as a cleanser, a renewer of all that I experience, for example, relationships, the wrong I have done, etc?
What does this item mean to me as a person who is governed by duality – the dark and light, good and evil, wrong and right?
What does this item mean to me as a member of the Two-leggeds and my relationship with the other six people?
The Thirty-Sixth Day
Once the journey is completed, there is one more thing for you to do, and that is reflection.
On the 36th day, you have reached your destination, which is sitting face to face with yourself. In other words, you're looking God in the eye.
You need to ask what you've learned from the journey and where it has led you. Very importantly, you need to ask what is it leading you into.
Where to from here? What consciousness have you grown? What actions will you take that have come from the learning and experience of your Medicine Wheel Journey?
Watch Kaaren Dannenmann from Trout Lake talk about the teachings of the medicine wheel.
Final Thoughts
I hope you've enjoyed your journey through this three-part article and I hope it has inspired you to take the journey on your own Medicine Wheel.
Taking the Medicine Wheel Journey is an experience that's unique to the individual. You don’t know what you’re going to find, but if you’re committed, believe me, you’ll uncover a lot.
You’ll learn a lot about yourself and your relationship with the world around you. But most of all I hope you deepen your compassion and empathy for everything, including yourself.
This post was updated on November 29th, 2023.
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