(note: This is from a column written for Themestream.com)
In previous columns we have looked at the importance of the Medicine
Wheel in achieving balance and centeredness in our lives. Sometimes
called The Sacred Hoop, it is symbolic of the lessons we must learn on
our journey through this physical life.
The powers (lessons, type of energy) of the four
directions tell us where our knowledge (answers) will come from,
depending on where we are on the Wheel. To walk/live the path of this
lifetime is to us the gifts that we are given at each point in the
circle.
East, represented by the color yellow and the totem animal Eagle, tells
us to follow our Spiritual selves to determine our way.
South, represented by the color red and the totem
animal Coyote, tells us to follow our emotional selves in a giving way.
West, represented by the color black and the totem
animal Bear, tells us to follow our physical selves (body) to hold on
to
our energies. North, represented by the color white and the totem animal Buffalo,
tells us to follow our mental selves to receive energies.
In working to balance the energies of the Spiritual (determination),
emotional (giving), physical (holding) and mental (receiving) selves, we
come from our centers and walk a balanced path.
When we reach that center, we find that it has
attributes of its own. The center of the Medicine
Wheel is the center of our own being. It is our
conscious awareness of who we are, it is the
reflection of Great Spirit within us.
The totem of the center is smoke-breath, or life
force. Smoke-breath is sacred. In the literal sense, smoking the Sacred
Pipe was a way to invoke the four great primary forces (love, light,
life and law) and harmonize them. In this way, ones words were carried
to Great Spirit.
The element of the center is Aether - the source
element for Air, Fire, Water and Earth. Our center is pure essence -
formless, spaceless and timeless.
The kingdom of the center is the Kingdom of the Soul. This is the
fourth
kingdom, between *as above* and *as below*. The Soul is the vehicle for
life force.
The time period of the center is timelessness - it is stillness and
perfect balance.
How we manifest the center is through our
Spirituality.
The journey of the Medicine Wheel is one of change and transformation.
As we finish one cycle, we move to another cycle with a higher
vibration.
Learning to come from our centers is learning to work from our creative
being. We accept responsibility, make contact with our Higher Selves,
take control of ourselves and spiral
our energies to form what we want ourselves to be.
It is knowing the unlimited abundance of the Universe and allowing it to
flow through your life. It is knowing that we are the creators of our
own reality.
Thank you for visiting with me. May you all Walk In Beauty.
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