Walking The Medicine Wheel

I enter the medicine wheel labyrinth through a portal in the East and journey from one direction to the next, weaving through each quadrant of the labyrinth. Along the way, I pause four times to honor the directions—East, South, West, and North. In the center of the labyrinth, I acknowledge Earth, Sky, All Our Relations, and the Ancestors. On the outward journey, I sing an honor song, meandering back to the entrance. Then, standing before the labyrinth, I give thanks.

The medicine wheel, or Sacred Hoop, is a circle of prayer from Native American traditions that represents balance and harmony. It may serve as a guide in the cycles of life, each direction offering opportunities for exploration or insight into different aspects of self and world. The medicine wheel as a sacred practice includes layers of meaning that originate in Nature. Specific seasons, animals, plants, elements, and stages of development may be associated with each direction, their unique characteristics conveying important ways of living, being, or perceiving.

When I walk the medicine wheel labyrinth, I consider the qualities, attributes, or meaning of a given direction followed by the question, “How shall you [the direction] be expressed through my living, being, and perceiving today?” For example, the East is the place of the rising sun, of birth, renewal, and emerging possibilities. In asking the above question, I invite the essence of the East to rise within me, inspiring birth, renewal, or emerging possibilities in my own life. In this way, I may embody and honor each direction.

A relative newcomer to the medicine wheel, I realize there is a fine line between cultural appropriation and my own spiritual expression. Intuition as a guide, I approach my unfolding medicine wheel practice with reverence and call upon the following dimensions of each direction:

East – the place of the rising sun, of birth, renewal, and emerging possibilities.

South – like summer, a place of growth, exploration, and creativity.

West – the place of the setting sun, of reflection, introspection, and letting go.

North – realm of elders, a place of knowledge, wisdom, and depth of perception.

Earth – our home in the cosmos, grounding, supporting, and sustaining all life.

Sky – thin veil between us and the rest of the cosmos, a place of spirit, breath, and flight.

All Our Relations – plants, animals, microbes, minerals, rivers, rocks, mountains, and

more, with whom we engage in communion and community.

Ancestors – whose collective and timeless wisdom dwells within.

For all that is,