Native American Medicine Wheel
Elk
~ | ~ Snow Goose
~ | ~ Otter
~ | ~ Cougar
~ | ~ Hawk
~ | ~ Beaver
~ | ~ Deer ~ | ~
~ | ~ Flicker
~ | ~ Sturgeon
~ | ~ Bear
~ | ~ Raven
~ | ~ Snake
~ | ~ Elk
~ | ~ Blue ~ | ~
4.12 Elk - Long Snow Moon
4.12.1 Medicine Wheel (Wilson MW 120-122)
- Long Snow Moon, Sagittarius, November 22 - December 21
- West; animal is Elk; plant, Black Spruce; mineral, Obsidian; color, Black
Vision: Roy Wilson ~ | ~
Sun Bear ~ | ~ Grey Wolf
4.12.1.5 Long Snows Moon: Elk (Sun Bear MWEA 117-125)
- November 22 to December 21
- Obsidian is mineral kingdom totem
- Black spruce is plant kingdom totem
- Elk is animal kingdom totem
- Color is black
- Members of the Thunderbird elemental clan
- 4.12.1.5.1 Mineral Kingdom: Obsidian
- The mineral for Elk people is also known as volcanic glass
- Chemically identical to granite
- Contains feldspar, quartz, and ferromagnesiums
- If granitic magma solidifies beneath the surface, granite is formed
- If the same magma pours rapidly out onto the earth and cools quickly
- Sometimes you can find mountains of this mineral
- If magma cools rapidly but not quick enough to become shiny
- It results in a mineral called pitchstone
- Has a dull luster
- Small rounded pieces of obsidian which weather out of larger masses
- Obsidian is usually black, shiny, and translucent
- Sometimes found in other colors
- One variety shows enough colors
- Referred to as rainbow obsidian
- Obisidian is hard and razor-sharp along its edges
- Should be ahndled carefully
- Cound in most of the western United States
- Obsidian has long been used by the Natives of this continent
- Mayans formed obsidian into mirrors and intricate jewelry
- Including cylinder earplugs so thin they are as transparent as glass
- Mayans, along with ancient Egyptians
- Carved it into statues and other decorative pieces
- Quite a feat considering that it is one of the most difficult minerals to work
- Due to its hardness and extreme tendency to crack
- In North America, Native people formed it into arrowheads
- Also spearheads and scrapers; and jewelry
- Because of its origin deep within the breast of the Earth Mother
- Thought to have the power to ground people to the earth energy
- Teaching them how to respect and use this energy within
- Thought to have the power to reflect the thoughts of another person
- To the one who is wearing it
- Bestowing upon the wearer clairvoyance
- Because of this ability, often used as a scrying stone
- One that allows people to see into the future
- Scrying stones would be formed by breaking obsidian
- Finding a smooth surface in which to stare
- Also attributed with the power to protect its wearer or holder
- Like their mineral, Elk people can be both shiny and translucent
- When they are well developed in their nature
- They have an inner glow that lights their entire being
- They also have ability to let you see somewhat into their beings
- But no more deeply than they wish you to look
- Like their stone, they can be hard to shape to a new viewpoint or situation
- But once they are there, they will be there solidly
- They walk a razor's edge in their lives, as their nature is one of duality
- Like Obsidian, people of this totem make good mirrors for other people
- When they are clear themselves
- At this point in their development, Elk people can reflect to another
- What his or her inner state really is
- Elk people have the ability to cut through a lot of outer impressions
- And get tot he heart of most matters
- Much as arrwoheads made from their mineral do so
- Elk people can benefit from wearing their mineral
- Because they can use the greater knowledge of earth energy obsidian can give them
- Elk people, like their stone, have the ability to be clairvoyant and to transmit thoughts
- They will also protect those to whom they are close from any dangers they perceive
- Whether on material or other levels
- 4.12.1.5.2 Plant Kingdom: Black Spruce
- A majestic member of the pine family
- Grows in many regions throughout the United States
- Can grow to more than forty feet in height, tapering upward to a point
- Bark is a combination of dark brown and black
- Needles are dark green, arranged in compact spirals aroung the twigs
- Each needle is four-sided and looks nearly square in cross-section
- Cones hang straight down, and mature in one season
- Branches are horizontal, often drooping
- Wood is soft, strong and free from knots
- The tips of the tree, when young, are aromatic
- They can be nibbled or made into tea
- Either way, they have a high vitamin C content
- Evergreens were the "oranges" of the Natives
- The gum of the spruce is the medicinal part
- It has been used by people here for hundreds of years
- As an antiseptic and to loosen mucus in the throat and chest
- The gum can be applied to cuts and wounds to clean them
- It can be made into a plaster for setting bones
- And used on the face to protect it from sunburn
- The gum can be used as an inhalant, both in and out of the sweat lodge
- A tea made from the twigs makes a good bath
- Also helpful in curing colds
- Some tribes would eat the cambrium layer between the bark and the wood in spring
- Or dry it into cakes for winter
- Some would use the cambrium only as a laxative agent
- Other tribes would harden the spruce pitch in cold water
- And chew it for pelasure, as chewing gum
- From their plant totem, Elk people can learn about their majestic bearing
- When they learn to come into balance and harmony
- With all possibilities and gifts granted them
- Like the wood of their tree, they can be soft and strong at the same time
- Theirs is an inner strength that can allow them always to follow the proper direction
- And to lead others onto the path msot suited to them
- It is not a strength that requires hardness of nature
- A quality that would not suit their warm, courteous and sometimes conventional nature
- Like the spruce, they can be both antiseptic and loosening
- They have an innate sense of justice
- They will try to clean out anything they sense as unjust from any situation
- With their intuitiveness, they are also able to see into the hearts of others
- And help them loosen any of the hard knots they have allowed to come into their beings
- The spruce tree might be of use personally to people of this totem
- During times when they hurt their knees and thighs
- Areas of particular vulnerability to them
- At these times, the plaster property of the spruce might be handy knowledge
- During times when they are not as vulnerable
- They might benefit from either chewing or inhaling the spruce gum
- To make certain they keep their throats working well
- Since they sometimes like to teach and expound to others
- They will find this herb useful when their voice if getting weak from overwork
- 4.12.1.5.3 Animal Kingdom: Elk
- The animal totem for thos born under the Long Snows Moon is the Elk
- The most regal member fo the deer family
- Also known as wapiti, the largest fo the deer family
- To many people, it is the most beautiful
- Its antlers resemble branches of a tree and are shed annually
- The male elk (bull), can reach a length of 9 1/2 feet and height of 5 feet
- He can weigh up to 750 pounds
- In the summer, elk have a coat of light brown, with darker heads and limbs
- The rump is buff, the hair is short and the mane seems thin
- In winter the elk becomes grayish brown, with dark head and limbs
- At this time the mane becomes longer, fuller, and darker
- Calves are brown, with light spots, until early fall
- Elk live in woodlands, going to the high country in the summer
- Returning to the lower lands in the fall and winter
- When it is more difficult for them to find the food they need
- Like the deer, the elk lives on grass, leaves, twigs, and bark
- In some areas tehre will be elk lines on trees
- Where the elk have eaten up as their head can reach
- During the time of heavy snow, when it is difficult to find any food
- They will sometimes eat from farm haystacks
- It is nearly impossible for a farmer to keep an elk out of his hay
- Unless he puts it up on a platform
- Wooden and barbed-wire fences do very little to stop a hungry, determined elk
- What farmers object to is the elk's habit of getting on top of the haystack
- Then pulling it apart, as though expecting really good things at the bottom
- For most of the year, elk, like deer, live in herds
- composed of their own gender
- They seem to have a good sense of responsibility for each other
- When snows are heavy, they take turns breaking the trail
- If you fololow the trail of a herd, it resembles that of a single elk
- They are that careful to step into the tracks of the groundbreaker
- Elk sometimes seem to dance together, forming a big circle
- They prance around and soemtimes break into a gallop of joy
- Elk are fast animals, able to go thirty miles an hour for short distances
- They are also able to leap fences close to ten feet high
- Elk have few natural enemies
- Cougars, bears and wolves will sometimes succeed in bringing down a calf
- None are a match for the bull in his prime
- Before 1900, however, most of the elk in this country were slaughtered by hunters
- Who only wanted two of their teeth to make into jewelry
- Others wanted their ehads as parts of their trophy collection
- When the population was close to decimated
- Stronger laws protecting elk were put into effect
- Many elk were imported from Canada to restock the U.S. population
- In October, when the mating season is about to begin, bull elk come into prime
- They have full antlers; their shoulders swell
- Their coats and manes are full and they looke like the king of the deer
- They come forth trumpeting their challenge to any other bulls in the area
- During this time they also bugle and whistle
- Following the challenge of the bugle call, two elk emerge from the forest
- They rush toward each other with all the anger they can manage
- They crash together and fight until one succeeds
- In knocking the other off his feet and then gores him
- These battles are mroe fierce that those of the male deer
- But usually are fatal
- To the winner goes the spoils, in this case the watchin cow
- Unlike the deer, elk try to get as many cows as they can into their harem
- And they will fervently defend them from the approaches of any other male
- When it is time to calf, in the spring, the cows go to the valleys
- While the bulls move to higher country to protect their antlers
- At this time in their delicate velvet stage
- Calves are hidden for the first part of their lives
- During times when their mothers go out to browse
- Like fawns, they are born without a smell to afford further protection
- They are able to go out with her at 6 weeks
- They aren't weaned until fall
- They sometimes stay with their mother of half a year afterwards
- Most elk have only one calf at a time
- Like their totem, Elk people look like they are members of some royal family
- They have a proud and straight bearing
- An air of majesty surrounds them when they are functioning well
- They are insightful, introspective
- And capable of absorbing much of what they read, hear, see or experience of life
- They are often found in the position of a teacher of some sort
- Where their regal air attracts students to them
- Elk people use this attractin well
- In most cases, bringing the students in through it
- Then sharing generosity of what they have learned
- Whether they choose to be teachers or not
- Elk people are very watchful for others
- Are truly concerned about the welfare of those aroudn them
- Elk people are very aware of justice, both as a concept and a practice
- They are very impatient with anything that they sense is an injustice
- When they com across anything they consider such
- They will trumpet their discovery loudly
- So that all involved will know about it; hoepfully try to correct it
- If those involved do not take action, the Elk person will trumpet even louder
- And will continue doing so until something has happened to change the situation
- If this trumpeting is coming from a well-balanced Elk person
- It is usually beneficial to all thos involed
- If coming from an Elk who has yet to find his clarity and intuition
- It can create havoc, and unnecessarily
- Like their totem, Elk people like to go to the high places
- Physically or otherwise
- Their insightful minds are able to open doors that allow them to soar into realms others avoid
- Their intuition tells them when they are ready to make such flights
- And when it is necessary for them to return to their grounding in the earth plane
- Like the elk, it is necessary for them to come sometimes into the lowlands and valleys
- In order to remain harmonized with things that surround them
- Elk people have natural spiritual gifts and abilities to teach others
- They must have grounding
- Or they will not use these gifts in the best manner that they can
- Elk people have a very independent streak
- Although willing to take leadership from others
- It is of the proper kind for them at that time
- Sometimes Elk people retreat to the high country of their minds too frequently
- Use these journeys to avoid having any real contact with others
- Elk people try to keep themselves closed about things deep within their spirits
- Sometimes fear relationships that might cause them to truly open to another
- At this point, they will retreat from the relationship in mind if not in body
- While they tend to be closed about their deep feelings
- They appear to be very warm and openhearted on the surface
- This duality can sometimes cause real pain for Elk people
- Or for those who love them
- They will seem warm, loving and totally supportive
- Of everything around them one day
- And they will decide to leave the whole situation the next
- Elk people are not given to quick changes of heart
- They just don't know how to express dissatisfaction
- Until it gets to a point where it cascades out
- Into what seems like a sudden move
- Once an Elk person has made up his mind to do something
- It is very difficult to change it
- They are determined individuals and fearless when convince they are right
- Like the male of their totem species
- They are also able to be flamboyantly argumentative
- And when in this state, it is virtually impossible to win an argument with them
- If Elk people allow their argumentativeness or closed aprt of their natures to become dominant
- They will be prone to illnesses that show up as stiffness in some part of the body
- To cure themselves, they must stop blocking the giving, understanding and loving energy that can flow through them
- Like the Elk, these folks do have a playful side of their nature
- That enjoys dancing, singing and just having fun
- If they develop this part of themselves
- It will help them overcome any stiffness that can attack their minds or bodies
- Men of this totem, like the bull elk, are competitive with each other
- About the women in their lives
- They dislike ever terminating a relationship totally
- Preferring to keel all of their old lovers as good friends, a harem of sorts
- Elk women, while not as showy as the men, are also competitive
- They also like to keep all of their old men friends around
- Even if not actively relating to each other
- While Elk people usually remain as rational as possible about this sort of competition
- This is one of the areas in which they tend to not communicate their true feelings
- Which can sometimes lead to jealousy
- Elk women make good mothers, taking the necessary time when their babies are young
- To give them a solid foundation of love and approval
- As the children grow, they loosen the reins they hold over them
- They usually relinquish them completely when the child is old enough to handle himself
- Elk men are not usually enthusiastic about impending parenthood or infancy
- But as the child grows, they will delight in teaching him/her all they have learned
- Elk children are quiet during their very early days
- Later developing into precocious learners capable of absorbing anything
- They are thoughtful and considerate children
- But they too can be given to fits of rage
- Usually surprise anyone around them used to their normally placid nature
- When people from other totems travel through this one, they can learn more about
- Their own introspective and clairvoyant talents
- The regal part of their own nature
- And their ability to share wisely the lessons of their trip aroudn the Meidicne Wheel
- 4.12.1.5.4 Color: Black
- The color associated with the people of the Elk is the black of the night
- This dusky black is a time when things are in their formless state
- When activities of the day surrender themselves
- To the introsepctin of the evening
- It is the formlessness from which all things can come
- The void that contains all things, as well as nothing
- This black gives Elk people the power to surrender
- That can allow their intuition, their inner knowing, to come through
- It is the black mystery preceding the time when all things can become known
- It is the time when you must look within, not without, for answers
- To the questions that life poses for you
- To Native people here, black is one of the sacred colors
- It signifies the strength and looking withn of Mudjekeewis to the West
- It is the color of learning, not of negativity
- 4.12.1.5.5 Moon: Long Snows Moon
- Elk people are born under the Long Snows Moon
- The third moon of Mudjekeewis
- Since by their nature, they are thoughtful people
- The additional introspective powers that Mudjekeewis gives helps them
- Gives them more ability to look within themselves and within others
- Born under the Long Snows Moon
- The beginning of the time when all of earth's children prepare for their season of renewal
- Gives Elk people more ability to seek out and use the thoughts that flow through them
- Their connection with this time of year helps them to temper their energy
- That which comes from being members of the Thunderbird clan
- They are the least fiery, or longest burning, members of this clan
- This is due to their time of birth
- The time of snow moderates the amount of their flame, without ever putting it out
- 4.12.1.5.6 Elemental Clan: Thunderbird
- Elk people are compatible with others of the Thunderbird clan
- Those of the Red Hawk and Sturgeon
- And members of the Butterfly clan
- Those of the Otter, Deer and Raven
- They particularly complement Deer people
Vision: Roy Wilson ~ | ~
Sun Bear ~ | ~ Grey Wolf
Introduction: Page One
~ | ~ Page Two
~ | ~ Page Three
~ | ~ Page Four
~ | ~ Page Five ~ | ~
~ | ~ Sacred Altar
~ | ~ East
~ | ~ South
~ | ~ West
~ | ~ North ~ | ~
Inner Circle:
Owl ~ | ~ Cougar
~ | ~ Hawk ~ | ~ Coyote
~ | ~ Wolf ~ | ~ Bear
~ | ~ Raven ~ | ~
Outer Circle:
Snow Goose ~ | ~
Otter ~ | ~
Cougar ~ | ~
Hawk ~ | ~
Beaver ~ | ~
Deer ~ | ~
~ | ~ Flicker ~ | ~
Sturgeon ~ | ~
Bear ~ | ~
Raven ~ | ~
Snake ~ | ~
Elk ~ | ~
Blue ~ | ~