Native American Medicine Wheel
North
~ | ~ Sacred Altar
~ | ~ East ~ | ~ South
~ | ~ West ~ | ~ North ~ | ~
2.4 North - White or Red - Winter - Night
- White for snow from the North, for winter storms
- Great white cleansing wind
- Red for blood of life, blood of the people
- Blood for strength to face the storms - physical, sociological, psychological, spiritual, etc.
- Earth, pipestone, blood of the people
2.4.1 Medicine Wheels
2.4.1.1 Wilson's Medicine Wheel (Wilson MW 57-61)
- Cougar - climbs high; female huntress
- Door of Search for Truth
- Cougar - "theological and philosophical heights"
- Hawk - "great vision, great hunter"
- Goose - "perceptive, vision, insight, and long flight"
- Wolf - "pathfinder and protector"
- Moons of the North
- Earth Renewal Moon, December 22 - January 19
- Rest and Cleansing Moon, January 20 - February 18
- Big Winds Moon, February 19 - March 20
- Winter Solstice - December 21, the shortest day of the year - after which the sun is "reborn"
2.4.1.2 Sun Bear's Medicine Wheel
- Waboose, Spirit Keeper of the North
- Season is Winter
- Time of day is Night
- Animal association is Buffalo
- Color is white
- Moons of the North
- Earth Renewal Moon, December 22 - January 19
- Rest and Cleansing Moon, January 20 - February 18
- Big Winds Moon, February 19 - March 20
2.4.1.3 Earth Sign (Grey Wolf 16-19, 42-43)
- Power of the North Wind
- Season is Winter, Winter Solstice is December 21
- Daily cycle is sometime between Sunset and Sunrise, a time of rest
- The time to reflect, the power of wisdom
- Human cycle is old age, the power of giving and keeping
- Animal Totem is Waziya, the white giant of the North
- Stone Totem is Milky Quartz
- Moons of the North (Winter)
- Popping Trees Moon, November 11-December 10
- Hard Freeze Moon, December 11-January 10
- Deep Snows Moon, January 11-February 10
- Power of Wisdom
- A Time of Rest, Reflect, and Use Wisdom
2.4.4 Other Associations
- Native American Associations:
- Wilson: Cougar, Winter
- Sun Bear: Waboose, Buffalo
2.4.7 Sun Bear's Medicine Wheel (Sun Bear MWEA 133-136)
- The power or the North, of Waboose, is the power of renewal and of purity
- The season of Waboose is the Winter
- When the earth is lying dormant, seemingly asleep
- The daily time of Waboose is night
- When the day creatures lie in sleep, the small death
- In human life the time of Waboose is in the older years
- When hair becoems like snow
- When bodies go slower and minds are purified
- Turning from thoughts of the earth to thoughts of the spirit
2.4.7.1 Winter
- The dormancy is only external
- What happens to the things of the earth in winter?
- When time seems frozen, when nothing seems to be growing?
- The seeds of one season like int he earth, resting, being purified
- Gathering new energy that will allow them to burst forth
- Into new life when the warmth of Father Sun returns from the South
- While the earth sleeps at the surface
- She is sending her deepest energy into all of her children
- During their period of rest she is preparing them for the period of rapid growth to follow
2.4.7.2 Night
- At night, when resting from the thoughts of the material world
- Many come closer to the spirit that they do during any of their waking hours
- During sleep many learn lessons that they cannot
- Or will not learn during the time when they are awake
- As they die to the world that is usually around
- To the world that absorbs with things of the outside
- They are born to the world of the spirit
- To the world always within
2.4.7.3 Older Years
- Similarly, when people reach their older years
- They come to a relative period of rest
- They can comtemplate their lives and lessons they have learned
- They can prepare for the rapid growth and learning that will take place
- When they change both worlds and form
- All of the lessons of spirit learned before come to waking consciousness
- As people prepare for their own renewal
2.4.7.4 Power of Waboose
- The power of Waboose is a paradoxical power
- It is new life cloaked in death, rapid growth cloaked in rest
- It is the power of the ice-goddess with a warm heart beneath a frozen exterior
- It is the power of new life beginning to throb
- Through an apparently rotting seed
- It is the power of snow bringing water to a dry and thirsting earth
- It is the power of the ice breaking large rocks into small pebbles
- It is the power of the cold wind making water into ice
- It is the pwoer of the trees covered with ice crystals
- Dancing in the North Wind
- It is the power of the animals huddling together for warmth
- Hunting together for food
- For humans, the itme of Waboose can be a trying time
- For those who live in nature
- It is a time when the cold forces one to spend more time inside
- In closer contact with people you live with
- It is a time of testing of relationships
- As the enforced closeness causes people to see things
- They can either ignore or escape
- When the weather allows them to be more with the outdoors
- It is a time when the forces of nature often cause plans to shift
- It is a time, when the North Wind blows her coldest
- That you feel the cold into the pit of your stomach
- You begin to wonder whether you will ever really be warm again
- It is a time when nature throws you into yourself
- So you will have to explore territory that might otherwise be unfamiliar
- While it is the time of external rest
- The time of Waboose is a time of internal growth
2.4.7.5 White Buffalo
- The animal that is tied to the essence of Waboose is the white buffalo
- The buffalo, in the old days, was the animal that gave of itself
- So that the people could live
- When the people needed meat, the buffalo gave its meat
- When the people needed shelter
- The buffalo gave its hide for clothes and tipis
- The white buffalo is very rare
- It was considered to be a sacred messenger
- It represented the spirit that gave totally of itself and its essence
- It was the White Buffalo Woman who brought the sacred pipe to the people
- Like the spirit of Waboose
- The white buffalo brought the renewal of both body and spirit
- And the purity of his presence to purify the thoughts of all who saw him
2.4.7.6 White
- The color of Waboose is white
- White is the color of purity, of balance
- Of life renewing itself
- It is the sum of all the colors and represents evolution and perfection
2.4.7.7 Moons of the North
- The Earth Renewal Moon, The Rest and Cleansing Moon, and The Big Winds Moon
- People born under these moons
- And the people standing at these points will have the attributes of Waboose
- And will have to learn the lessons it is her medicine to teach
- The lessons of patience, purity and renewal
- People of the moons associated with Waboose
- Have above-average abilities to understand the mystical realms
- And to learn to use the powers that these realms can give
- They find it easy to be healers and to develop psychic powers
- They all share a need to ground themselves
- To learn to be of the earth as well as the sky
- They all need to learn to let their emotions flow freely
- So that they do not block them to the point where spiritual development is difficult
- They all like being around people
- But usually prefer to keep relationships either on a superficial level
- Or on a level where they are clearly the ones who have the power
- They find it difficult to like others
- They have the capacity to understand the power of rejuvenation
- But must constantly purify themselves to do so
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 ~ | ~
