The medicine wheel

Vijali, Medicine Wheel

Welcome to The Path of the Feather, if this is the first page you have come to by searching "medicine Wheel", we are a site about medicine wheels, spirit animals and your own life as a shamanic vision quest.

This page describes our medicine wheel. We go into much more detail in the rest of the site. To find out how to make your own medicine wheel go to How to make an instant medicine wheel.

The medicine wheel is a sacred living object and a teaching tool. The one I describe below is mine, the animals and meanings are mine, if you want to, you can find and make yours. All native peoples have different animals and meanings of the directions, so don't feel funny about choosing your own. I put the medicine wheel here so you can see it, and be familiar with it, and make one if you feel connected to this type of work. I am not trying to get anyone to use shamanic or medicine wheel imagery who is uncomfortable with it. If it is not your metaphor, consider it a way of looking at the world that is an earth driven spirituality.

My medicine wheel has four or six directions, it includes:
the direction
an animal or force
a meaning or life pattern,
an element,
and a theme
Mine are:
West,
the bear
the unconscious
water,
healing

this is the direction of the medicine bear, the traditional animal of healing, it is where the imagery comes from, it is the depths of our visionary space, it is the place of power, the controller of the wheel

North,
the turtle,
grounding,
earth,
embeddedness
this is the direction of grounding in your job, family, home, children, the earth as your mother, here you are in her body, and in your life at once, it is home and your deep home
East,
the owl, eagle, or hawk,
change,
air,
spiritual flight
this is the direction of change in our lives, cancer, the diagnosis, our new life to come, and flying into her heart, into the visionary space to see the images
South,
the lion,
love and passion,
fire,
meaningfulness
this is the direction of why we wake up in the morning, falling in love, passion for anything we want to do, meaningfulness,
Up ,
the eagle or the angel,
spiritual ascendancy,
goddess realms,
peace
this is the direction of going to she who gardens us from above to rest in peace and be totally loved
Down,
the sea goddess,
whales,
going deep,
birth realms,
dreaming