Exploring the Sacred Four Directions and Medicine Wheel in Native American Culture
The Native American tradition of recognizing the Four Directions—East, South, West, and North—and the central concept of the Medicine Wheel capture profound spiritual significance and cultural values across numerous indigenous communities. This revered system honors not only the physical elements of the world but also the stages of life, sacred directions, and the cycles of life inherent in Mother Earth. This article delves into the symbolism of each direction and the comprehensive meaning of the Medicine Wheel in Native American tradition.
Insights into the Four Directions
Each of the cardinal directions represents unique attributes, colors, animals, and spiritual messages, crucial in the sacred ceremonies and daily lives of Native American tribes. Below is what each direction symbolizes:
East – Air
- Color: Yellow
- Animal: Eagle
- Significance: The East, where the sun rises, brings light and marks the beginning of a new day. It is a symbol of wisdom, understanding, vision, and spiritual leadership. The rising sun energizes the day with clarity and enlightenment, embodying spiritual power.
South – Fire
- Color: Red
- Animal: Buffalo
- Significance: Characterized by the warmth of the growing season and gentle summer breezes, the South represents growth, life, strength, abundance, and community—key elements resonating with nature’s nurturing aspect.
West – Water
- Color: Black
- Animal: Bear
- Significance: Associated with the setting sun and the completion of the day, the West signifies introspection, the end of life cycles, healing, and renewal. Water here symbolizes the emotional and spiritual cleansing necessary for new beginnings.
North – Earth
- Color: White
- Animal: Moose
- Significance: The North, representing the cold and challenges of winter, stands for the hardships, endurance, stability, and resilience necessary to overcome life’s difficulties. It teaches patience and underscores the importance of strong foundations.
The Medicine Wheel: A Symbol of Life’s Continuity
The Medicine Wheel, a sacred emblem among indigenous peoples, represents the interconnectedness of all life, underscoring the perpetual nature of the circle of life. It integrates the elements of the Four Directions with life cycles, spiritual teachings, and natural rhythms, reflecting:
- The Circle of Life: Symbolizes the endless nature of life and death, growth and decay, in an eternal cycle.
- Interconnectedness: Emphasizes the relational ties among all beings and the environment, affirming that everything on Earth is interconnected.
- Health and Healing: Acts as a guide to spiritual, mental, and physical wellness.
- Spiritual Beliefs: Represents deep spiritual connections to higher entities such as Father Sky, Mother Earth, and the Great Spirit.
- Tribal Heritage: Showcases the rich histories and teachings of various tribes, such as the Navajo and Lakota, who may have unique interpretations of the Medicine Wheel.
Ritual of Calling in the Four Directions
Engaging in significant life events or seeking spiritual guidance often involves the ritual known as “Calling in the Four Directions.” This ceremony honors each cardinal direction and invites the energies and spirits associated with them into the ritual space. A typical script for this ceremony might include:
- East: “From the East, the land of the rising sun, we invite the spirit of the Eagle, bringing us vision and enlightenment.”
- South: “From the South, the realm of the warming sun, we call upon the spirit of the Buffalo, offering us strength and growth.”
- West: “From the West, where the sun sets, we summon the spirit of the Bear to bring healing and reflection.”
- North: “From the North, the place of the cold winds, we ask the Moose to join us, teaching resilience and wisdom.”
Assignment: Find Your True North
Knowing the cardinal directions and where you stand in relation to them is an essential aspect of connecting to the natural and spirit worlds. Ancient cultures of the world, in tune with the cycles of the seasons and the stars, knew how to orient themselves if lost and likely intuited their location naturally due to practice.
Set a reminder to locate true north intermittently throughout the day; for example, at sunrise, midday, and sunset, use a compass to find north. Stand facing north and notice the angle of the sun and landmarks that may guide you without a compass.
Four Directions Ceremony: Open Sacred Space
Call upon the four directions in this invocation from the Q’ero shamans of Peru to ask for a blessing from the spirits in your endeavors. Consider creating an altar representing each direction. To begin, take some deep breaths, let go of mental preoccupations, and align with your heart’s intention to create sacred space. As you face each direction, smudge or fan sage, blow scented water, or shake a rattle and say the prayer aloud.
Face the south with one arm up and the other palm open to receive.
To the Winds of the South,
Great Serpent,
Mother of the life-giving waters,
Wrap your coils of light around me.
Remind me of how to let go and shed old ways of being.
Teach me to walk the way of beauty.
Face the west with one arm up and the other palm open to receive.
To the Winds of the West,
Mother Jaguar,
Support me as I see my own fears.
Teach me how to transform my fears into love.
Remind me of how to live with impeccability.
May I have no enemies in this lifetime or the next.
Face the north with one arm up and the other palm open to receive.
To the Winds of the North,
Royal Hummingbird,
Ancient Ones,
Teach me about your endurance and your great joy.
Come to me in the dreamtime.
With honor, I greet you.
Face the east with one arm up and the other palm open to receive.
To the Winds of the East,
Eagle or Condor,
Great Visionary, remind me to lead from my pure heart.
Teach me to soar to new places, to fly wing to wing with Spirit.
Place one palm on the earth and the other arm up.
Mother Earth – Pachamama,
I pray for your healing.
Let me soften into your wisdom.
May I take great care of you, so that my children and my children’s children
may witness the beauty and abundance you offer me today.
Raise both arms to the sky.
Father Sun, Grandmother Moon, to the Star Nations,
Great Spirit – you who are known by a thousand names,
And you who are the Unnamable One,
Thank you for bringing me here at this time.
Close the Ceremony
When you have finished your ceremony, sacred space must be closed. This can be done silently or spoken aloud, but it must be intentional. Thank the serpent, jaguar, hummingbird, and eagle for their wisdom. As you release their energies back to their four directions, take a few deep breaths, acknowledge yourself back in the space you are in, and witness any changes in your being. Take any inspiration gleaned from your sacred space and share it with the earth, your family, and your community.
About the Author
Crocodiles and Plant Medicine: Lessons of the Modern Shaman
Crocodile came to me recently in ceremony. At first I was startled by his appearance, feeling I have already embraced every shadow aspect of myself he represents. Since his visit, however, I have spent time welcoming him and examining the teachings he now brings.
Crocodile/Snake holds our basal self, our deepest fears and lesser-evolved leanings which are held in the reptilian brain. In sacred ceremony and spiritual initiations, it is snake or crocodile who confronts you to face and embrace that which you fear most. His personal challenge to me: “You’re not a true shaman. You don’t work in the rain forest, you don’t ingest plant medicines, and you’re falsely holding your craft, thereby misleading those you serve.”
On more than one occasion I have been questioned and warned against calling myself a shaman. I haven’t studied in the jungle, I don’t have any hint of bronzed pigment in my Irish skin, and I don’t have a Maestro or don teaching me the ways. My path is unique in devoted past-life reclamation, shamanic journey, and an early proclamation at five-years-old that I would be a shaman. I was born ready and haven’t looked back. However, the thorny challenges still arise.
Enter the internal struggle of spirit and shadow. It’s brought me to a place of deep self-inquiry and an eventual and potent reclamation. It’s also offered me a new perspective on the path of the modern shaman.
What is a Shaman?
When asked, “What is a shaman?” my easiest answer is “someone who works in the invisible spaces to bring peace and healing to those whom they are in service.”
“Shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments/illness by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman also enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community. Shamans may visit other worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. The shaman operates primarily within the spiritual world, which in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailment.”
Tryptamine Palace
In Cave and Cosmos, Michael Harner suggests it is simply “one who knows.”
Core and Indigenous Shamanism
The big divide in the shamanic communities lies between those who work in the rain forest with the lineage of indigenous wisdom in their blood; and so-called Plastic Shamans who have no connection to the cultures and traditions they represent.
As shamanism has gained prevalence in the modern era, “core shamanism” has become the accepted term for those who use the methods of the shaman but have not been raised in the traditional cultures. The Foundation for Shamanic Studies has reintroduced the shamanic journey for self-healing, while the Psychonauts have lead a revolution through chemically assisted self-inquiry. Both are valid paths that differ greatly from a jungle education. While the efficacy of the practice is all that should matter, there still lies a division.
Plant Medicine
Another crucial distinction for indigenous shamans is their relationships with the plants. Dietas are ceremonial ingestions of plant medicines that teach the shaman how to walk between and within the astral worlds. Any number of teacher plants are used, from tobacco to ayahuasca. These ceremonies are performed with great reverence and honor and remain within sacred guidelines as sincere spiritual endeavors to deepen the path of the seeker. The illusion of this world fades away and great insights are gained, revealing the true nature of one’s own soul.
Freakin’ awesome when done in this sacred space, right?
I, however, am a different kind of shaman. I traverse the dimensions without the use of hallucinogens. Drums, deep meditation, and the psychic connection with spirits and plant allies, for me, have been enough. And Croc challenged me on this also: “Is your plant abstinence genuinely enough to gain such an alliance with the spirit realms?”
In the modern world, our relationship to the plants is vastly different than that of the indigenous shaman. We don’t commune with them personally, nor do we seek to hone their wisdom. As a result, contemporary seekers often misuse the medicines. In my younger days, I experimented with mushrooms recreationally. I found them an expansive and uplifting dalliance that only affirmed my path as a seer and healer. Yet I took them with no noble intent.
Recently, I found myself called to work more closely with the plants in ceremonial space and felt conflicted. My ego holds my hallucinogenic refrain as a badge of honor — a way of ensuring the purity of the messages received. And yet I found myself deeply appreciating the plant spirits again, in great awe and gratitude for the teachings they shared.
And what they shared was this: I’ve connected more than sufficiently with the plant spirits. I learn and walk beside them every day to offer blessings to my community. I need not ingest them, for they have been my allies all along!
In a recent Aubrey Marcus podcast, Astral Snakes and Binaural Beats (episode 59), Cory Allen shared his most recent devotion is not in using the plant medicines, but rather simply being in the astral plane without any enhancements. Under the influence of the medicine, “The consciousness of the plant is with you in that space and colors your vision of that space. If you get there without it, you are completely you and you are on your own.” Boom, validation! And Croc began to smile.
What I realized was, it all comes back to me not having any allies, any perceptions, any filters on my experience in these worlds. The mark of the shaman is not who they are when they’re on the medicines or how they handle these energies inside of them. It is who they are in the absence of any aids at all!
