WORKING IN THE MEDICINE wheel garden, you will feel in balance with the rhythms of the earth and the cycles of the seasons. Handling the individual plants, their roots, the earth, and the rocks brings you closer to an earth-based wisdom and deepens your intuitive connections with nature. For some individuals, the medicine wheel garden becomes a mirror of life and soul. Within its sacred stone circle, you may discover insights into the powerful path to self-discovery. In some ways, this special garden is like a giant sun face that radiates healing—a road map for spiritual change.
My time in my own medicine wheel garden is always enlightening. I work hard cleaning and weeding my garden’s quadrants; I sit and reflect on all the vigorous beauty here; I build more Stone People that stand as guardians within and around this sacred circle. Every plant and stone has a spirit of its own. I can stand here in the deep snow of frozen winter and feel a peaceful kinship to my dormant plants. At any season I often come here at dawn to do my yoga and sing the sun up. I chant this song softly:
O Spirit of the Dawn, bring us your light.
O Spirit of the Sun, give us your warmth.
O Spirit of the Day, guide us with love.
O Spirit of the Night, nurture our dreams.
Whatever the time of day, walking or working in the medicine wheel garden helps me get out of my head and into the more intuitive and caring mode of my heart. As I let go of my own needs and broaden my focus, I can see and feel the larger picture of nature and realms beyond what I see before me. I can connect with the plant and mushroom spirits and other nature spirits in my vicinity. They tell me remarkable things and can help me see into the future. You will be able to accomplish this too if you really want to.
American Indian herbalists make offerings to and pray to the plant spirits before they harvest a plant to use for healing. This way the medicine has a far greater synergistic effect when used. Indeed, some say that the failure to make this offering renders some plant medicines far less useful. A gift of song, or prayers, with a pinch of cornmeal or tobacco in exchange for the medicine plant’s healing power is part of our compact, our continuing dance of reciprocity with the plants we depend on in so many ways.
Walking the wheel is a way of honoring the medicine wheel as a universal symbol of balance and reflection. As you walk around and into your medicine wheel garden, you direct your thoughts inward, to your heart and spirit, and outward, to Mother Earth and the healing plants that surround you. This flow of thought can take the form of a personal meditation. It is important, too, to become more sensitive to the space that surrounds your medicine wheel, which can serve as an immense earth altar, infusing everything in the area with new respect. While working within this garden space, or walking around it, you are walking with the Creator to your own center and to a new centered peace within yourself. Many people see the medicine walk and work as similar to walking the labyrinth’s circuitous paths with God. The Sacred Circles Institute in Washington State gives special instruction in “walking the sacred wheel” as a year’s journey of initiation in sacred practices, incorporating American Indian tribal wisdom and earth-based wisdom into teachings from around the world.
For me, walking the wheel is an aspect of personal growth and deepening. I receive remarkable gifts of awareness, special insights that enrich my gardening as well as my life in many ways. Approaching my medicine wheel garden, I take a stone—rubbed with good energy and my prayers of gratitude for this day—and place it on the eastern prayer cairn. Then I step into the garden at the “eastern door,” the opening at the eastern cardinal direction pole. I begin with a simple smudging of dried cedar, bearberry, or sage leaves, or a combination of all three. I smudge myself from head to toe, especially my hands and arms; then I turn and offer a smudge blessing to each of the seven directions.
As I smudge, I quietly say or silently think:
Great Mystery, behold our beautiful work and make it good
Spirits of the East, illuminate our work in every way
. Spirits of the South, warm our vigorous growth.
Spirits of the West, strengthen our gardens health.
Spirits of the North, ripen our labors with fuitfulness
. Spirits of the Sky World, wash us with vital sun and rain
. Spirits of the earth, ground our work in fulfillment.
Spirits of the sacred center, embrace us with protection.
Great Mystery, our gratitude and love for all you share.
Carrying the smoking herbs in a smudge dish, or a large abalone shell, I walk around the garden three times just inside the perimeter, using a feather fan to direct the smoke around and into the garden. The smudge secures the garden from any negativity and also serves as a fine insecticide. I pause to watch the wind horses fluttering or flapping on the peace pole and the cardinal direction poles; each tells me more about the day.
Listening intently I heighten my sense of awareness by paying particularly close attention to sounds and sights in nature all around me. I try to be sensitive to which birds are nesting nearby and foraging here for food. I need the songbirds to eat the harmful plant pests in the medicine wheel garden, so I often maintain a small birdbath within the medicine wheel near the water-loving plants. The catbirds that nest in the hazelnut shrub nearby seek continual relief in the birdbath! I enjoy watching and listening to them.
I check for other signs. Deer and rabbit droppings alert me to the overnight and early-morning presence of these abundant animals. They like to graze on herbal foliage and eat the echinacea, and I am prepared to share with them, as they live here, too. They generally prefer tender hybrid plants and do not ravage the native wildflowers as much. Yet I must protect the moccasin flowers from these predators, so each evening I set a large basket over these plants, weighting it on top with a sizable rock. The deer also eat Indian turnip, so I set out various repellents, especially Milorganite, which is also an organic fertilizer.
I check for garden spiders and their webs in the garden, as these allies of the Little People provide healing in their bodies and spin this into their webs. When placed on the skin, spiderwebs can calm skin irritations and stop bleeding. A spiderweb rolled into a tiny “pill” and swallowed can relieve a headache or fever. But I’m aware that if annoyed, spiders can also deliver a nasty bite or sting. I invoke Grandmother Spider’s powerful spiritual protection as one of the native creation figures. I ask her to be well and at home in this garden.
The Connecticut Mohegan believe, as do many tribes, that the east-to-west passage of spirits, following the movement of the sun, is the Trail of Life. They symbolize this concept in their beadwork and basketry designs. So I walk from east to west, envisioning my own trail of life and pause to place another prayer stone on the central cairn around the peace pole. I sing and talk to the plants and the healing spirits as I walk.
Choosing another small stone from the garden soil, I rub it with my prayers for the day and place it on the cairn surrounding the western cardinal direction pole. I look to the western sky and offer a prayer of gratitude and renewal. Then I retrace my steps along the central crosswalk back to the peace pole and walk first to the south and then back to the north cardinal direction poles and cairns, again placing prayer stones and prayers at each. If I am going through a particularly difficult personal time, I may offer additional cornmeal blessings at the peace pole, asking for clarity and guidance.
As I walk the wheel, I offer a blessing to the larger sacred Stone People I have created in my garden. Each time I offer them prayers, I feel a more personal connection with Mother Earth, Father Sky, Sister Day, Brother Night, Grandmother Moon, and Grandfather Sun. Finally, I return to the central peace pole with a daily prayer for world peace.
I try to repeat my daily medicine wheel garden walk, rain or shine. In really bad weather I chant my prayers over my little indoor medicine wheel altar. I also do a special silent meditation, sitting and imagining the medicine wheel garden as I perform the rituals. This is usually done within the medicine wheel garden and is enormously helpful during stressful times. My rituals are not rigid, however. I am continually adapting them to my changing needs, and I work to mirror them when I travel to far-flung locations.
The medicine wheel is the ultimate space in which to drum for world peace at full moons and new moons, as other people do around the world. This is a good way to honor the medicine wheel garden and bless any space wherein you drum. The rhythmic drumming of the heartbeat is what usually sets the pace of synchronous drumming in many groups.
Talk with a circle of your friends or work colleagues about starting a drumming circle. When you find interest in this idea, discuss where, when, and how often you might conveniently meet to drum. Consider where the best, most central gathering place might be. When you gather together five or more people to drum, the noise and vibrations can be considerable and wonderful. Keep this point in mind and alert the neighbors to what you are planning so that they don’t become alarmed.
Several years ago, I formed a drumming circle to meet at the Institute of American Indian Studies after visiting hours. Most of the people had come to make a drum in my workshops there or had bought nice drums and simply wanted the opportunity to use them. Basically, we all wanted a comfortable, nonthreatening environment in which to drum together and learn more about this age-old art. We have been meeting regularly, once a month at seven o’clock in the evening, for more than four years. New people are always welcome to join us. Every kind of drum is welcome, although we have a majority of single-faced hand drums. We make a nominal donation to the institute for the two hours that we drum together, and someone offers to bring “circle food” each month.
We have learned that our drumming circle is a fine indoor/outdoor way to honor the medicine wheel garden and receive its benefits. If drumming indoors, we create an altar in the center of the room around a candle. Chairs are set in a large circle; some people prefer to sit on the floor. Many people bring extra rattles and drums to place around the altar. We smudge the room, each other, and our drums with sacred sage and cedar. We take time to center ourselves, breathing deeply, releasing all tensions, and feeling very grounded and happy in this special space. More than thirty people come to the drumming circle each month, creating sounds that seem to raise the roof right off the building! Our group drumming is very tribal.
As we begin slow, rhythmic drumming to the pulse, or heartbeat, we can all feel the energies building within the room. We drum together for a solid hour, speeding up to rapid drumbeats and slowing to slightly more mellow beats and occasional syncopated beats. Many folks exchange their drums for rattles at the altar during the hour and try different drums. It is a rich time of open explorations of sounds and creativities. We often get up and continue drumming as we move around the room or walk outside to the medicine wheel garden.
When weather permits, we enjoy doing all our drumming outside. Drumming within and around the medicine wheel garden is an incredibly special experience, and the plants seem to love it, too. Plants thrive when they are “drummed” and seem to grow stronger than their counterparts outside the medicine wheel. For the people taking part, these walking, drumming meditations are quite insightful. Some experience unique visions and hear voices.
The drumming circle has developed a strong bond among all participants. Once a year we renew our drums with tiny prayer ties. To make a prayer tie, each person gives a prayer of silent gratitude, takes a small pinch of tobacco and other herbs, places this within a small circle of red cloth, and ties it snugly with red thread, all the while thinking of the prayer in silent meditation. Finally, the tiny prayer tie is securely attached inside the back opening of each person’s drum. (See Chapter 14, where ceremonial items are discussed in greater depth.) Sometimes we make many prayer ties together and fasten them on one long cord. The Native American Spirituality Circle, which also meets at the institute, creates prayer ties at the beginning and end of each year, renewing our commitment to the land. These prayer ties are carried outside and placed in the branches of the white pine and hemlock trees around the buildings.
The medicine wheel garden inspires activities, ceremonies, and healing rituals for every season of the year. Seasonal events from a new moon in the sky to a new crop ready to harvest from the earth provide wonderful and varied opportunities to develop your own personal medicine wheel rites.
The solstices and equinoxes were and are especially important times for celebration. These four events in our calendar year have their roots in sacred ceremonies of many cultures.
My natural associations for these major turning points are based upon years of observation. I honor the wild turkeys congregating and mating through the spring equinox. The first young bluebirds are usually fledging by the summer solstice, along with many other songbird populations. I honor the wild mushrooms and fullness of wild and garden harvests during the autumnal equinox. Deer are rutting and wild geese are clustering and migrating during the winter solstice.
You might plan a special gathering at each solstice and equinox. Prepare long white prayer ribbons on which each person will write a prayer or brief thought. Then tie each ribbon into a suitable bush or tree where it will flutter in every breeze and whip wildly in strong winds. I have a tall prayer tree near my medicine wheel garden on which I tie a long, slim banner with new prayers for each quarter of the year. Over time I have dressed this young wild cherry tree with a number of fluttering banners, and I know that my prayers have flown around the world many times.
Leading a Fire Ceremony
Major seasonal celebrations are splendid times for a fire ceremony. Make a small fire pit
near your medicine wheel garden. Dig out the sod to about one foot deep and two feet across; line this little hole with small stones to create a safe fire pit. (In many areas you will need permission from a fire marshal to have an open fire.) With friends you have invited for an evening ritual of renewal, build and light a small fire in your fire pit.
Give each person a piece of paper and a pencil to write three key messages.
What three things do you most want to clear out of your life?
What three things do you most desire to have in your life?
What three things do you wish so that our group, our country, our world will have a better future?
Take ten minutes or so to accomplish this quietly. Some may want to do a sharing time to say what they have written. When everyone is ready, fold the papers and gather in a circle around the glowing fire. Begin drumming. One at a time, each person commits his or her paper to the fire while everyone else cheers. Follow around the circle in equence until everyone has placed their paper in the fire and watched it burn up. Don’t rush. This is a fine ceremony for a drumming group, as you can each drum as well as cheer for one another, heightening the supportive energies and providing a wonderful bonding experience for families and other groups.
Each full moon and each new moon throughout the year also merits a small ritual celebration. Perhaps a potluck dinner and meditation for world peace with close friends would please you. Many of us take out our drums and drum for fifteen minutes on the morning or evening of new and full moons. One of my friends hosts a monthly full moon breakfast for a few close friends. These “power” breakfasts begin early and are a great way to start the day with chanting, drumming, and dancing.
Some families like to have meetings, “teachings,” and celebrations in their medicine wheel garden once or twice a week. The “teaching” comes from a family member or friend who has something new to share with the group that may improve their outlook or life. This activity can rotate from one to another, each one choosing what they want to bring to the next medicine wheel meeting. The medicine wheel garden is also a fine place for storytelling. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of teaching. These occasions are fine times to serve “circle food” to everyone at the end of the gathering. Any favorite food that is circular and can be eaten by the whole group fills the bill, from cake or cookies to carrots, oranges, apples, apricots, or crackers and a round of cheese.
Perhaps you wish to pattern a new personal ritual after a traditional tribal practice, with thoughtful respect. It is best not to copy but to create your own ritual based upon a specific tribal celebration. These seasonal rites and rituals, from winter festivities to harvests, were invariably keyed to giving thanks to the Creator and Mother Earth for abundance shared. Here are a few examples to inspire you.
Zuni Deshqway rites are observed over four days at both the winter and summer solstices. During the four days, no business of any kind can be transacted, and all outside fires are extinguished. This is a time of forgiveness, contemplation, prayer, fasting, and understanding. At the end of the fourth day, the Zuni priests go from house to house and relight new fires so that everything begins new again. The winter solstice generally calls for ten days of traditional observance. During these cold days, families bond more closely and look at their lives in deeper detail.
Midwinter renewal, celebrated among Iroquois and Cherokee people, was and is often their new year and a time for naming newborns and healing serious illnesses within the tribe. This is also the time when people (and debts) are forgiven and old grudges released. This is the time of dream sharing and dream guessing rites. This period embraced days of celebrations during which prayers and songs were performed for all the people. New hearth fires are kindled after a time of darkness and prayer. Everyone feasts, after a period of fasting, and gives thanks.
The Great Lakes Algonquian celebration of Grandmother Maple coincided with the late winter “sugaring-off” festivities^ and storytelling. Late January, February, and March is the time to tap the maple trees for their rich, delicious sap and render it into syrup and then sugar. This is an especially exciting period, as the maple sugaring cycle signals the end of winter. For many communities and families, it still means steady hard work to obtain and prepare the year’s maple syrup crop before the maple trees put out their buds, ending the time for sapping. Various songs, chants, and games make the work time pass more interestingly.
Native rites of spring often embraced the days just before and after the vernal equinox in March. In some regions, ceremonies of blessing the seeds with prayers for abundant crops would be hosted over a four- or five-day period. These rites varied among the Pueblo tribes in the desert Southwest, where kachina dances and lengthy ceremonies petitioned Mother Earth and Father Sky to provide for a new, successful growing season followed by a plentiful harvest. Everyone in the farming and gardening communities knows the importance of celebrating this vital spring renewal and asking for the seasons ahead to be bountiful and kind. These rituals have evolved from ancient practices that also influence favorable hunting, human fertility, and family health.
Iroquois strawberry festivals celebrate the first ripe fruits in the wild. This event has long been, and continues to be, a great reason for spring festivals. Many different groups now host strawberry festivals in honor of these ancient Native American rites. The strawberry is a symbol of renewal and healing medicine, and it is also central to many tribal creation stories. The Delaware tell about how the first wild strawberries sprang from the mastodon’s tears as these impressive animals marched toward extinction. The Iroquois tell of an argument between a loving couple long ago who split up but were prevented from hurrying away from each other because fresh, ripe strawberries covered the meadow. Hungry and sad, they stooped to pick the strawberries, and soon they realized their love could overcome their differences.
Pueblo corn-planting rituals and earth renewal rites each spring still vary from one pueblo to another. Among the nineteen pueblos in New Mexico and the Hopi in Arizona, this is a time of great celebration. At most pueblos, people proudly perform the Corn Dance, and many special corn foods are prepared to feed each family. The Zuni and the Hopi, through their kachina rites, petition the mountain spirits and the earth forces to bring forth a good growing season. They perform a traditional sequence of rituals to bless the first seeds and planting rites. Dances, chants, prayers, and beautiful objects reassure all life forces that the people’s hearts are good and their families’ needs are great. Imagine how our gardens would fare if we honored them this way.
Navajo herb-gathering rites and songs mark celebrations throughout the growing seasons. Special attention is given to gathering medicine plants in a sacred manner so that their spirits will work the maximum benefits of healing. Early in the growing season, the herb gatherers begin to pick young leaves of diverse herbs to make healing formulas. Healing roots are gathered in late fall, winter, and early spring. Individual herbalists have their own favorite herb, and some may know as many as two or three hundred different plants and mushrooms. There is always a gift to the plant’s spirit before it is harvested: a pinch of pollen or tobacco, along with a silent prayer, a petition for the plant’s sacred help.
The Plains Indians consecration of thunder reflects upon the awareness of changing seasons and the need for rain, and welcomes the first thunderstorms. Each tribe has its own special traditional rituals embraced by this valuable renewal ceremony. This is the time to open and renew many aspects of hearth and home, healing and creativity. As gardeners, we can prosper by celebrating the rain and welcoming the thunder that renews our gardens and ourselves with life-giving resources. Lightning fixes nitrogen, and nitrogen enhances plant and leaf growth. Welcome the lightning into the garden and watch the plants flourish and the Stone People dance!
The Algonquian cranberry festival celebrates the autumn harvests of our native cranberries, which have become a major economic crop, fueling both the commercial food and beverage industries and the herbal healing networks. In these traditions, the Little People needed to be acknowledged and thanked.
Ojibwa herb-gathering rites and prayers are offered by herbalists who gather the seasonal herbs, wild rice, and fungi. Very special prayers are given during the Indian summer gathering times of wild mushrooms and late roots. Every type of healing organism has its own special time of harvest. Members of the Grand Medicine Society, the Midewiwin or Mide, who could read the sacred birch bark scrolls and carved wooden prescription sticks, would lead the seasonal gathering rites. This is one of the oldest medicine societies in North America. Like the Pueblo kachina societies and Iroquois false-face societies, Navajo Chant Ways, and Apache Mountain Gods, these medicine people can perform amazing curing rituals. But one must commit a lifetime of devoted study and work to walk these pathways.
Many of us are content to be herbalists, and this, too, is a lifetime career. We each develop our own independent rituals, which help us know the plants deeply and communicate with their spirits. Often, sitting quietly by a plant or colony of chosen plants can clear your busy mind. As in a meditation, you can tune in to the plant’s vibrations and hear its wisdom. This intuitive exchange can be quite profound. Those who believe in garden fairies and plant devas know the wealth of communication here. Your mind opens to a congress of voices and healing.
Grey Wolf is a Lakota medicine wheel teacher who learned his traditional teaching from his grandfather. He develops his own unique teachings and his spiritual philosophies are shared with a circle of special friends who seek to learn more about their life paths. Like many of his predecessors, his teachings wrap themselves closely within the natural world, helping us to become more sensitive to all living things.
Going Deeper with the Medicine Wheel
There are a number of approaches for “walking the wheel” that you may want to explore. The teachings of Hyemeyohsts Storm describe many of the traditional Cheyenne Indian medicine wheel concepts and give us a framework for incorporating these practices from the Plains Indian perspectives. The old Indian stories resonate with important visions and signs that tribal ancestors experienced. These were teaching tools that provided the framework for Plains Indian spiritual practices involving the medicine wheel. Legends tell of wheels within wheels in a multilayered constellation of healing energies. The medicine wheel is set according to the four main cardinal directions. At the end of each spoke there is another wheel, and this pattern is repeated
on and on.
Sun Bear, the late Chippewa medicine man, created his own vision of a medicine wheel and incorporated a New Age approach to astrology within it. His books, gatherings, and practices have influenced many people to look more closely at self-reliance and achieving balance with oneself and Mother Earth.
American psychologist Alberto Villoldo takes participants deeper into the ancient realms of shamanic journeywork and explores the secrets of the Inca medicine wheel. The sacred places of power described in the old legends are seen as places created in the medicine wheel, where one can visit with them and be enlightened by them on an ongoing basis. Many ancient sites throughout South America come alive through medicine wheel and shamanic associations.
The British authority Kenneth Meadows has written extensively on the “hidden teachings” of the Native American medicine wheel. He has developed his own detailed interpretations as a way of understanding “earth medicine.” Shamanic principles are applied within this work as a pathway toward self-discovery and wholeness.
There are also individual American Indians across the country teaching their own unique forms of medicine wheel concepts, from Cheyenne to Crow to Cherokee. Some take students and develop rich programs of medicine wheelwork. Each teacher has his or her own special vision about what the medicine wheel means. These teachings appeal to people who are seeking a deeper spiritual reality and feel drawn to Native American traditions. Invariably these practices lead each practitioner into a deeper relationship with nature and within themselves. (See Appendix 4 for more information.)
We gather in a small circle within or beside the medicine wheel garden or a large circle surrounding it, each person holding a single fresh orange. This simple ceremony is born from Native American and Zen Buddhist wisdom. It was given to me many years ago, and I have regularly enjoyed giving it away. Each time we perform this it becomes a gift to each one gathered in the circle. You can do this alone with a single orange, but the real dynamics come from sharing this in a circle. This can be done anytime, but its greatest symbolism is achieved when we assemble in a predawn circle, about fifteen minutes before the sunrise. As we perform this ceremony we “sing the sun up” in a circle of sharing. This is a meaning-filled salute to the sun, as well as a salute to the self.
We stand in a comfortable circle where we can see the sunrise. Each person warms an orange in his or her two hands, enjoying its fragrance. The orange symbolizes wholeness, the self, the universe, the sun and the sunrise, the family, and whatever else you need it to symbolize at this time. Holding the orange to your heart and then your nose, give it your prayers for cleansing and gratitude. This becomes a brief morning meditation. Together sing this morning chant in a singsong voice:
Dawn spirit, come dance in me,
Day spirit, come warm me,
Orange spirit, please feed me,
Peel away my discomfort, and
All nurture me home, and All nurture me home.
With the emerging dawn, slowly begin to peel the orange. Inhale the fragrance; feel it nurture you. Each of you in this circle is focused on completeness and honoring your wholeness. As you peel the orange you are consciously peeling away anything unwanted and releasing all disease and disorder from your healthy life. (Save the collected peels for composting.)
Walking Meditation
Direct your thoughts inward, clear your mind, breathe deeply, and extend your awareness to everything around you. Really notice all that is going on around you. As you walk slowly along, pick up two small stones; they will find you. Rub the first one with your prayers for something you presently want to have in your life. Rub the other one with your prayers for something you really want to eliminate. Walk along this way until you find the right place to release the two stones, and with them, give your prayers to the universe.
Cradle the whole naked orange in your hands and enjoy its fragrance. Now carefully open the orange into two equal halves. Section the first half into two quarters. Turn to the person on your right and offer the first quarter to her, and receive with gratitude her first quarter of orange in exchange. Slowly eat this first “taste of the morning” and savor its flavor and fragrance in a meditative manner. Now turn to the person on your left and offer the second quarter to him, and receive with gratitude his quarter of orange. Again, slowly eat this in a meditative manner.
Section your remaining half into two quarters. Step across the circle and offer your third quarter of orange to the person opposite you, while accepting with gratitude his or her third quarter of orange. Return to the circle and slowly eat this, noticing the slight differences in taste. Finally, slowly eat the last quarter of your own orange with gratitude. Feel the nurturing and sharing of various tastes, energies, and feelings within this circle. Hold these moments as long as seems comfortable in silence. Sometimes I take a pocketful of wet wipes along for everyone to clean their hands. Other times we just rub in the “orange perfume” and continue our morning meditation. It is important to ask for what has come up for individuals who want to share. Some folks simply want to be quiet and process all this, and others are deeply moved by their own personal issues. Following a brief period of sharing, we conclude with a twenty-minute “walking meditation” envisioned by my daughter Kimberlee from a beautiful dream she had in the Shawangunk Mountains.
Perhaps one of the oldest and most unusual methods of medicine wheel visionary work is through shamanic use. Shamanic practitioners use the medicine wheel and prayer cairns as journey points to enter and leave the present world for the otherworld. This allows them to access sacred space in healing and other specialized work. Suppose that a shaman must journey, in a trance, to the underworld to meet with spirits to divine the cause of someone’s illness. The shaman can visualize the medicine wheel garden as the journey point for departure and reentry. (A shamanic journey is like an out-of-body experience in that the shaman’s spirit leaves, in a deep meditative trance, to find hidden information in nonordinary reality. This work is always used for peaceful, healing needs.)
Because shamanic journeywork does not require the shaman actually to leave a set place, s/he is free to pick any power spot. The medicine wheel is an amazing power spot for this work. As a shamanic practitioner, I use my own medicine wheel garden with great results. My journeys are much more powerful when I journey down through the medicine wheel garden than when I depart from any of my other favorite places. My end results are always amazingly rich and filled with more particular details. I can journey from one medicine wheel site to another in shamanic trance; I can visit sacred sites that I have never physically seen and would have difficulty getting to in ordinary reality.
Some authorities believe that the ancient medicine wheels were used in shamanic journeywork. This idea actually makes good sense. Many of the old medicine wheel locations are difficult to get to, and yet easy for the shaman to access and visit in trance. Shamans can travel in trance state, through nonordinary reality, around the world, and beyond this world and back. Shamans have been adept at doing this since earliest time. Shamanism is a part of every culture’s past, present, and future. It is not a religion; rather, it is a pathway for discovery and healing.