A medicine wheel is a spiritual tool used by Native Americans to help guide them on a spiritual path to enlightenment in their life. Many Native American tribes have many different types of medicine wheels but they all seem to converge on the idea of a wholeness. When I look at a medicine wheel I think of my spirituality, and how it might relate to the walk a Christian must make in life.
While growing up I learned about the Cheyenne medicine wheel. The information I am giving you might be made up for all I know it might be incorrect, but it was the information given to me and I will pass it on to you.
All medicine wheels have neither a beginning or an end. They are a perfect circle and they are this because it shows the way life continues to proceed from one point to the next in a perfect circle. There are sections of the medicine wheel that show different properties. For example the south is generally thought of as a youthful point, it is this point that we will focus on first.
As it was explained to me the southern part of the Cheyenne medicine wheel focuses on the mouse. Mice are creatures that are tiny but they have a lot of power. Many a grown man have been found helpless in the grip of terror at the sight of a mouse. Still to the mouse this power is unknown. The mouse is unaware of what the very sight of it will do to another creature, it simply sees what is right in front of it's face. Scripture tells us something of this if we read 2 Peter 1 verses 1-9
Verses 1-8 give us the idea that we are given a path, a direction to walk. It is here that we learn that God indeed does have something for us to learn on our path to discovery of our purpose in his plan.
Verse 9 clearly gives us an indication that short-sightedness is a bad thing, and not something we should aspire to be. This could be considered the first step of our "medicine walk" or Spiritual path.
Like the Cheyenne Medicine wheel, the first step is realizing our shortsightedness, being able to see what is only clearly visible right in front of our face, living in this moment with out any heed or direction to what has been or will be. If we stay in this state to long we risk forever losing our faith and being stuck in a constant state of never knowing what our purpose really is.
The western section of the medicine wheel must be walked next, As it was explained to me the western section of the wheel represents a step in the direction of maturity. It represents a decided choice to walk towards becoming more complete, and not being stuck strictly looking at what is right in front of us like a mouse. The western point of the Cheyenne Medicine Wheel shows us the attribute of the bear. Bears are ferocious creatures who not only can see the what is right in front of their face, but they spend a considerable amount of time resting, and looking inward. A concept known as introspection. The Bible does speak of introspection.
1 Peter 1:13 tells us to gird up our minds. Which means prepare our minds, this is obviously talking about the same thing that 2 Corinthians 13:5 where we clearly see discussion of introspection. Introspection is the act of examining oneself.
The Eastern Section of the Medicine wheel is characterized by the Eagle, who has the ability to see what is right in front of it's face, has the ability to rest and look within, and has the ability to fly over everything seeing the big picture. The Bible tells us something more about seeing the big picture. In James 1 2-4 discuss seeing the big picture. It clearly tells us to count all as joy. Even when we have trials and tribulations. It is here we see the value of seeing the big picture.
Finally the northern section of the medicine wheel speaks of a spiritual awakening. For the Cheyenne nothing was considered more sacred than the buffalo that fed the population, clothed the population, and gave them tools to work with. In a lot of ways the very lives of the Cheyenne depended on the Buffalo, as we as Christians should depend on God. It is this attribute we try to obtain as we walk the paths of the medicine wheel, and it is this point we can view ourselves as more like unto God. Remember we are to be like God, we are to be separate from the world, and we are to be HOLY. Just like the perfect circle of a perfect medicine walk we come back to introspection.. If we read on past 1 peter 1:13 to verses 14-16 We see very clearly that we are to be "holy as he is holy" or attempt to be holy as he is holy. Remember we are species doomed to failure by something that happened a long time ago in a Garden far far away.. This does not mean we can not aspire to be more like God. Just as the Native Americans aspired to be complete in their journey through life and in their minds to be complete was to be the Buffalo who was as holy to them as any thing they could imagine.
So remember each day to try and be a complete medicine wheel. Remember to see what is directly in front of your face, what is required to face the day, then look inside yourself, still yourself for the day ahead, have some time for introspection, and then go out conquer the day as you see the things that are inside you and right in front of your face, but notice how you affect the bigger picture, and in the end, try as hard as you can each day to be like God. Remember his teachings and those of his precious son who died for us, and always, always, strive to be like him. Remember that each of us are his children, we are the sons and daughters of God and we are to try and act accordingly.
When you fail, and you will, we all do, Look back to your medicine wheel. Try and ascertain what it is that was right in front of you that caused you to fail. Try and figure out what it is inside you that played a role. See what parts of the bigger picture played a role without placing blame on any one person or any one event. Remember we are all accountable only for our actions. Then finally, as you lay your head down to rest, pray to the father, try and ascertain how you could be more like him, and wake up the next day and do it again.
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