Taken from Chronicles of the Winds post 60 by StriGoi
http://users.nexustk.com/items/01765_00.gif The Medicine Wheel http://users.nexustk.com/items/01765_00.gif
The most simplistic definition of the Medicine Wheel is that it is a symbol of ALL creation. The center of the wheel is the Creator, who sits in perfect balance.
We walk the Wheel along the edge, in a clockwise motion. It is along The rotation of the Earth, the change of the seasons, and day to night that we move.
We divide the Wheel into aspects of four. There are four directions, four seasons, four basic elements, four aspects of our nature, four phases of time and four stages of life.
The place of beginnings is in the East. This is where your journey begins. Where the sun rises and we are given a new day of life.
The Medicine Wheel brings healing, wholeness and health. There must be balance between our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual selves. Health is a state of being in balance and sickness is an indicator of unbalance. The act of walking the Medicine Wheel is to balance all the four elements in relationship to the other and in all of Creation.
If your mind is out of balance and full of negative thoughts, this makes bad feelings grow and fester. If your spirit is aching then you may be living in a way that does not respect your spirit. There is a dark side to everyone, but by acknowledging that it exists and identifying the source of imbalance, you can begin to heal. Release the ways you once embraced and then rebirth and healing is allowed to take place.
W T E T L S L N WESNXNSEW N L S L T E T W
~*~ Key Guide W= Four Directions (East/South/West/North) E= Four Basic Elements (Air/Fire/Water/Earth) S= Four Seasons (Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter) T= Four Phases of Time (Sunrise/High Noon/ Sunset/Midnight) L= Four Stages of Life (Child/Adolescent/Adult/Elder) N= Four Aspects of Our Nature (Spiritual/Physical/Emotional/Mental) X= Creator
As you walk the wheel and begin in the East, you do it in each of the four phases. At each mark you lay your offering and speak your words. You are left standing to the left of Creator.
You move yourself to the North and ask for acceptance of your ritual to Creator. You then move to the East, standing on the physical aspect to prepare your body and mind to ascend through the Medicine Wheel.
~Written by StriGoi
((This Ritual is walked ONLY when Ritual Chants is offered on the Community Events board. Things to remember: The ritual you send in will have to performed aloud and actually walked. This is NOT an NMail event. The items you drop should have no market value, as the valley is always safe and you will be dropping them in the open. And finally your ritual should be NO more then 1 and 1/2 Nmails long, that is the maximum. And the diagram that is shown is the way the wheel is created. ))