Is the Universe A Medicine Wheel?

 

At first, Grandmother Pa'Ris'Ha's ideas and teachings regarding the Medicine Wheel seemed rather strange to me. Nevertheless, slowly but surely, I embraced the wisdom and power of these ideas. I loved and respected my teacher, Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha. Indeed, I had asked her to teach me!  Intuitively I felt that much would be gained by remaining open and curious—on the Medicine Wheel and on so much else!  

 

Here I would like to explain how I personally arrived at an understanding of what and why the UNIVERSE can be seen as a veritable Medicine Wheel! Or to use a mathematical formula called an “identity” to describe my thesis, UNIVERSE=Medicine Wheel.

 

I’ll start by asking: What is the UNIVERSE??? Many would likely agree, if asked— that “UNIVERSE” is the best word for describing the BIGGEST place that exists and it contains everything! For the sake of discussion, I am going to just say that The UNIVERSE is that which contains ALL things, and inside this HUGE UNIVERSE there are wild cosmic phenomena such as stars and Quasars, and Black Holes…and galaxies, and solar systems and little planets, and smaller oceans, and molecules and atoms, matter and anti-matter, energy, life and death, cats, humans, ET’s and so on. Let us say that the word, “UNIVERSE”, —the thing I am talking about here—also contains (if such things exist at all) such tricky, weird phenomena as parallel universes, Heaven and/or Hell, and/or the Bardo or the Woo. In other words, for the sake of discussion—here on this little computer—I am going to say that the UNIVERSE is EVERYTHING that exists—the Whole Kit and Caboodle, in other words. And that’s why the first part of the word, UNIVERSE, is “UNI”, meaning “ONE”. When taken as a unified whole, there is only ONE of “All That Is.”

 

Now surprisingly enough, I know that whoever is reading this is likely a human being who has the enormous, wonderful capability of Imagining inside their brain, just what I have described. You can see, with little effort, in your mind’s eye, THE UNIVERSE. Maybe you have to sort of scan back and forth to see it all. Or you may have to conjure a spiral galaxy and let that disappear into blackness and then look at a blazing star next. But you have probably seen enough pictures of astronomical phenomena to, in a manner of speaking, “see” the UNIVERSE in all its glory with one magnificent sweeping effort of your imagination. 

 

Just as a reminder, let me say that although I spent years using a Medicine Wheel for doing prayers and ceremonies and heard many teachings about the Medicine Wheel from Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha, —Living is Learning! I make no promise that my grasp of the Medicine Wheel is perfect! And in this small space, I’ll really just be giving very basic, “basics.” I hope you will find wisdom and joy in my words!  As I heard a lecturer say once: “Don’t say ‘no’—just say “‘Oh!’”

 

Can you imagine now, what is at the base of all the swirling galaxies and nebulae and suns? Of what is all that “out there” composed? Why does it appear to be filled with darkness and empty space while we are told by scientists that energies of immense magnitude truly rule both this empty space and the objects that populate it? Electro-magnetism, plasma, gravity, quantum fields, frequencies, etc. We humans are dwarfed by the mysterious energies and forces at play in our UNIVERSE…and many humans pay little attention to this Great Mystery that unfolds endlessly before us during our lifetimes. 

 

Once upon a Time…there was an entity that was believed to be a Living Force, a Divine Creator, hidden behind all the darkness and behind and within the light as well. Cultures world-wide proclaimed and celebrated this entity (or entities) this Sacred Being or (or Beings.) The general English word we use today for such a Creative Force is “God.” Many still believe!

 

But there are so many distractions! Wars and rumors of wars. Lockdowns. Pandemics. Financial crises. NFL Sports! Children to care for. Parents to care for. Injustice. PTSD. Sexual identity. And on and on and on. Who has time to contemplate the gods?

 

Oh…I‘m just kidding around with you. Instead of priests and churches, here in America, self-help coaches and yoga teachers are a dime a dozen these days. And of course, scientists are also easily found too. They all have answers. 

 

One of the very popular wisdoms of the day that I’ve embraced is that “We create our own reality.” It seems pretty obvious to me that our material reality is (to say it in very simple terms) created out of condensed energies. Matter is composed of energetic phenomena such as electrons, protons, neutrons that in turn are shaped by waves or frequencies that do not appear to physical/materialistic observation but which organize sub-atomic particles prior to physical manifestation. Thus, our reality is brought into physical existence through a process sometimes called “Downward causation.” 

 

 But how does all this relate to the Medicine Wheel?   

 

Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha taught from her own native heritage, the Cherokee, and so it is the Cherokee Medicine Wheel that I am familiar with. 

 

Let me very briefly describe it. I am in no way an authority in this matter but one need not be an authority to make the points I wish to make, which is that symbolically speaking, the Medicine Wheel paints a symbolic picture of the UNIVERSE. Or it represents a kind of “As above, so Below” context where one can create one’s own reality. That is, interacting with the Wheel creates a mini-UNIVERSE where-in one can activate one’s own personal influence in the UNIVERSE at large. 

 

Imagine a flat piece of land where rocks have been laid out in a circle in the manner of a clock. Let us say it has a diameter of 20 to 30 feet. Rocks (roughly the size of a basketball, more or less) are placed on the circumference particularly in the place of “the Four Directions”, North, South, East and West. This placement creates four quadrants.  The stones at the Four Directions represent the “Gates” that are kept by Four Gatekeepers. In this Cherokee Wheel, Yunsai, White Buffalo, is in the North; Waya (the Wolf) is the Gatekeeper in the South; Awahili, the Eagle, is the Gatekeeper of the East.

 

(Three other stones are placed in the Center of the Wheel, representing the Above, the Below and the Center.) 

 

The Medicine Wheel is, among other things, a Way to see the UNIVERSE. If you stand in a field, raise your arm and point to the horizon, and turn in a circle, the universe extends out from you as if a giant circle! As the words in the original Broadway production of The Sound of Music go:  “Every star and every whirling planet, And every constellation in the sky, revolves around the Center of the Universe, that lovely thing called ‘I’.”  You are uniquely the center of YOUR Universe! 

 

Each of the Gates and Gatekeepers are characterized by attributes.  Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha shared with us a long list of attributes held by the Buffalo, Eagle, Black Bear and Wolf.

 

The attributes of the White Buffalo, for instance, are the following: Will, Wisdom, Water, Freezing Winds, Creative Force, Intuition, Death, Life, Star-Seeds, Allowing, Potential, Path of Success, Power, Action, Control, Priorities, Goals, Accomplishments, Results, Recognition, Effective Action through Thought, Testing, Tempering for Defeat of imbalanced and destructive thought forms, Give-A-Way, Renew, Freedom Creation. From the Frozen Waters comes the promise of the Future. Color is Pale Blue or Blue. 

 

It took years for me to come into a relationship with the Medicine Wheel as a representation of the entire Universe. But today I feel confident that with that wonderful gift of the imagination, I can stand and look to the North and imagine and “see” in my mind’s eye, the attributes of the North flowing toward me, empowering me, gifting me, blessing me, teaching me. But I do not just imagine these things.  I can FEEL them as well.  I can activate my heart with love, appreciation and caring for the Gifts. I can smile and celebrate these Gifts! I can influence by creating a frequency of Appreciation within my Being, within my heart, my soul, my Spirit and mind…. thus, I set up the proper conditions for the manifestation of all good Gifts right here on the planet Earth in my life. If I choose, I can chant and dance in celebration of the Attributes which is a very powerful way to draw something into manifestation.

 

To put it another way, I could imagine the UNIVERSE NOT as just an endless, empty darkness with no rhyme or reason— as a mindless, infinite field of matter, frequency and energy but still out of my reach. But understanding the dynamics of manifestation of reality, I now choose to see the UNIVERSE as a multi-dimensional Medicine Wheel that can enable me to assist in the transformation and healing of my planet. 

 

For your edification, here are the attributes of the other three gatekeepers that I have come to know.

 

South—Waya—Wolf—Regeneration, Action, Adolescence, Earth, Wet Winds, Path of Duty, Innocence, Reason, Logic, Information, Design, Pathfinders, Teachers, Responsibility, Stewardship, Appropriate, Thoroughness, Precision, Principles, The Plan, Activity, Abundance, Fire Keeper, Future, DOING. Color is White.

 

West—Yona—Black Bear—Introspection, Integration, Assimilation, Wind, Blazing Winds, PATH of Service, Manifestations, Balancing of Experience, Birthing the New, Friends, Team Work, Sensitivity, harmony, Watchful, All Seeing, Listening, Attention, Consensus, Merging with Spiritual consciousness, Death of Ego, Old Age, Trusting, Nurturing, Oneness, Being. Color is Black.

 

East—Awahili—Eagle or Red Tail Hawk—Illumination, Integration, Fire, Gentle Winds, Path of Pleasure, Personal excitement, Fame, Talking, Inspiring, Motion, Coming and going, Stimulation, Ideas, Intent, Understanding, Having, Leadership, Hearty, BEGINNINGS, PHYSICAL, VISION, INTUITION.  Color is Red. 

 

Where, you might ask, does God fit into this portrayal of the UNIVERSE?  

 

Well, when I dance or pray in the Medicine Wheel, (or even as I walk down the street gazing at all the beauty around me) -- I suggest that I am acting in harmony and co-ordination with a Divine Creator--the ONE THAT IS IN ALL THINGS--a malleable Great Mystery whose body IS the veritable, infinite UNIVERSE. This Godly Being gives of itself and manifests from thoughts and feelings and beliefs that I send out to it! My consciousness counts!

 

The universe, in my view, is a Holy and Sacred multiplicity of phenomena that if view as a tool for Creation. Wisely viewed, it cooperates very handily with the human being. Each and every human is simply and profoundly the Co-Creator if one makes the decision to be so. It’s our decision. And if we master these sorts of Teachings, we can do "Medicine" and heal the Earth and her Peoples!

 

Now, I give much appreciation to Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha and her Cherokee tradition for her generous conveyance of wisdom!

 

-BDW

 

Reflections of Teachings of Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha

 

No light in space

Couple of days of full moon, the sun has come up. There's that beautiful, beautiful golden reflection on the water. That's the  Butcherbird singing little family, and that other raspy noise is one of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos. The sun has come from beyond the cloud. And it is absolutely gloriously golden.  The morning time, definitely the bird time, they're waking up before the sun comes. And in this moment, there's acknowledging of the sun, and do some of your own research or what people say now about fact checking, but If you have to think for a moment, why is the sun's out there in space and we’re here on earth, why do we have sunshine here, and there's not sunshine in the whole of space illuminated by the sun? And that I had heard it in biology and in things, but really the first time this story really embedded itself was from the Elder Grandmother Pa'Ris'Ha teaching about resistance and how resistance is a way of this universe, or the overcoming of resistance, how things are created when there is a resistance.

And when we say resistance, we can be talking about a butterfly pushing through its cocoon, or we could be talking about, even as she said, starting a project and having quite a few people go to put it down or it have some bad media. All of that's part of the creative process, which can come across a little hard at times, but to realize “Hey, this has being noticed enough, to have rippling someone's feathers and comments, it's being noticed.” And the resistance here, when we're talking about creation and resistance back to the sun, the sun produces sunrays, solar rays, and the earth has an electromagnetic field around it. And again, this is just normal science. So the electromagnetic field around the earth and the rays from the sun where they come together, there's a resistance between the two. There's a dance almost. It's that resistance that creates light. The two coming together, pushing against each other, the Earth's electromagnetic field bouncing those sunrays back and the sun pushing in on the electromagnetic field. And a way to see that is at nighttime, for those who have seen, or even seen on internet, the Northern lights or the Southern lights, Aurora Borealis as the Southern ones are called the beautiful dance of greens and blues, which is that impact of the solar rays on the electromagnetic field, the Earth’s electromagnetic field.

So when you're looking at the sun, looking at all the light, looking at the blue sky, now this right here, is a dance and interplay between the electromagnetic field and that which is coming in from space. Now, adding space, if there's nothing for those rays that are coming from the sun, it says nothing that comes in contact with that, there's no resistance. There's no light created. It retains its energy and keeps traveling. But should it come upon an object? And there's the reflection bouncing back from that object, then there is light.

To take it a little further, again, a number of years later, Pa'Ris'Ha also introduced to us the teachings or first sharing’s of the years that she has been with different scientists and people, and at a time many, many years ago, she was sharing how there was a black hole behind the Milky Way. And pretty much the scientists at the time, some of them just got up and left the room, many years later, when their equipment gets more savvy, they find there's a black hole behind the Milky Way and they call her back to come and talk again. Well, there's plenty of sharing done, but it's not necessarily back to the ones who have closed minds for there was more and more information, particularly from scientists like Nassim Haramein. He talks about black holes a lot. So I suggest having a rate of that because I was again, thinking about the sun and the biology teaching we had that “most things on this earth” get their energy from the sun. They're either photosynthetic or they eat something that's photosynthetic. So when I say photosynthetic, that's photo - meaning light, synthesis meaning putting it together. So they put their food together from light. So when we talk about all the trees, and the algae, and the things that photosynthesize, synthesizing from light, and then the things that eat that, the grubs, the caterpillars, and then the birds, and then everything else. And in the ocean, the same, most of it's from photosynthetic algae, that's been eaten by small animals, like the krill that’s eaten by a bigger animal, etc. And there are other sources. So, in the deep, the deep parts of the ocean and in places where there's not much oxygen, we have organisms that can live off sulfur and produce sulfides. So they're not getting their energy necessarily from the sun, but from things like volcanic vents, where the sulfur comes out.

And so then I thought, well, the sun's not the beginning of all life. Then again, much, much later, there's the teachings around the black hole and seeing it differently now, the source of life as energy. And the interplay of energy between not only organisms on the earth but planetary. And for this beautiful time of the morning, I’ll leave you with the concept that the sun is not only a bowl creating light by interacting with the Earth's magnetic field, but it too is a black hole and is spinning at an almost infinite speed with an incredible density. If you'd like to know more about that, have a look at some of the work by in the same Haramein. And again, when we listen to the stories from our traditional peoples everywhere in the world, there are absolute scientific wisdoms. So if you are a person who's interested and you'd like to be a bridge between cultures, listen to the stories, listen to science, then investigate, and Grandmother Pa'Ris'Ha says, all good things as we look, we're looking to enhance.

 

Influence and concern

People talk about the sphere of influence, and the sphere of concern. And usually it's in a way to assist someone or increase their ability in an area. And when I say assist, assist in the area or helping manage overload of feelings or helping to manage hopelessness or helping to identify in a workplace, what I actually do, what don't I do.

And that concept of the sphere of influence and sphere of concern, the general teaching is, there's lots and lots of things on your mind potentially, or in your feelings, lots going on. So how do you narrow it down to things that you can actually influence? You may be concerned about a whole lot, but what can you influence?

And then the idea is to just really focused on the things where you have influence. And it has a nice idea that the more that you can influence, the more you do, the greater your sphere of influence. But I really need to add to that. That if you are concerned about something and if it comes to you, know that you can make a difference, even in the things that you do each day. As you live your life, you are already having impact and having effect. So, let's see how you can keep everything you're concerned about in your sphere of concern and change that word of concern, meaning “Hey, it's something in the world that stood out for you and you care, not knowing a little bit about each other, really helps us care.” So, if something stood out to you and it has an impact, either you know something about it, or you'd like to know something about it, something happened in you to care.

So your concerns, let's have a look at them. It might be something that's happening with the global climate. It might be something that's happening with teenagers. It might be your own teenager. It might be the schooling system. It tends to be when people often talk about bigger things as well, but it can be as much as someone managing their own money or the weather on a weekend that they're planning to do something. These are all areas of potential concern. Within that though, instead of saying those things are too big, you can't control the weather or you can't control whatever it might be, you can influence. And that's separate one where we talk about how your thoughts and your feelings coming together, do have an influence on the outside world, and know that there isn't really an outside world. It's an inhere world. How you think, how you feel, how you love yourself, how you then reflect that upon all that's around you. So yes, take that in whichever way it's comfortable or uncomfortable, as indeed it’s uncomfortable it normally relates to us growing. So the inhere, and the sphere of concern. So if there's something you do have a concern about let's say it's homelessness, and you have a home, when you're in your home, have great appreciation for it. Now that doesn't mean you have to necessarily go around doing appreciation ceremony, but it means, when you turn the tap on and water comes out, you can have a little smile on a feeling “Hey, this is nice water that I can drink.”. When you go to the fridge and it's full of food “Whoa, look at all that food and diversity and health.” and have that feeling that you've created of gratitude for that. And we should out there, you could use the word “wish” you could use the word “see”, you could use the word “fill it into your space”. So instead of just drawing this circle of sphere of concern and sphere of influence, and putting anything that used to be said as not your area of influence right now, just put it in the circle of concern and let it go. Instead of letting it go have it in that sphere. Or the shape around yourself and know that what you're putting in there is thoughts and feelings of that particular concern in an ideal state. If it's homelessness that this enjoyment of a clean, dry, and safe place, that there was a whole night's sleep, that the sheets are clean and fresh, that the pillow is comfortable. It can be potentially easy to take these things for granted, but as you're awakened, appreciate the night that you had.

So in our sphere of concern, we can place those things that we changed the word from concern to influence. It may not be the same influences, you're actively going on doing a de-clutter of your house for example, but it can be a sphere of influence in that your thoughts and feelings have effect.

So let's say with we've looked at homelessness, it could be that the waterways in your area are getting polluted. With the own water in your tap, or the water that you catch with the rain, do blessings with. Have a shell from an ocean, have some water in it, put it in a special place in your house where you know that it could be the equivalent of an altar or where you've got photos of your relatives or special things you've collected when you've traveled. And that place is only for that. It's not for random putting down the keys or the coffee or anything else. It's just for that. And on that space, you know, when it's there, that space, is appreciating it.

And anytime you walk past that, you might notice that your shells getting low in water, you topping it up knowing that you're sending a feeling and message of appreciation of the waters, clean waters across the world. As Pa’Ris’Ha teaches, It has effect.

So, when everything's in harmony, it all has a position. We have a position. Each one of us, we're all different. And our position includes our sphere of influence. And if there's things going on in the world, that you are concerned whether it's letting you know that something has reacted with you. Some people are very passionate about saving animals or particular species of animals. Others may be very much with the forest. Others could be in terms of education or politics. Some have a whole sphere of areas of concern.

So yes, you can have an area of direct influence in a physical way of the things you are doing this. And as a human being, you can bring consciousness to the way you are being the way you are living the way you are doing. And that can create outcomes. When I say can, it does create outcomes. And the “can” is there just to allow a little bit of space that if you feel that you're doing that, you're appreciating water, and the Creek is still dirty to your eyes, doesn't mean that it hasn't happened.

It can also be that there are times when it's where two or more come together, there's more power in your outcomes. So your concern, your area of influence then can be talking with others. It can be putting up a little sign about the lovely Creek. It could be talking to the people who manage it to say, can we do some tree planting along this Creek?

If you feel like you're ready to do more, then you can move to be active. So our areas of concern, don't need to get shut away. We don't have to shut ourselves off.

It doesn't impact us directly we may say. So we don't have to be worried about it. Yes. If you are concerned, if it does have an emotional trigger with you, do something about it. Write a letter, post something on social media, when something has triggered you, and that sort of negative connotation, it's aroused an emotion in you, energy in motion, that's awesome. Shows you’re alive, you're human, there's something there, then move it to action. So move a reaction into an action.

And with that action that you take, if you really move it in the direction, what you stand for, like we said, if you want clean water, celebrate the clean water. If you want clean water, you can definitely identify and investigate why it's not clean, and bring about a change there. If it's a direct pollution incident, there's no need to be against the person or company or place during the pollution, know that they're there, know it's opposite to what you stand for, and then put the measures in place through the channels that are available to you, or create new ones to get that different outcome. As Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha always reminds us, “You matter and you have effect.”

All good things.

-GDB