For centuries Aboriginal people have used the four directions of the medicine wheel as a tool for learning and teaching. For the past 12 years, Elder and spiritual advisor, Francis Whiskeyjack, has used the medicine wheel as a guide and as a tool to help others.
Whiskeyjack, who was born and raised in Saddle Lake, Alta., credits the medicine wheel as being one of the positive forces in his life. In his own words, this is his interpretation:
I'm not saying that this is the only way to do the medicine wheel, but this is the way I do mine. These teachings are based on the teachings I received from people in the area that I come from. Many people have different interpretations in their medicine wheel and they are all right. No one is wrong.
In the centre of the circle I like to the put the Creator's name, because without the Creator nothing would exist. The wheel has always been in direct relationship with the Creator. Right under the Creator I put me, because I need to do things for myself in order to make this wheel work.
Within the circle is the four quadrants or areas. A lot of people know them as the four directions. The number four has many significant meanings for the Aboriginal people. Within the four directions there are all the sacred teachings of four.
In the universe there are four directions--East, South, West and North. There are four winds; four seasons—Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter; four races of people—the oriental, the red man, the black people, and the white people; four types of creatures that breathe—Those that fly, birds, those that are four-legged (the buffalo), those that are two-legged (man) and those that crawl (insects).
There are four elements on earth —wind, fire, water, and air. The directions used in the wheel are always used in a clockwise direction because that is the way the sun moves, rises and sets.
First of all, I'm going put in the first quadrant, which is the East that we were born physically. We are babies then. Our physical selves begin when we are born.
Then we go on to the next quadrant which is the South, on to the mental area… When we get to the teenage years we start to use our mind a lot more.
We get to the next direction, which is the West, where there is the emotional part of things . . . sadness or hurt is represented.
The last link in this fourth quadrant is the spiritual self. When people get older they tend to get more into their Spirituality. A lot of times we may be taught spirituality when we are younger, but we often feel that we do not need it then.
So this is the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual areas in the medicine wheel. Everything needs to depend on the other directions within these four quadrants. For instance, if someone got sick and was failing physically, of course, their mind would be affected, their emotions would be affected and their spirit would be affected. If someone was dealing with their spiritual self, their physical self would be affected, mentally they would be affected, and their emotions would be affected.
The medicine wheel is also about relationships; how to make things work between you and other people. There has to be balance in every person's life. When there is balance, people have harmony. There has to be balance in the four quadrants. Everything in the wheel has a relationship with each other. There is no harmony if all or one of these is not balanced. People may experience a certain amount of peace and harmony if one area is affected; however it won't last long.
When we talk about the physical quadrant, we are talking about birth. I'd like to think about birth as being a new day so this would be the sun. For everyone, the sun means warmth and light. The sun begins its new day in the direction of the East. That is where the sun rises… As the sun gives birth to a new day, we think about birth. We can also think of birth as a season, which is Spring. When you think of the Spring you think about what it brings for the new seeds. I'd like to think about this as a new birth, a new beginning. Even among men and women in their journey as a married couple, when they get together, they produce children. From Spring comes all new life.
From Spring in the East, we will go on to the South quadrant which is Summer, which represents the teenage years. At this point the seeds have grown from babies to teenagers. The next stage of the medicine wheel after the South is the West, which would represent the fall season. The teenagers then become adults and are represented in the West quadrant. The North, which represents the season of Winter, represents the Elders. Eventually the adults become older men and women and, of course, become grandfathers and grandmothers. The legacy continues on. The seeds are carried on throughout the life cycle. Even after the Elder has passed on the seeds, the old people are still within us. So this brings about the whole growth process.
