In the beginning of October, the Sun travels along the left arm of the celestial virgin, and as Corvus rises in our early skies, we tend to slow down. It is a time of tending to our bodies – sleeping well and getting enough rest, nurturing the skin, eating healthily and getting our needed daily physical exercise. It is also a time of cleansing and clearing and cleaning, letting go of what no longer serves us, whether physical such as clothes or items, or belief systems. Such release is done with gratitude always; for whatever was there, was there of purpose and as we needed it and as it helped us at the time, but if it no longer serves us, it may now be released for new things to enter, and new insights to emerge.
In Navajo cosmology, Corvus is part of the greater constellation Hastiin Sik’aí’íí, translated as “The Man With His Legs Spread Apart”, and symbolizes the seasonal transition from summer to autumn, the continuity of cycles, strength, and solidarity. Portrayed as a man in a squatting position, or with his legs spread apart, he represents the changing or parting of seasons, and yet he stands strong on the ground, showing stability in his spiritual core and roots that will hold him through the changes and upcoming winter.
Today I’ll guide you through the medicine wheel, and how you may use its beautiful wisdom for your inner and outer harmony and balance. Each direction of the medicine wheel, when balanced, helps support our health and wellbeing, as much as it also helps nurture and sustain loving relationships in our life. A while back, when I shared about sacred relationships, I referred to its wisdom, and how the balancing of the north and south directions helped build these relationships.
I will go over all the directions in depth – as well as for each one I will share what it may look like when it’s balanced, when it is out of balance, and how you may bring it into balance; and then, I’ll also guide you through a couple of examples.
Before I move forward, for those that may not know, let us first understand what is the medicine wheel.
The medicine wheel is a sacred hoop with the four cardinal directions and has been used for millennia in Indigenous cultures worldwide to bring harmony and wellbeing to the communities. Throughout the history of humanity, we can see that almost all mystical traditions encouraged the walk-about, or the vision quest, for accessing deeper knowledge, wisdom and inner truth, and personal power.
Spirituality is a walk we access from inside of us, and we can’t take that walk without some meaningful intentional solitude. The medicine wheel is at its essence a symbology of the great walk. It is a four-fold path towards freedom, wholeness, inner wisdom and fulfillment.
The wheel represents the cycles of life, the cycles of nature, and the circular pattern of the universe. The directions symbolize the four steps that the shaman takes to become a person of power and wisdom.
We can look at the four directions as our bodies of consciousness, also:
the physical body relates to the west,
the emotional body relates to the south,
the mental body relates to the east, and
the spiritual body relates to the north.
This gives us insight into how they are all interconnected, and how the imbalance of one will imbalance the rest. In reality, we will never as human beings in physical body have all of our directions perfectly balanced – but the point is to be more aware and more conscious, so that we do our best to stay in as much balance as possible.
This is why the wheel is also used by many holistic health practitioners, because it can show how we can balance one area of life through another. In Indigenous cultures particularly, the medicine wheel is used for ceremony, ritual, healing, spiritual purposes and as a container for understanding the oneness of life.
The circle is full of symbolism, as it is holding the totality of life, and holding layers and layers of complex mystical symbology and esoteric wisdom.
Everything is interconnected and interrelated.
This is at the essence of Shamanism also. Shamanism is a way of life or a way of connecting back into all of Creation; it is the realization and embodiment that we are of oneness. At its core, Shamanism is about restoring wholeness and balance for people and communities, where a genuine reciprocity and relationship may be formed between humanity, nature and spirit.
Some of the core beliefs about Shamanism are:
• Everything is alive and has life force energy, which is sometimes called animalism.
• Everything and everyone is our teacher and serves as mirror.
• Compassion and deep union with nature and wildlife allow us to see and live from the eyes of our heart, and the practice of living this beauty way brings illumination to all aspects of our life.
• Our “concrete” or material world is only the beginning and this “conceptual shift” opens up our possibility to connect with the higher realms of spirit.
The directions of the wheel also relate to the four elements, our age, time of day, and the four seasons of the year. Many shamans may take time each season to focus on the area of life and the element that the direction represents. For example, in summer, or the south direction, we may focus more on relationships, creativity, passion and intimacy.
And in winter, or the north direction, we may go inward focusing on cleansing, meditation, and developing spiritually as this is related to the inner world and the hidden realms. The north direction also relates to the element of earth – which may sound counterintuitive to some people, because why would earth be connected to the spiritual realm, but the reason is that we need that grounding element when we work with the higher realms.
My knowledge of the medicine wheel comes from one of my earliest spiritual teachers who was a Shaman; this was the knowledge and wisdom I was initiated into, and this is what I will share forward. As a mystic and spiritual worker myself, through my own mystic’s path and lived in and lived out experiences, I will be sharing further insights I’ve gathered and known along the way.
I know that there are some people who may connect the directions to other seasons and areas of life. The essence is the same. There is no right or wrong, but just a different perspective, or pathway, based on which direction the Shaman has started their life or work.
What matters most is the understanding of the essence. You should apply the wheel and its directions in the way it feels true for you and according to your unique path, awakening your own inner wisdom as you walk your path and experience life through you. You may come across someone who says “the west is about the emotional body”, but for me personally it is in the south. What matters is that it makes sense for you and feels true for you based on your knowledge and life experience.
What I will share here with you today is my interpretation based on my knowledge, belief and life experience. The reason I am saying all of this is because I want you to understand the essence, and then to apply it in the way that resonates true for you. Walking a spiritual path is a deeply unique personal experience, and it is yours. As part of that path there are certain foundations we need to have, yes absolutely, it takes work, discipline, knowledge and study; but then you walk it yourself, finding out your own way and what’s true for you based on what reveals itself through your experience.
Having said all that, let’s begin with a basic foundational understanding of the wheel.
In many ceremonies people start the wheel with the east direction because it represents the sunrise, but I prefer to start with the north, and soon you’ll learn why.
Also, the north-south line is known as the feminine line, while the east-west line is known as the masculine line. This is connected to the elements that they represent as earth and water are feminine, while air and fire are masculine.
The North – Spiritual Body – Earth
The north is the space we enter when we want to go to the core of who we are; what do I believe, what are my values, who am I, why am I here, what is my soul purpose? We shut out the outer world and we go inward to uncover the essence of who we truly are within.
Once we know this deeper truth about ourselves, we will no longer allow the external world to define our identity. Like I always say: Our greatest adversary to reclaiming our power is forgetfulness; forgetting our heart, inner truth and ability to love. We have to remember who we are in our core; and this is the answer to everything else in this life.
The north relates to night time or 12am -6pm. This is the quiet time when we become more quiet, our body regenerates itself, we shut out the external and go into the other more unconscious realms, for the purpose of introspective and reflection.
The north relates to winter. In winter, it is cold enough to bring us to absolute honesty. And our tendency is to go inward, stay inside and nurture the warmth inside of us.
The north relates to the spiritual body. When we are in alignment to our spiritual body, we are living in the truth of who we are. And when we are living in the truth of who we are spiritually, then all else in life will just flow as we’ll have a clearer sight.
The north is about self-realization; we see ourselves as who we truly are. When we let go of the external validation and ego-based identities, we can finally see ourselves truly and accept ourselves. We will also recognize the divinity in us. And through this, we will also be able to see the divinity in another person.
The north relates to the third eye chakra – because we need to see clearly.
The archetype of the north is the soul shaman.
We go to the north for reflection, introspection, self-development, developing our inner world, expanding our consciousness, doing spiritual work, and diving into esotericism and mysticism.
The north is represented by the earth element. This is because we need grounding when we are working with the spiritual realms – otherwise we’ll just fly up somewhere and get lost in the abyss. We need an anchor, holding us to the earth with discernment and discipline.
Intuitive development cannot be properly done unless the student has a strong grounding, integrity, values and discernment; and you need to also work with the physical body, keeping it strong, doing purification, so that you are able to rise higher to meet and connect to lighter energy.
To me personally, the north and spiritual direction connects to the jaguar. As a symbol and animal totem to shamans, he carries great power and wisdom and intuition, but he also holds the physical anchor with strength and ancestral wisdom.
The jaguar is the totem representing our inner truth and reclaiming our power. Jaguar people walk a life of truth. The jaguar is also a very sensual animal and it is this connection to earth and the senses that keeps it grounded, and yet it is the animal with great psychic power, which allows it to journey far and beyond the eye, no matter what the terrains look like. It is also about patience and knowing the cycles of the land. The jaguar teaches us the way of the luminous warrior who stands impeccably in her truth.
Another animal I think of for this north direction is actually the turtle, representing ancestral wisdom, slow pace, “as above so below”, bringing heaven into our physical home and body, in its shell.
When the spiritual body is in balance, we may feel: calm, courageous, confident, creative, humble, centered, authentic, trusting, believing, having faith, feeling a connection to higher power or God, self-realization, feeling strong inner core or inner stability, knowing who we are, our life seems more balanced, true joy based on who we truly are
When the spiritual body is not in balance, we may feel: disconnection, inner separation, loneliness, hopelessness, powerlessness, feeling unseen and unheard, heavy emphasis on appearance, shallow communication and shallow relationships, fear of intimacy, over-reliance on doing or controlling, not knowing what we want, feelings of emptiness, not turning ideas into reality, procrastination, illusion and head in the clouds, ego-driven actions for external validation, not knowing who we are, broken inner core, self-illusion, self-deceit, self-sabotage, identity crisis, lack of deeper connection in relationships, emotional numbness
How to bring our spiritual body in balance:
• Spend time in nature
• Spend meaningful alone time, where you can focus on your inner self and your needs
• Release energetic ties, release karmic bonds/contracts, and take spiritual baths
• Practice grounding techniques such as salt baths, and having a clean home
• Try meditation to quiet the mind; and practice surrender where you learn to let go
• Focus on gratitude techniques, such as appreciating all the things you already have
• Focus on charity work, or work of service to others
• Create your Northern Star – this is a list of your values, that you will remember and let this guide you through your decision making
• What matters to you? What do you love, what makes you happy, inspired? What makes you feel free? What makes you feel childlike joy and openness of heart?
• Self-development: Who are you – not who you think you are or should be because of other people or need for external validation.
The east direction relates to the time between 6am – 12pm. It is the sunrise. What seeds we’d sewn related to ideas, beliefs and thought patterns begin to manifest as we rise. This direction is all about our visionary selves as we reconnect to our destinies. We also learn the tools of personal alchemy and how to harness these energies so that we can co-create consciously.
The east relates to spring. After a long winter, seeds begin to sprout and we see the aliveness, vitality and fresh new colours outside. There’s a newness in the air and it is time to manifest our realities in every moment. This direction also reminds us and teaches us how to dream our world into being on the individual level, but also for the collective good.
The east relates to the mental body. This is how we bring forth the wisdom of the north and interpreting it through our own ideas, beliefs, perceptions and perspectives.
The archetype of the east is the visionary.
The east relates to our throat chakra. This direction focuses on communication, visions and we can use prayer, singing, chanting and sound for healing or ceremonial modalities.
The east relates to the element of air. Air is great for clarity, perspective and joy. Joy is particularly a great way to work with this energy.
We go to the east to focus on self-esteem, joy, self-motivation, confidence and to see the world from a higher perspective. Think of eagles, hawks and owls for this direction – as they remind us of the visionary aspect of life; that we need to zoom out and see things from a higher perspective to understand what we are birthing, growing and how to move forward.
The east relates to our sacred work: how are we of service to others, what is our contribution through our actions? This is something that makes us feel purposeful. Just like in the north direction we needed to see our true selves, and this is what contributed to feeling that we live a purposeful life, in the same way in the east direction we need to feel that we are of contribution to others to feel that we are living a purposeful life. Our sacred work can be expressed through our actions; in the way we give joy to another person, and helping another where we can.
When the mental body is in balance, we may feel: clear vision, good problem solving, being decisive, discerning, innovative, organized, responsible, confident, initiative, ability to bring ideas into reality, ability to solve emotional, mental and physical issues in a kind and supportive way
When the mental body is not in balance, we may feel: procrastination, messiness, confusion, brain fog, forgetfulness, ideas lost quickly, lethargy, lack of purpose, neuroses, doubt, no self-confidence, lack of integrity and ethics, gossiping, lack of self-esteem, insecure, low self-worth, ego-centric, selfish, narcissistic, little to no empathy, no accountability how our actions affect others, little to no compassion, disregard for others, over-driven, over-ambitious
How to bring our mental body in balance:
• Expanding the mind through reading, writing, travel and education
• Goal setting and making small steps every day towards it
• Building self-confidence, self-esteem and self-motivation
• Talk therapy with people who are emotionally intelligent, supportive and nurturing
• Self-organization – for every day duties in work or around the house
• Self-discipline – self-control, managing your energy and how and where you invest it
• Taking care of your responsibility. The more you do, the more you’ll see that you are capable and able, increasing your confidence and self-trust
• Discernment – being more mindful of your needs and wants, and who you choose to spend time with
• Psychotherapy – to release mental blocks and self-limiting beliefs
• Spending time in nature, somewhere air is really fresh, as much as you can
• Singing or humming, or focusing on the throat chakra
• Engaging your natural curiosity on what will benefit your well-being or future plans rather than on other people
• Writing in a journal about your feelings, hopes and dreams, which is soothing for both emotions and mind
• Visualize what you desire, and take steps each day towards making it happen
The South – Emotional Body – Water
Emotions are the vehicle to our spiritual body. Whatever you do – do it wholeheartedly. This is devotion. This is life itself. The heart is the initiatory pathway to higher consciousness.
The south direction is how we travel through our emotions. It is water. It is our emotional body. It is emotional intelligence. It is feeling our feelings.
The south direction relates to the time between 12pm-6pm and summertime. The time is warm, hot, sensual, romantic and we are nurturing the seeds envisioned from our east direction.
The south relates to the sacral chakra.
We go to the south for relationships, intimacy, sensuality, intuition, feelings, emotions, love, desire, passion, creativity, playfulness, movement, self-love and anything heart-centered.
The south-north is the most important axis of the wheel, like a spine that holds us: the north’s self-realization, i.e. knowing our true selves, and the south’s self-love, i.e. accepting ourselves. Without these two, nothing else will ever fall into balance.
In the south we learn to communicate intuitively which is fueled by the north direction, and we also learn intimate communication, such as intentional listening and holding space for another person and their own truth. We also communicate through our creativity and through our emotions.
Learning to feel our feelings and understanding what our emotions are telling us are the key to a healthy fulfilled life, both emotionally and spiritually. If the emotional body is unhealed and our emotions are unacknowledged or suppressed, our physical body will also be impacted.
The south’s archetype is the sacred heart warrior.
The purpose of the south is sacred relationships. Sacred relationships are soul-deep; they are rooted in the truth of our soul.
As such, it is impossible to have a sacred relationship without being in our truth and authenticity – which means that we need to be in balance with the north direction as this is where we understand the core of who we are. When we see ourselves on a soul level, and recognize the divinity within us, only then we would be able to see the truth in another, and connect deeply on a soul level. Otherwise, it is impossible. Our ability to be more conscious and reflective will also help us build long-lasting bonds.
In sacred relationships there is no hiding, no judgement, no angst, we are truly ourselves and only then true love and true intimacy may happen. Such sacred bonds happen in an open, trusting space where we can truly show up as we are and there is soul appreciation; there is honouring and acceptance for the other person no matter where they are in their life.
This is why self-love, emotional intelligence and spirituality are crucial for deep love. In sacred relationships, all dissolves into merging. We are fully seen. This is what intimacy means also: into-me-see. We can’t experience emotional depth and true intimacy without allowing to be truly seen by another.
Intimacy is based on trust, conscious sensuality, intentional communication, deep listening, vulnerability, receptive eye gazing, deep love, devotion, appreciation and acceptance. It means holding safe space for another to allow them to be who they truly are. Intimacy can only happen in mutual trust, and this is a space you build with another together.
One of the most beautiful parts of being human is our ability to experience relationships. And when they are soul-deep, then we are truly fulfilled because we can be truly ourselves with that person and we are loved and loving. This makes us feel a sense of purpose, and in truth, learning to love is our greatest life purpose.
When the emotional body is in balance, we may feel: empathic, open, honest, trusting, sensual, loving, receptive, playful, emotionally connected, feeling our feelings, less judgmental, non-critical, generous, no dryness of skin, deeply intimate relationships
When the emotional body is not in balance, we may feel: untrustworthy, too sarcastic, gossiping, critical, judgmental, lashing out, reacting harshly, extreme mood swings, little intuition, lack of trust, inability to understand or listen to people, fearful, neurotic, lack of intimacy, lack of deep relationships and friendships, co-dependent, jealous, controlling, inflexibility, dehydration, lack of sleep, stress, self-doubt, projection, irritated, depressed, obsessive, anxious, hopelessness, feelings of drowning in relationships, weight fluctuations
How to bring our emotional body in balance:
• Learning meditation
• Prayer or focusing on spirituality
• Releasing emotions, including grief release from past wounds
• Releasing stress and tension regularly through body movement and massage
• Focusing your energy on friendships and relationships who are supportive and nurturing
• Stay away from people who hurt you, doubt you, criticize you, judge you
• Set boundaries and respect your boundaries, move away from people who cross your boundaries
• Focus on self-love every day – which means: accepting yourself as you are, being compassionate and respecting your needs and wants, prioritizing your well-being rather than over-focus on other people, let go of self-critical thoughts
• Dance, create, focus on your creativity in times when you feel too much intense energy
• Learn to harness your sexual energy and use it for creativity or physical exercise
• Establishing a deeper connection to nature and the cycles of nature/wildlife
The West – Physical Body – Fire
The time of day associated with the west is between 6pm-12pm, and the season is autumn. After the hotness and energy of the summer, we need to some time to settle down and reflect. There’s a coolness and we can see through the eyes of gratitude.
Transformation and rebirth can be common to the west direction as ceremonial. For example, we gather the harvest of fruits and make them into jam for the coming winter. This is also because of the element of fire connected to the physical body. We need to tend to our health from within. If we want to heal the physical body, we must heal the emotional body.
When we work with the fire element – we can use its transformational energy for our wellness. This can be done both symbolically and literally. Release and let go of what no longer serves you, with gratitude, always. Whatever was there in your life, it had its right place for its time being, whether it was in the form of belief system, thought pattern, clothes, shoes, scars and wounds, feelings and emotions, or an object like a vase; all were there for a purpose, whether for protection or nurturing or whatever else way.
But if it no longer serves you on your path, as it is right now, you may let it go. When it’s time, clean out the house and the mind, let rivers move away the stories that no longer serve you, so that you can make space for new energy to arrive. Walk the beauty way.
The west relates to sacred space, which is both within and without; our physical body and the physical space. We cleanse the house, cleanse the energy, de-clutter, decorate, and open the windows allowing for some new air to circulate. Through these ways, new insights will emerge that may inform us. We also care for our body: do we sleep enough, what do we eat, do we nourish our skins?
Since all of the directions are interconnected, any imbalance from the others will impact the physical body. And while medicine may help relieve symptoms, we need to remember that our health is a holistic system and understanding how all the aspects of our life, and all our four bodies of consciousness impact us, will be the key to long-lasting health.
The west relates to the fire element and the archetype is the alchemist. The west is about a time of harvest and the key elements you may work with here include learning how to establish boundaries, how to forgive and how to live with gratitude.
When the physical body is in balance, we may feel: open, healthy, flexible, energetic
When the physical body is not in balance, we may feel: lethargic, stiff in muscles, messy house, messy mind, body tightness, heaviness, back issues, dryness, loss of elasticity, health issues, doubt that the body can heal itself and an over-reliance on external medicine or plastic surgery/fillers, tendency to bypass emotions, intimacy issues, lack of yin/feminine time, lack of spiritual time, and over-focus on instant gratification
How to bring our physical body in balance:
• Focus on emotional nourishment and body care
• Movements, massage, dance, walks in nature
• Daily walking, stretching; and may try barefoot walking (it is a grounding technique)
• House decorating and cleaning
• Cooking and a healthy diet; may try gardening (or caring for plants in the house)
• Practicing forgiveness and compassion
• Setting boundaries with people
• Water cleansing, baths and water therapies
• Getting plenty of sleep
• De-clutter, letting go of what no longer serves you, including people and beliefs
Now that we’ve covered all the directions, one way we can use them is that when one area of life isn’t going very well, we can see how it relates to the rest and work with it to bring it into balance. We can also see through our own life’s experiences; when one area of life falls into place, all the rest suddenly balance out and move forward. Another way to work with the wheel is to spend time regularly on all of our directions and bringing them into balance through self-reflection and easy exercises.
The reason why I started with the north direction or the spiritual body is because this is at the root of everything, the core of everything. When we become more conscious and aware, and feel in touch with our true inner self, and nourish and strength our spiritual core and our relationship to our self, then all of our other areas of life will flow easier. Physically our health will improve, and our relationships with others will improve also.
For example, let’s say we are struggling with co-dependency, which may show imbalance in the emotional body. In co-dependency, our self-worth usually has attached to the external world and other people, so we want to serve others too much and our self-esteem fluctuates depending on other people’s actions or opinions.
One way to look at co-dependence is a lack of inner trust and inner power – so ways to harmonize it is to strengthen our confidence through our mental body, and also, make the time to build trust and connection to self through our spiritual practices, and also, to work with the physical body and space to make sure we are in supportive environments where people appreciate us and don’t abuse our kindness.
Often times, co-dependency is indeed a product of staying in unhealthy environments for too long or not feeling in touch with your inner self and spiritual core. Healthy dependency creates true independency. So it is really important to reflect on your environment, the people in your inner circle, whom you share with and how they respond, the ideas you carry from others about who you are or what you are worth, and making sure you have supportive people in your life. It is also important to reflect on your attachment style, be honest with yourself, and just do the best you can each day.
Everything is interrelated and interdependent. This is just how life is. And this makes it beautiful. At the core of everything is our inner world. It is through our awareness and perception that we can choose to make the conscious choice to make the needed changes to lead a more emotionally and spiritually fulfilled life, and experience life and ourselves and others on a deeper, truer level.
Please remember – we will always have some parts of us that are not in balance; there is no such thing as complete perfect balance as long as we are in human bodies. Some seasons and phases and moments of our life will invite us towards one direction, and others more in another, and so on. It’s a flow overall, ebbs and flows all a part of the ocean, just as rivers and sky are of one canvas and one greater cycle.
We go through life as students, always seeking, and always learning and growing. There is always a way to take things one step deeper and one step further. Even when we are walking a path of truth and authenticity, we’ll still experience days of doubt, days when we find ourselves in a forest with mist surrounding us and not knowing our way forward. We are constant explorers, students and mystics of life and love.
The point is to come to some sense of acceptance, which refers to the totality of life. It is the acceptance of our current moment and current state of being. It is the awareness that all changes and flows and is interdependent, and that it is okay to be who we are and where we are in life.
In this space of acceptance, while it may seem passive like a kind of surrender, is precisely the space, or wombed room, where all is born and has the ability to grow and expand, in its needed form. You have all that you need inside of you to build sacred relationships, live your sacred purpose, and experience life wholebodily and wholeheartedly.
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