This blog post is about understanding life and love through the four directions of the Medicine Wheel. About fifteen years ago I was introduced to the four directions of the Medicine Wheel as it is integrated into many indigenous cultures. Since then, I have experienced the Medicine Wheel through the wisdom of numerous First Peoples. Worldwide, each indigenous culture, tribal group, or First Nation band has a different interpretation of the Medicine Wheel. I learned to be flexible and I learned to blend the Medicine Wheel into my life in many ways. I have discovered that many non-indigenous practitioners prefer to call it “the wheel” rather than the Medicine Wheel as a way to show respect and honour traditional indigenous knowledge. From the perspective of systemic healing, the wheel is helpful in explaining the many complex systems to which we belong. The four directions of the wheel can be set up as a systemic constellation to look at any issue in life.
The Love Wheel
I recently experienced a “love” interpretation of the four directions of the wheel at a workshop in Bernried, Germany which was facilitated by Guni Baxa. Guni suggested we might want to look at the love relationships we have in life through the lens of the four directions – East, South, West, and North – to understand their qualities in the spectrum of love. The Love Wheel is meant to help us understand where we are positioned in the present, where we have been, and where we would like to go to find greater balance and wholeness in life.
Why the Circle or Wheel?
The wheel is usually considered to represent the circle of life in some way, which is believed to have no beginning and no end. It may represent the Earth; the Sun; the Moon; or the cycles of seasons, days, years, energy, consciousness, tides, the Zodiac, or the stars. It may represent infinite possibilities or the continuity of all creation. The wheel can be set up outdoors upon the Earth in a large circle of stones to be walked by the participant or it can be represented indoors using markers.
Meaning of the Circle
The wheel is in the form of a circle. When a gathering occurs in a circle, it is considered to create sacred space, with each individual present valued and respected. Each individual is a gift to the circle and appreciated for being present. The circle has no hierarchy and encourages equality and humility. There is no place for judgement in the circle. The circle encourages sharing and creates a new pattern of communication called communion. You interact with others without attempting to change them. The circle creates space for all voices to be heard, especially the quiet ones, and each individual has the opportunity to speak without interruption. The circle encourages listening, and it discourages argument or crosstalk. The circle is complete when each individual has an opportunity to share his or her individual gift, in whatever form that might take.
Setting Up the Wheel
The wheel may be used as a tool for understanding life and it is frequently divided into four quadrants that have many meanings, some of which I will share below. The number four was significant to many indigenous communities around the world in their daily life and spiritual practices. The borders drawn to create the separation between the four quadrants creates a space of liminality between one direction and another or one meaning and another, and each border has significance. Let me share some of the common meanings for the four directions of The Wheel and then I will explain the meanings of the four directions of The Love Wheel. Feel free to chose the meanings that resonate within you.
The Four Directions of the Wheel
Some meanings of the East: The sun rises; light; bright; dawn of a new day; morning; new beginnings; place of the spirit; creation; new life; new growth; trees and plants in bud; birth; rebirth; the baby and childhood; birth of the young in nature; freshness; new projects; season of spring; a new cycle begins; inspiration; potential; the colours of yellow (sun) or red (dawn); attachment to the family system or family soul, people, situations, and material things; where one is significantly influenced by family values and beliefs; and the element fire.
Some meanings of the South: The sun is high in the sky; noon; afternoon; season of summer; trees and plants are in the height of growth, move into adolescence; youthful passion; sexuality; purity; growth; power; playful; pleasure; trust; innocence; place of the physical; strength; activity; carefree; abundance; energy; agility; spontaneous; confidence; the colours of red or yellow; young adulthood; self-judgement and judging others; attachment to tribal, community, or collective soul; separation from the other; divisiveness; expanded involvement in life and the world; and the element earth.
Some meanings of the West: Sunset; the moon is present; dusk; evening; season of autumn; trees lose their leaves; loss of innocence; transformation; darkness; mystery; the unknown; unconscious; seeking answers; faith; confusion; visions; dissolution; adulthood; maturity; parenthood; place of the heart and emotions; accumulation of wounds, grief, suffering, and hurt; aging; the colours of blue, purple, green, or black; individual soul; individuation; introspection; initiation; going within; revealing; surrender; exploring self; expanded self; separation from collective; self as part of greater whole; internal referencing; letting go of what no longer serves; purification; healing; compassion; understanding; and the element water.
Some meanings of the North: Darkness, night, midnight, peace, the ancestors, time following physical death, season of winter, place of mind and wisdom, contemplation, see the big picture, ancient ones, trees hibernate preparing for renewal, elders, less earthly responsibility; old age, relaxation, harvest the fruit of the journey, freedom, serenity, conclusion, endings, completion, white or blending of all colours, time before conception, universal soul or Oneness, no shape, no form, no time, openness, wholeness, unity with all, benevolence, no separation, responsibility to serve others, giving, nurturing, let spirit fly, manifestation, walking your talk, living the vision or dream, motivated to reach highest potential, understand limitations, courage, commitment, mature action, magic, miracles, flow of life, non-attachment, live and love unconditionally, humility, and the element wind.
The Love Wheel Exercise
Set up a circle or wheel on the floor with any material you have handy (wool, stones, string, scarves, or fabric) and then cross the circle with two long perpendicular scarves that divide the circle into four equal parts. Align the four quadrants to the four cardinal directions – East, South, West, and North. After reading the meanings of the Love Wheel below, you are asked to move from quadrant to quadrant or direction to direction to experience the energy and the inner feelings and emotions that arise at each position. Take your time with the exercise and journal your experiences and feelings as you go.
Guni Baxa discussed the four main types of Love in the Love Wheel and the following explanations are my own, paraphrasing and expanding on what Guni shared:
Love in the East
In the East, we experience Individual Love: This Love includes the love of the mother for the child; the father for the child; and love relationships with siblings, extended family members, friends, and intimate partners. The East involves love relationships that have the potential to hurt us the most when things are not going well. In the East we begin to understand ourselves in relationship with others. This is where much of the relationship drama occurs in life. Creating a healthy flow of love in relationship with those individuals close to us is the journey of the East.
If we don’t shift in life beyond an excess of love relationship drama with others in the East, it may keep us from exploring Love for the World (South) or Love for Self (West). It is possible however to explore various directions of Love at the same time.
Love in the South
In the South, we explore Love for the World that surrounds us as nature; Mother Earth; the animal world, both domestic and wild; and the global community of many cultures and groups of people. The South expands our worldview as we explore new outer experiences and different cultures, social and political dynamics, religions, languages, and ethnic groups. We expand as we explore our relationship to non-human creatures in our environment. Creating a healthy flow of love in relationship to the world around us is the journey of the South.
If we get caught in a trap of looking only at the issues of everyone else in the world, it may keep us from shifting to explore our own issues and developing Love for Self (West) or from healing our Individual Love relationships in the East. Many social, political, and environmental activists and advocates have a tendency to get caught up in the issues of the world and avoid looking at their own issues with others (East) and Self (West).
Love in the West
In the West, we explore and develop Love for Self as we expand and open to going inward with love. We let go of self-judgement and the superego’s critical voice that judges us from within. We experience introspection and develop self-soothing, self-care, and self-parenting techniques. We go within to connect with our authentic inner core self. We address our inner woundedness. Creating a healthy flow of love in relationship with Self is the journey of the West.
If we get caught in a lifetime of introspection, we may miss the opportunity to experience Love for the World around us in the South and we may not heal the wounds of Individual Love experienced in the East.
Love in the North
In the North, we experience Universal Love, unconditional love, love for humanity at an expansive level, and find interconnectivity and unity to Universal or Multiversal Oneness. Human beings are meant to shift the relationships of all four directions from unhealthy to healthy. Creating a healthy flow of love in service to the greater whole is the journey of the North.
Some individuals attempt to live a lifetime of Universal Love in avoidance of developing healthy Individual Love relationships, Love for the World, and/or Love for Self. This has a tendency to create life imbalance. The individual will go on seeking without finding wellbeing, inner peace and contentment, and life purpose. A human being is meant to explore the many relationship challenges of the material realm in all four directions. To stand with strength in Universal Love in the North you may find it necessary to experience wellbeing first in the other three directions.
The Liminal Spaces or Borders
We may also stand on the borders between the quadrants, such as between the North and the East. It may be in response to an opportunity to begin a new relationship after some time spent in Universal Love. When an individual has created healthy Individual Love relationships in the East, explored healthy Love with the World in the South, attained Self-Love in the West, and found balance and unity with Universal Love in the North, they may remain in that position to complete their lifetime or they may choose to shift intentionally into one of the other directions once again to expand and deepen their inner emotional and spiritual journey.
Your Experience of the Love Wheel
As a facilitator, a client, or an individual seeking to understand your own life and love relationships, stand in the different positions of the Love Wheel and discern which quadrant you are presently standing in most strongly. Determine whether you are presently straddling two or more quadrants. Decide whether you feel grounded and balanced in that position. Do you have a sense of wanting to shift or move on the spectrum of love to a different quadrant of the Love Wheel? Do you feel pulled to another quadrant energetically?
You may find you have to gather your courage to intentionally shift your life and love to a different quadrant or direction of the Love Wheel. Sometimes familiarity leads to energetic stagnation whether there is chaos or comfort. Sometimes we let our ego keep us stuck in the status quo, fearing change. We know that change in life is inevitable. Life is in constant motion and it has a way of bringing forward the challenges of one direction or another to continue inner development and growth. Also, be cautioned that human beings sometimes have to wait patiently for the timing to be right to shift to a new dynamic or blending of love experiences or for your relationships in a particular quadrant to shift toward healthiness. What action step do you feel prepared to take in your life to shift an unhealthy love relationship into a healthy relationship?
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