(another short extract from my book)
There is a mysterious way in which symbols and ceremonies acquire power over time. The word ‘egregore’ describes this phenomenon. You may sometimes feel this with stone circles, that tend to be located at spots that have a certain power anyway, but the combination of ancient and modern ceremony at those places adds another layer of power that one can feel.
For myself, this also works with astrology and tarot. They are both symbolic systems that are used for divination, to help unpack who we are. And their ability to do that lies not just in the divinatory ability of the reader, but in the fact that these symbols have been used for centuries or more in the same way. Reality is not just the visible, tangible material world. It is not even fundamentally that.
Consciousness is primary, matter secondary, as quantum physics also reveals. And it is as if when we sit with say the planet Mars, we are also sitting with all those thousands of astrologers from the past and present who have also directed attention to that planet and allowed it to speak through them, it has grown as a gateway to meaning over time. And you find yourself being able to say something to the person having the reading that is true about them, without the prior knowledge one would normally require. And this is magical, it is like the universe already knows you. It enlarges and enchants the spirit of the other person.
And it is the same with the Medicine Wheel. It is also a tool of self-knowledge that has a divinatory aspect. When we use the Wheel to understand ourselves better, we are plugging in to the power it has developed over time, through all the people who have used it in this way. The Wheel has its own power, it needs to be approached with that kind of respect, and any contributions we might make to that tradition need to be done advisedly.
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