The North of the Medicine Wheel that I use is also the Element of Air, the Mind. It comes last, it is the place of the Elder. And I think it comes later in life because it is the hardest Element to live from in a balanced way. It is easy to live from in an unbalanced way: it is just the mind spouting forth the received opinions it thinks are its own, fuelled by the unexamined emotions of the South, so much froth on the tips of the waves.
These opinions tend to be polarised into 'for' this and 'against' that. This is the real matrix. It seems like reality, whichever side you are on. But it closes us down to the vastness of things. Which is why we do it.
The Elder performs a harmonising role in the community by appreciating all sides. It is a place of disinterest, which allows for truthfulness. She no longer needs to rest on this opinion or that opinion to know who she is. She knows she is the whole universe.
