FAITH

At the centre of ourselves, at the centre of the Medicine Wheel, at the centre of the universe lies faith. It is the all-encompassing pillar that supports life, the world-tree on whose branches can be found the multiplicity of life. Faith is the sense of the sacred, of that which has highest value. It is the prioritising of what the Lakota call Wakan Tanka - the 'holiest of everything'. Keep that priority, and you will remain fundamentally on track.

Faith is something we have lost, that we even look down on as irrational. But you look at the faith that went into building the old churches, the huge resources and sacrifice over hundreds of years. It was deep ceremony. Sure, there was a fair bit of nonsense around it as well, and the requirement to believe in a miraculous ancient event. But the sheer power and centrality of it to people's lives is evident, and it is the normal state of affairs for humanity. 

Shamanic faith is like this: it is the sense of the sacred power within the natural world, that is its foundation, that continually dreams it into being. Life is sacred. We can give thanks for our life, just for the simple fact that we exist, many times every day.

A SURE FOUNDATION

Why are there 4 directions? Because we have a left and a right, a front and a behind. These are the 4 basic ways we use to orient ourselves, to know where we are. This is the foundation of the Medicine Wheel - a philosophy and a symbolism that is as profound and intricate as you like, yet rooted in everyday experience. And who is it that we are? We are made of what the world is made of. It comes to us very concretely as Sun, as Rain, as Soil and as Wind. Or Fire, Water, Earth and Air. I call them Initiation, Emotional Awakening, Incarnation and Perspective. The Directions and the Elements interweave according to which Wheel you are using. Between them they tell you who you are and where to go.

This is the beauty of indigenous ways. They are rooted not in abstract concepts, or belief in the divinity of historical figures, but in immediate, concrete experience. They therefore provide the most reliable foundation from which to live.

During the Covid lockdowns I wrote a book on the Medicine Wheel. Buy it, leave a rating on Amazon, and I will give you a free astrology reading 😀