Circle of the Four

 

Indigenous Worldview (Interview With the Elders):

The most ancient symbol is the circle, and the medicine wheel is based on the whole circle, which has no beginning and no end.  In ancient times, this medicine wheel concept was introduced so that people would be able to understand how the natural world was governed and how everything is connected.  Every light form in its creation is part of this great circle of life.

 

 

In this natural world in which we live, everything moves in a circle. 

(Note from Almine:  This was the case during eons of ascension and descension cycles.  This ceased in February 2005 as the Earth began a cosmic ascension). 

Therefore, the energy of this universe moves in a circular fashion.  From the trunks of trees to the bodies of humans to a bird’s nest, this circular pattern can be seen.  There is a power within a circle and when certain muskox on the open tundra in Alaska are in danger, they form a circle of protection.  This is also why the northern Plains Indians would camp in a circle, for it could be used as a form of defense.

 

The symbol of the circle is evident and the concept of the medicine wheel is divided into the four directions:  East, South, West, and North.  From there everything is also done in fours.

 

The four seasons are spring, summer, fall, and winter, which are also part of the medicine wheel.

 

There are the four natural elements:  fire, earth, wind, and water, which can be attached to the medicine wheel, too.

 

The animals are a part of it:  the little ones, winged ones, water beings, and the four-leggeds.

 

The four levels of a person’s life:  childhood, youth, adult, and old age are also a part of this.

 

Listening, seeing, doing, and speaking are a part of the medicine wheel, as well.

 

Four colors are also used to indicate various things and different Indian nations used different colors.  There are many interpretations that exist today.  For example, the Lakota people have the four colors:  yellow, red, black, and white.  Yellow is in the East; red is in the South; black is in the West; and white is in the North.  Variations of this were also used, such as:  red in the East; yellow in the South; black in the West; and white in the North.

 

These colors have some very significant meanings behind them.  Amongst some indigenous nations, color symbolizes the aspects of a human being.  The Lakota people say that these four colors represent the four original colors of man – red, yellow, black, and white.  They symbolize the human family as it once was.

 

Being symbolic of the human being, red is representative of the blood; black is the color of hair; white is the color of bones, teeth, and eyes; and yellow, especially in ancient times, was represented by gold, which was the color of skin.  These four colors making up a human being on Earth are for the indigenous people of North America only.

 

For the Cree, there are also four colors used in the medicine wheel.  Black is used in the West; white in the North; dark gold in the East; and green in the South.  The dark gold color in the East represents all indigenous peoples around the world, including those in Tibet, Mongolia, and Russia.  They, too, are indigenous peoples.  The color green symbolizes Mother Earth and the many different colors of man on Earth.  With the Cree, these four colors are used to define the human family in a global sense, as it exists today.

 

The medicine wheels depict, from the Lakota perspective and Cree perspective, how the family of man is seen today.  Other colors around the medicine wheel represent the animal and bird kingdoms.  The winged ones, such as the eagle, are to the East; the small animals that run upon the earth are in the South; the water and thunder beings are in the West; and all of the four-legged animals are in the North.

 

Also, there are certain colors assigned to each of these animals.  When ceremonies are done to acknowledge the spirit of that animal, offerings are made as well.  To the East sits the eagle and the color of turquoise resonates to the spirit of the eagle.  In general, to make the medicine wheel whole and complete, the light blue color is used to symbolize the Creator.  Green is then used to represent the Earth.

 

The medicine wheel was also used as an ancient tool for learning or a teaching tool.  In the old days, children would be taught by the elders.  They would have the children face a particular direction:  North, South, East or West.  The children would then have to name all of the energies associated with that direction.  As they succeeded, a new direction was added until each child could face each of the four directions and name all the energies successfully.

 

The purpose of the medicine wheel was to create an understanding for the people to refer to in times of prayer.  The intent of it was for human beings to acknowledge the Creator and Mother Earth, as well as all the four sacred beings who sit in the four directions.  These beings could also be called upon as allies.

 

Commentary by Almine:

The mystical teachings associated with the medicine wheel and the four directions are so ancient that, according to the oral traditions of indigenous peoples, it doesn’t even fit the time-line of recorded history.  We are speaking about a time so long ago that the concept of its age would not be able to penetrate the general consensus of our limited understanding.

 

The mystical concepts associated with the medicine wheel have, to a large extent, been lost.  Even though indigenous peoples honor and respect and live according to it, which enhances their personal power, the true meaning behind it has faded with antiquity.  What it refers to, according to the ancient Toltec Nagual Shaman oral traditions, are vast “bands of compassion”, building blocks of the macrocosm.

 

Time, Space, Energy, and Matter

 

The musics of the Cree and other tribes are infused with the special sounds of Hay Ha Ho, corresponding very closely to Hey Vau Yod of the ancient Hebrew teachings, which are the sounds of Creation.  It is generally understood that Creation took place in four phases, which can be equated to a mother, a father, and interaction between them producing two offspring.  According to the ancient mystical teachings on our planet, these phases occurred in the following order:  (see Journey to the Heart of God)

 

The great bands of compassion formed the sequences of life during life’s descension.  It seemed as though matter originated from higher realms, but as the ascension began in earnest in February, 2005 (see The Gift of the Unicorns), life ascended from matter upwards.  The four directions represent the four stages of the Fall of Life which occurred as follows:

 

Excerpt from Journey to the Heart of God

 

 

 

Further Understanding as to what the Directions Were

Another way to view time, space, energy, and matter is with the idea of four meshes placed before the light of the Infinite, as would be visible on an overhead projector, as they cast their shadows in a unified pattern, which is Creation.  The Ancients taught that all things in the universe, even humans, could be divided into the four directions.  This is so because each Creation tends to be more associated with the qualities of one of the four meshes:  time, space, energy, or matter. 

 

This means, then, that the medicine wheel is not just a teaching mechanism or a means of organizing information, but is actually the foundation of the basic building blocks of Creation.  Aligning ourselves with the energies of the Infinite empowers and enlightens us, enabling the Infinite’s light to shine through us in a most magical way.  In October, 2007, space folded in and the four directions were no more.