The Elements make up all of life. They are the essence of life itself, infusing all of creation with ancient medicine and memory. We are all made up of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. This is what we all have in common. We are also made up of the origin of these elements. The primordial Fire that sparked existence is alive and burning in the heart and core of all of us. The original fire that permeated this Universe and carries unconditional love was lit and will never go out.
Cross culturally, all traditions carry a medicine wheel. There are Celtic wheels, Native American wheels, pagan wheels, South American Medicine Wheels, Mayan Wheels, Aboriginal Wheels etc.
The concept of the wheel comes from the reality that time is not linear. Every human body still knows this truth inside of its cells. The woman’s moon cycle is 28 days, cyclically aligned with the ebb and flow of the tides and the rhythm of the moon. This cyclic nature is how, until modern times, people have always lived.
This worldview carries the process of how life evolves; the natural world grows and works together, all things are connected, to all things there is a season, and everything is moving towards its destiny, to die and be reborn again and again.
Medicine wheels are unique to the culture in which they are birthed from and through. They are birthed from the land, the animals, the plants, the spirits, and the medicines from which one cohabitates with. A medicine wheel is a representation of the alignment and continuous interaction of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual realities. The circle holds the interconnectivity and wholeness of all aspects of one’s being, all being interwoven with Nature.
During time in dieta/isolation/opening yourself to the wisdom and medicine of a plant spirit, it is helpful to have an orientation of your inner medicine wheel; of the ways in which you, as medicine, tend to engage with your life. Are you prone to having a lot of emotions? Do you need support accessing deeper grief and quieted emotions? Do you easily feel angry or is there room for you to increase your inner fire? Are you hoping to get more in touch with your sensuality, your womb space, your fertility, and ability to give birth to your heart’s vision? Do you wish to deepen your masculinity and structure or are you calling in more fluidity? How straight is your arrow in directing your prayer for life on Earth? Could you use more grounding or more movement in your life?
In choosing plants to work with, they will also reflect, illuminate, and call forward the elements inside of us.
For example, if you are dieting Una de Gato (Cat’s Claw), this is bitter, cooling, sour, and astringent. On a physical level, Cats Claw has an affinity for the immune system, digestive system, gastrointestinal tract, urinary tract, kidneys, musculoskeletal system and circulatory system.
When we look at these things from a psycho-spiritual point of view, this is working on our will, our inner strength, courage and outward service to the world.
Elementally, Una de Gato brings Fire to our core and cleans out our digestive system, helping to open the way to our true power and inner medicine. In this way, it is also lighting the fire inside of us, helping us to be more empowered and stoking the original fire at the center of creation that gives us true power and reminds us of why we are here. The jaguar guards the fire at the base of the tree of life. Una de Gato has thorns on it that look like a Cat’s Claw. It is in this way that it activates our inner Jaguar/Lion/Cat Medicine, clearing all that is not in service to us out of the way. The Jaguar knows when to rest and when to strike. It has full confidence and finesse in the way it moves about the world. It is also a great hunter, in the same way Una de Gato hunts disease inside of the body and annihilates dis-ease, it helps us to do this in our way of walking in the world (preventing dis-ease from occuring in the first place).
When we diet a plant, we are not only engaging with the plant’s physical medicine, but also with the spirits that come with the plant’s spirit. Each plant carries within it; animal medicines, elemental medicine, the medicine of the unique spirit of the place in which it was harvested, as well as other spirit helpers that will assist you in your process.
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Below is an overview of the Medicine Wheel I work with. I encourage you to use this as an example. Investigate and uncover your own personal medicine wheel that is true to your heart and the medicine that you carry simply by being alive.
East: Spring, Air, New Beginnings, Illumination, a fresh start, vision for the upcoming cycle around the wheel. Eagle, Hawk, Place of the Visionary, Transformation
South: Summer, Fire, Expression, Peak Energy, Courage, Jaguar, Birthing of One’s Vision, Hummingbird, Sunlight, Healing, Connection to those who have crossed, Ancestors and Unborns, the South Gate Opens When We Are Born and When We Cross Over, Copal, Place of the Healer
Plants: Nettles
West: Fall, Water, Introspection, Inner vision, slowing down, Self Reflection, Facing your Fears, Bear, Raven, Wolf, Horse, Thunder Beings, Owl
Plants: Aralia Racemosa, Cedar
North: Earth, Winter, Wisdom, Knowledge, Good Health, Elders, Ancestors, Women’s Medicine, White Buffalo Calf Woman, Elk, Sweet Grass, Owl
::Health is to be in balance and harmony with all of life, within and around us, Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit::
