The medicine wheel is an ancient and sacred symbol that appears in the spiritual traditions of many indigenous cultures around the world.

Representing the cyclical nature of life and the interconnectedness of all things, the medicine wheel serves as a powerful map for personal healing, growth, and transformation.

Origins and Cultural Significance

While the specific origins of the medicine wheel are unclear, the symbol has been used by native peoples across the Americas for thousands of years.

From the Navajo of the American Southwest to the Plains tribes like the Sioux and Cheyenne, to the Inuit of the far North, the medicine wheel has played a central role in indigenous cosmology, ceremony, and healing practices.

The Bighorn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming dates back at least several hundred years and is still used for ritual purposes by various tribes today.

The Aztec calendar stone is another famous example, representing the Aztec cosmovision and the cycles of time. In South America, medicine wheels have been used by cultures like the Inca, Maya and the indigenous peoples of the Amazon.

Each culture has its own unique symbolism and teachings associated with the medicine wheel. However, there are many common threads and core concepts that span across traditions.

Generally, the medicine wheel is seen as a reflection of the natural order, with each of the four cardinal directions representing a different element, season, life stage, animal totem, and set of teachings for harmonious living.

The medicine wheel is often constructed using stones or other natural materials to create a circle divided into four quadrants.

Ritual ceremonies and rites of passage are performed within the wheel to mark important transitions, to call in healing, or to deepen one’s connection with the spirit world.

The Andean Chakana

In the Andean spiritual tradition of Peru, the medicine wheel takes the form of the Chakana, or Inca Cross.

This sacred symbol represents the three worlds of the Inca cosmovision (the underworld, the middle world, and the upper world) as well as the four cardinal directions.

Each direction of the Chakana corresponds to an element and an animal totem:

• South (Serpent): the way of healing, shedding the past, and reclaiming wholeness
• West (Jaguar): the way of the spiritual warrior and facing one’s shadows and fears
• North (Hummingbird): the way of ancestral wisdom, sweetness, and stepping outside of linear time
• East (Eagle/Condor): the way of vision, clarity and new beginnings

 

The Q’ero, the descendants of the Inca who fled into the high Andes to preserve their traditions after the Spanish conquest, still maintain the ancient wisdom of the Chakana.

As a lineage holder in the Q’ero tradition, I have been deeply impacted by the power of this wisdom in my own journey of healing and transformation.

Walking the Wheel

In shamanic traditions, the medicine wheel is not just an abstract concept but a literal path to be walked for personal growth and healing.

By journeying around the wheel and working with the teachings and energies of each direction, we can clear limiting beliefs, release ancestral and karmic patterns, reconnect with our authentic selves, and step into our power.

The journey begins in the South, the way of the Serpent, where we shed the past and reclaim our wholeness.

In the West, we face our shadows with the protection of the Jaguar, becoming fearless spiritual warriors. In the North, we drink the sweet nectar of life with Hummingbird, learning to live in joy and abundance.

Finally, in the East, we take flight with Eagle and Condor, connecting with spirit’s vision for our lives and dreaming our world into being.

This sacred journey around the wheel is one that spirals upward, carrying us to higher levels of healing and consciousness each time we come full circle.

As we heal ourselves, we become empowered to help heal others and our world.

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If you feel called to walk the shamanic path and experience the transformative power of the medicine wheel, please get in touch.

We’ll go on a sacred journey, where the wheel will help you to shed the baggage of the past and step into the fullness of your potential.