What is the meaning of a Medicine Wheel?
The medicine wheel is a sacred symbol used by many Tribes. The medicine wheel (also called the Sun Dance Circle or Sacred Hoop) is an ancient and sacred symbol used by many Tribes. It signifies Earth’s boundary and all the knowledge of the universe.
What are the Medicine Wheel teachings?
The Medicine Wheel Teachings are based on the four directions, the Eastern doorway which represents the Spiritual aspect of a human, the Southern doorway which represents the Emotional aspect of a human, the Western doorway which represents the Physical and the Northern doorway which represents the Mental aspect of a …
How do medicine wheels work?
The medicine wheel is a circle divided by a cross to create four directions (north, south, east and west). In Native American traditions, the medicine wheel was a reflection of an individual’s strengths and weaknesses and it gave people guidelines to follow for personal growth.
What is the origin of the Medicine Wheel?
The term medicine wheel is not an Aboriginal term, but was initially used around the turn of the century by Americans of European ancestry in reference to the Bighorn Medicine Wheel located near Sheridan, Wyoming.
Why are medicine wheels different?
The most common variation between different wheels are the spokes. There is no set number of spokes for a medicine wheel to have although there are usually 28, the same number of days in a lunar cycle. The spokes within each wheel are rarely evenly spaced, or even all the same length.
What are the four principles of the Medicine Wheel?
The Medicine Wheel reminds us that we need to balance all four aspects of our being – the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental aspects. When we become out of balance, we experience disease.
What are the four elements of the Medicine Wheel?
Within the Circle of the Medicine Wheel can be found the 4 elements of Air, Water, Earth and Fire. As the students explore each of these elements, they expand their circle beyond the classroom to the natural world outside .
What does a medicine wheel mean?
Medicine Wheel. Medicine wheels or sacred hoops are stone structures constructed by the native peoples of North America and are believed to be used for various astronomical, ritual, healing, and teaching purposes. They were constructed by laying stones in a circular pattern that often looked like a wagon wheel lying on its side.
What is the meaning of the medicine wheel?
medicine wheel. A symbol used by Native Americans to represent wholeness and balance. The medicine wheel consists of a circle with four quadrants representing spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional planes of existence.
What is the history of the medicine wheel?
Archeologists believe that the medicine wheel originated in the Late Prehistoric Period, as some of the wheels have been dated to around 4000 B.C. The Majorville Cairn in Alberta is believed to be the oldest, at 5,500-year-old. Originally, the symbol was referred to as the sacred circle, but eventually called medicine wheel by non-Native Americans.
What does Native American medicine wheel mean?
The Medicine Wheel, sometimes known as the Sacred Hoop, has been used by generations of various Native American tribes for health and healing. It embodies the Four Directions, as well as Father Sky, Mother Earth, and Spirit Tree—all of which symbolize dimensions of health and the cycles of life. The Medicine Wheel can take many different forms.