The Medicine Wheel’s Teachings for Each Season
The qualities, the animal teachers, and the wisdom that each season of the wheel offers us.
Why the Medicine Wheel?
We are being called to unity, to awakened consciousness, and to a deep connection with the Earth and all of our relations. We are being called to know ourselves and our highest purpose at this time. We are being called.
The Medicine Wheel gives us a circle of knowledge and wisdom that we can breathe into our hearts, our lives and our actions. When we live in a circle, we remember that we are connected to all that live on the Earth. We remember that the minerals, plants and animals are our teachers. We hear the stories that the winds bring us and the wisdom of the rocks that have been here since the beginning of time. We listen to the plants’ messages of health and vitality, and to the animals as they give us their gifts of love and their lessons of life.
The Medicine Wheel is a beautiful circle that holds all of these teachings. It gives us the space for a life-transforming dance.
Clarity, Wisdom and Illumination
In spring, everything on the Earth that has been resting and incubating bursts into life. Plants and flowers sprout proudly, and fragrance begins to fill the air. The birds and animals show us their young as they play in the warming Earth and enjoy the new food. The insects sing the songs that Spirit has given them. With all of this new life upon her, the Earth is illuminated.
As we witness this glory, our souls feel a pull to birth the ideas and projects we sensed and incubated in the dark of winter. It is time to amplify and illuminate our path, our purpose and our magnificence.
Our primary teacher is the Eagle, who teaches through the Hummingbird, the Owl and the Firefly.
Growth, Trust and Love
Summer is the time when all of the Earth’s children grow quickly and come to maturity, trusting that the promises of spring will be fulfilled. It is the time of reaching outward and growing in the things of the world – of testing our wisdom by bringing it into physical form and helping it grow.
As we leave our place of comfort, push through a new membrane, and dig a new path in our lives, we learn to fully trust our intuition and the abundance so present on the face of the Earth. Our hearts open to unconditional love for ourselves and others, and we begin to experience and honor the path that Creator has set before us.
Our primary teacher is the Coyote, who teaches through the Rabbit, the Salmon and the Wolf.
Experience, Introspection and Strength
In fall, the plants have come to full maturity, heavy with fruit and seeds for the following season. All of nature, including us, stops growing and begins to gather in and take stock of the lessons of the growing season.
We look within to honor our strengths, and we become curious about what we must release to make space for the new parts of ourselves that will emerge in spring. We honor the experiences and visions that have strengthened our core and given us the courage to share what we have learned.
Our primary teacher is the Bear, who teaches through the Whale, the Mouse and the Ant.
Cleansing, Renewal and Purity
Winter is a time of paradox. On the surface, the Earth appears barren and lifeless. Leaves and branches fall to the ground, and this letting go becomes the fertilizer for the growth to come in spring. Beneath the surface, the roots are quickening, gathering in energy.
Our own cycles are much the same. We prepare to go within, into the “delicious dark.” We surrender what no longer serves or empowers us. We dream, we meditate, and we dance in the mystery, gathering the energy for what will burst forth in the light of spring.
Our primary teacher is the White Buffalo, who teaches through the Raccoon, the Earthworm and the Dolphin.
Cyndy “Snake Dancer” Paige
Cyndy “Snake Dancer” Paige received her name from Great Spirit in a profound vision quest, and knew it was a call to a healing path. Snake is regarded as a healer and teacher in spiritual traditions throughout the world, and holds a special place in the Native American medicine tradition.
Cyndy is of Muscogee Creek and Choctaw heritage and is a long-time Council member of the Buffalo Trace Society, founded by the late Grandmother Pathweaver. Over three decades she has completed multi-year initiatory apprenticeships with many medicine teachers, a master drummer, a Grammy-nominated sound healer, a pioneer in past life regression, and numerous healers.
She founded Rhythm of the Earth in 2013 to share healing and earth-based spirituality through her private healing practice, one- and two-year shamanic apprenticeships, vision quests, solstice and equinox retreats, and workshops. She is a guest speaker at conferences and independent schools, and she creates – and helps others create – personal medicine tools such as drums, rattles and medicine bags. She humbly honors her teachers, both seen and unseen.
Begin at any direction
Each season of the Medicine Wheel is a quadrant of the Year One apprenticeship. You can begin with whichever season calls to you.