Turning
of the Wheel
“Sometimes
the lessons come through human feelings, thoughts or experiences;
sometimes, they may come from watching something in nature—observing
an animal as it goes about its life, or plant cycles, or stones, or
the earth itself.”
Sun
Bear (The Medicine Wheel)
The
great wheel of the cosmos will turn this week and we will officially
enter spring. The spirituality group and I will discuss the Medicine
Wheel this morning. I have constructed one outside on church grounds.
For me it is a beautiful symbol of our connection with all things both earthly and spiritual. The wheel charts the cycles
of time; the course of a day, from midnight to morning, morning to
day, day to evening and back to midnight. It charts the
months and seasons of the year, and our human life cycle. We are moving
east on the wheel, where all things begin—the sun rises, the seed
germinates, the sap warms and rises. East represents both birth and rebirth. It is no coincidence that Easter comes in spring.
The
element of East and Spring is fire—the sun's fire, and our own. It
speaks of fire's ability to transform and awaken. As the earth warms
up, everything in our northern hemisphere comes alive. We have sunny,
blue sky days, and our storms are full of lightening. East is also
the direction of illumination—where the sun rises to light
the day, and where we are illuminated from within with new ideas and
inspirations. We are now able to comprehend and bring to light what
has been germinating in the darkness of winter.
According
to the Medicine Wheel, the animals associated with East and Spring,
are the great birds of prey—hawks, eagles. The ones that fly high
and have keen sight and great power and strength. In most native
cultures, the eagle is especially revered and eagle feathers can be
worn only by the tribal chief. East is the direction from which Great
Spirit comes, and eagle is the manifestation of that Spirit. Perhaps
that is why we ourselves feel reverence in the presence of eagles.
I'm
looking forward to spring this year, not because the winter has been
so harsh where I live, but because I love being outside. I know folks
in the northern parts of America, Europe and Russia, where winter has been especially cold and snowy, will welcome it too. Living more
exposed, as we do in spring, helps us to feel better connected to the
natural world, and more alive because of it. Get out there this week
and soak up a little spring sun. There is a lot to learn from
jonquils.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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