A Medicine Wheel is a Map of Reality.

Reality can be a confusing place! Sometimes we get confused about what our direction is, our life purpose, where we are going and how to get there! Shamans from many different cultures looked to Nature for guidance. Noticing Nature's patterns, they drew maps or "medicine wheels". These wheels show how energy flows in the universe.

There are many different maps or medicine wheels we can work from. They usually contain four directions, and often a centre. Each direction is represented by a different natural element. These maps vary from culture to culture. For example, in Wicca the Northern element is Earth, in North-American Shamanism it is Air and in Oriental Shamanism (Taoism) it is Water.

Yet this does not mean one is right and the others are wrong. These ancient cultures all viewed the universe from a different standpoint; and yet they are all pointing to the same Essential Truth. Similarly, one may draw a physical landscape into a number of different maps, and each equally valid. So it is with the shamanic medicine wheel. 

In our modern multi-cultural world we are exposed to many different spiritual pathways. At first it is often best to try a few until you find one that resonates with your own inner truth. Then you can use that map as your guide. It will become the map for your healing; your medicine wheel.