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SPIRIT
LODGE
LIBRARY
Medicine
Wheel
Page
20
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(Main
Links of the site are right at the bottom of the page)
The 24 pages in this Medicine Wheel section are linked below
The
Medicine Wheel
& the Ruach
By Minna Earthkeeper
Hi, so, I'm thinking...because I
want to think about and write some ideas about the medicine
wheel. I'm looking at the points around the wheel, thinking
of the process, the connections and movements from one point
to another.
So to begin, I went to the library
and started to look up the attributes of the four directions.
And I came to thinking about the winds of each direction. You
know I am so very fond of wind.
In Cinnamon's article she gave the
Greek names of each of the winds for each direction.
East ~ Eurus,
South ~ Notus,
West ~ Zephyros,
and North ~ Boreas.
These, I found were gods of the Greek
pantheon, called the Anemoi, sometimes independent, and sometimes
pictured as the great wind-horses who would draw Zeus's chariot
(ummm-draw the movement-maker for the greatest of the Greek
gods...you know, the thing that takes him from - here - to -
there.).
They were born of the Titans, Eos,
Goddess of the Dawn and Aeolus, God of the Winds, also known
as Astraeus - God of the Stars and Planets - and thus Astronomy
or Prophecy. The four winds, born of the dawn and the stars.
Ok - so you scholars, forgive me, this is my thought process
based on my train of ideas, and is not philosophically, Greek
pantheon wise, kabbalistically or in another other way, accurate.
Then I got to thinking about a term
for wind or spirit - the Ruach - the Breath of God, the animating
Spirt of God and God within man. I looked back at Cinnamon's
post about the Breath of Spirit and these references were very
interesting to me in thinking about the Medicine Wheel and the
winds associated with the directions.
Cinnamon said: “The
Breath of Spirit was something I experienced during Vision Quest,
it came with the 'body' of Spirit and the permeation into that
Oneness. I saw it take form, a transparent energy that was like
unto a visible Wind. The exhale of Spirit's Breath that moves
thought into the spoken word and sets things into motion. I
saw 'the Word' if you will. … I was taken up into this
experience, an OBE, and in that process underwent expansion
and contraction as I took it in...like a pulse, like a breath...inhale
and breathe the enlightenment, exhale and expand the vision,
inhale that and exhale again...keep going, follow the breath.
However, at the same time this was happening and the vision
was given form through experience, Spirit was 'breathing me'...taking
me on a multi-leveled, multi-layered journey….I was given
understanding, the enlightenment of what was taking place clearly
presented in a profound state of awe. And then I understood
how the Breath of Spirit moves things...including us, how it
carries us, how it sets things into motion. I knew I could step
into that and I knew that it moved each of us in our own way.
The old adage that "Thoughts are things and words have
power" is so true….I guess what I'm saying here is
that the Breath of Spirit has carried me through the intellectual
understanding into the physical experiences and through the
emotional ranges they brought into being. Now, standing in theNorth
I have the knowledge intact, the understanding intact, and it's
time to start sharing that with others. I pray I'll do so wisely,
and that my touch will be that of the Feather, with no harm
done. I'm aware of the pain that can be brought unthinking to
others and I want to bring none of that with me as I continue
to live this vision for the rest of my life.”
From earthwalker's response ~ “Currently
I am reading a book called the Prophets Way by Thom Hartmann.
Although defining the Breath of Spirit slightly different I
like the perspective his words present as well. "Everyone
is familiar with the edge between normal waking consciousness
and sleep: it is often a time of extraordinary feelings, sensation
and insight, particularly as we move from sleep into wakefulness.
In a similar way, mystics are aware of the edge between the
physical world and the world of Spirit. Understanding edges
was, for me, an epiphany. The physical mind is a function of
the body/brain, and as Skinner, Pavlov, and the Behaviorists
showed, the manifestation of a rather predictable bioelectronics'
computing machine. On the other hand, the consciousness which
is the universe is so deep and profound and all pervasive that
no mind could possibly contain it. How can the body/mind contain
and express that which is essentially not of the body/mind?
The answer for me is that it cannot. Instead the body/mind touches
the edge. When the brain is brought to the edge of the world
of G-d (spirit), the place of true consciousness, a fractal
intersection occurs. An unstable and dynamic system is created
and like the rainbow colors of water and oil, new energies and
visions are created. Look for your edges. They may be in work,
relationships, life or…"
Ok, so Cinnamon and Earthwalker,
I don't know that I'm using the concept exactly like the way
you spoke of it - but ya know, it's Minna's springboard to...something.
I'm thinking about the winds of the Wheel and the directions
and the Breath of Spirit and then - well, of course, I move
to the idea of the Ruach. The animating Breath of God and moving
through the wheel as carried by the winds, the Ruach of Spirit.
East - Eurus, beginning of the process
- the wind that blows from above through Eagle, an over-vision
- a clear view of the whole field, with the ability to home
in, or carry us to the beginning-to-be, the initiation or the
blockage to be removed, the request for the insight to be gained.
Moving to the South and the place
of action and passion - the warm winds of Notus - carrying us
to along in warmth and fire to Mouse's point of view, details,
specific insights, information acquired for understanding, development,
honing and informing our intent, turbulence, passion and warmth,
full bloom.
Carrying us through to Zephyros,
Wind of the West, time for the idea to mature, to begin to firm
up in into understanding, harvest and introspection and finding
our own place within this journey of insight, and anchoring
it into our emotional foundation, whether it be a lesson of
release or acquisition or homecoming. The fruits of our journey
ready to pluck and assimilate.
And then we move to the North, Boreas,
home of the settling of this gained wisdom deep into our Spirits
and Minds to rest, and to share. And we are all borne by these
winds of the Spirit through our journey to homecoming again,
to rest until the next lesson, the next blessing.
CinnamonMoon:
You
did excellent with that Minna!
StarDreamer:
Ahhh,
Min! How beautiful! The image/feeling/perception of Ruach moves
me greatly! Just the word fills me with the Breath of Spirit.
Here's a bit from a transcript of a show that Rabbi Irwin Kula
did on Spirituality:
“The
word “spirit” in Hebrew – the most ancient wisdom
word for spirit is ruach, which means wind. It comes from the
very first verse in the bible. In the beginning, when God created,
there was a wind flowing across the world. That wind –
that life force -- is what spirit is. It’s no more complicated.
That means that by definition we are spiritual right now. The
spirit is flowing through. We’re not just bodies. We’re
spirited bodies. So the only issue is, do you see it? Spirituality
is not a noun. Spirituality can’t be found. Spirituality
can’t be sought. Spirituality can’t be acquired. Spirituality
can’t be bought. Spirituality is here. The word in the
bible for that is hineni, “I Am Present.” All you
have to do is be present with an open heart and you’re
spiritual. One of my teachers called spirituality normal mysticism.
When you think of something normal you think of something ordinary
– not mysticism. And when you think of mysticism, you think
of something far out. No, normal mysticism – it’s
ordinary life with an open heart – that’s it.”
You, my
dear, have let that Ruach flow through you with an open heart
and brought us a gift of Spirit's beauty in the Medicine Wheel.
It has blown through you to us and fired our Passion for Him
to create with you. Very Simple. Incredibly beautiful, as is
all of His Creation. So no apologies for not being "more"
anything, my dear Minna...none at all. You are what you are
with an open heart to the Ruach of Spirit. That is all...and
that is all you ever need to be!
Minna:
Thank you, Cinnamon. I
can't 'splain it, i can just 'point to it'. Thank you.
And Star, you're so nice to me.
I like that, ordinary, normal mysticism. And I love that word
'hineni'. It makes me think of that spark, that Spirit or Christ-light
within. It both shines within and draws us to its Home.
Might I even say, that spark that
draws us to an experience, even as It brings us through it.
I am pretty personally conservative by nature (but don't get
me wrong - apparently, politically, by comparison to the prevailing
winds - I must be liberal), so sometimes when I want to commit,
I picture myself doing a swan dive into something wonderful,
but unknown. You know I just love the image of us just jumping
out and releasing ourselves into the Winds of Spirit to travel
the wheel.
Although, you know, I talk about
it better than I do it.
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Libraries
are on this row
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INDEX
Page 3
(Main Section, Medicine Wheel, Native Languages &
Nations, Symbology)
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INDEX
Page 5
(Sacred Feminine & Masculine, Stones & Minerals)
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©
Copyright: Cinnamon Moon & River WildFire Moon (Founders.)
2000-date
All rights reserved.
Site
constructed by Dragonfly
Dezignz 1998-date
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