The Medicine Wheel and the Meridian of Time
The Medicine Wheel A year or more ago, I was having a conversation with a Lakota man. He asked me whether I knew the cardinal directions. I was confused by the question, thinking, everyone knows those. But the way he asked me, convinced me he wasn't talking about just East, South, West, and North. I explained that I didn't know what he meant, and he proceeded to teach me there are actually no fewer than 7 cardinal directions. In addition to the four main directions indicated in a compass rose and the Native American medicine wheel, there is also the directions of the sky above, the earth beneath, and at the center of them all, the self. My brain imploded for a moment, before it clicked into place. Of course there must be seven directions. How did I not know this before? It makes perfect sense. Here is a link to a website that explains a perspective of the different parts of the medicine wheel. I've been learning lately some things about the four main parts of the med...