Medicine Wheel - Spiritual Quadrant

Cedar is placed in the North. While Mother Earth sleeps, cedar stays green, symbolizing that Mother Earth still watches over and protects us. White is the colour, winter is the season and Elderly is the stage of life.

Like Sage and Sweet grass, Cedar is used to purify the home, it also has many restorative medicinal use. When mixed with sage for a tea, it cleans the body of all infections, cedar baths are also very healing. When cedar mixed with tobacco is put in the fire it crackles, this is said to call the attention of the Spirits (Manitous) to the offering that is being made. Cedar is used in sweat lodge and fasting ceremonies for protection, cedar branches cover the floor of many sweat lodges and some people make a circle of cedar when they are fasting. It is a guardian spirit and chases away the bad spirits.

Relationship Medicine Wheel

Native teachings on relationships (and any time we involve ourselves with another at whatever level, it is a form of a relationship). Let me first just comment on The Medicine Wheel Teachings Of Relationships or the Relationship Medicine Wheel and the four stages of a relationship ---- �� one is Acquaintance, somebody you know to at least wave at or say HI to; two is that of Companion or somebody that you know and trust more — possibly go out on a date or dinner with; three is Friend who is somebody that you trust and can confide in (about almost anything) --- while knowing that person may have other "Friends" who have completely different interests than yourself and who likely will spend time with your Friend in many different ways than you may share with your Friend. ---- But that’s OK because you know that your Friendship is strong enough and based on trust and honesty.

Friendship should never be complicated by petty jealousy; the fourth stage is that of the Lover---- your best of best friend---- somebody you can tell absolutely anything to ---- that you trust completely ---- who loves you for who you are ---- not trying to make you or take you for anything less or more than for yourself; the only thing else I can add to that is that for the Relationship to work completely one should go through each of these four stages in turn (too often we skip one or more of these stages ---- then pay for it dearly ---- especially if we don'��t try to go back and "redo" the stages we missed ---- that doesn'��t mean that you have to take years for each stage to be completed... just that you need to go through those stages).

THUNDERBIRDS

To Native Americans, the Thunderbird was usually a friend to humans, a benevolent spirit being seen as the source of wisdom. The Anishinaabe stated that the eyes of the Thunderbird flashed with fire, his glance engendered lightning, and the flapping of his wings produced thunder.

The Algonkian tribes (the Ojibwa among them) believed the Thunderbird to be a benign nature spirit.

The Kwakiutl said the Thunderbird taught them how to build houses.

The Assiniboine claimed the wise old Thunderbird never harmed or killed anyone.

The Thunderbird features prominently in Native American art. In the 1970s, Canada issued several postage stamps depicting traditional Native American images of the Thunderbird.

From: "Nanabozhoo And The Thunderbirds"

"Once when the earth was very young, the spirit-child Nanabozhoo was born. His father was the wind. His mother walked the earth among human beings, alone. She had powers she did not know. All the earth spirits were afraid, for they knew the powers of Nanabozhoo. His mother disappeared into the air the instant he was born, so Nanabozhoo lived with the old woman he called Grandmother. They lived alone on the shore of Lake Superior. As he grew older, Nanabozhoo helped his grandmother. He brought her fish and mushrooms and wild roots. One day, when he was a young man, Nanabozhoo asked his grandmother; "What is the greatest fish in the lake?" "Do not ask me that question," she replied, "for he is a very large fish who could do you much harm!"

Nanabozhoo asked, "Can he not be killed and eaten like other fish?" "No," his grandmother replied, .."for he lives deep in the water off the edge of that cliff. No one has ever had the wisdom to reach him. He is very powerful!"

Nanabozhoo thought a long time about the great fish. He climbed to the top of the cliff and sat for many days. He stared down into Lake Superior. Then, suddenly, one day the Wind spoke, and he climbed back down from the cliff. Nanabozhoo fashioned a great bow of ash and an arrow of cedar to kill the fish. Then Nanabozhoo went to his grandmother and asked, "Grandmother; do you know of any bird whose feathers will make this arrow fly forcefully?" "You are impertinent," she scolded. "The only bird is one who lives in the sky beyond that cloud. You would have to go there to get the feathers you want."

Nanabozhoo had to have those feathers. He went again to the top of the cliff to find a way to get them. After a time, the shadow of a great eagle-like bird passed over him. It was Thunderbird. Nanabozhoo, being very artful, changed into a small rabbit. The bird swooped to kill him. "Thunderbird, stop!" cried Nanabozhoo. "Am I not truly an artful little creature? Would I not make a good playmate for your fledglings?" Thunderbird landed next to Nanabozhoo. Truly, he was a clever rabbit. He said, "I will not kill you. Instead I will bring you to my children to be their playmate."

Then Thunderbird swept Nanabozhoo away to his nest in the sky. When he got to the nest, Thunderbird said to his fledglings, "I have brought you a very clever rabbit to play with." And he gave them the rabbit. His wife said, "Do you not know Nanabozhoo the man-spirit is on the earth? Are you so foolish that you bring him here? Why did you bring this rabbit?" Then Nanabozhoo pretended to sleep and he let the fledglings do what they wanted to him. Thunderbird said, "Is he not truly an artful creature, after all? You mustn’t worry about this rabbit."

Thunderbird and his wife were seldom at their nest, as they were hunting food for their children. Nanabozhoo suddenly said to himself one day, "These brats treat me as though I am just a plaything. Don’t they know I have come to take their feathers?" Nanabozhoo changed back to a human being. The little thunderbirds shrieked. Quickly Nanabozhoo stripped their feathers from them. Nanabozhoo actually took more feathers than he needed to make his arrow fly with force. Now the fledglings would never fly. He tied the feathers in a bundle and jumped away from the nest. Because he was a man-spirit, Nanabozhoo was not hurt when he came to the ground. Then he heard the sky open. It was his father the Wind.

Suddenly, there was horrible lightning. It was the flashing eyes of the thunderbirds. Thunder boomed over the earth. It was the thunderbirds’ voices. The thunderbirds sped at Nanabozhoo with their talons. Nanabozhoo clutched the bundle of feathers he had stolen. He would never give it up. He ran this way and that to get away from the thunderbirds. Even though he was a man-spirit, Nanabozhoo feared he would die. The booming and flashing, the blowing and crashing, finally caused Nanabozhoo to tire. He grew perplexed. Then, quickly, Nanabozhoo crawled inside a hollow birch tree that had fallen. The talons of the thunderbirds almost got him. The hollow birch tree saved his life.

The thunderbirds boomed, "Our king-child, the birch tree, has offered you its protection! Now we cannot touch you!" And, indeed, Nanabozhoo had fled to the protection of one of their very own children. Now he was safe from the thunderbirds. Their eyes flickered off toward the heavens. Their voices faded. The Wind rolled away the clouds and left Nanabozhoo in a wake of tears that was rain dripping from the leaves. Then Nanabozhoo stepped out of the log. He was changed.

Nanabozhoo said, "From now on, human beings will find the protection of this tree useful in many ways. Anyone standing under it will find shelter from lightning and storms. Its bark will make their lodges. Their food will not spoil in it. And it will have many more uses." "But," Nanabozhoo said, "anyone using the bark of the birch tree will make generous offerings to it."

Thus the birch tree was blessed by Nanabozhoo, and he left all the feathers of his bundle inside the hollow log except for those which he needed to fix to his arrow and kill the great fish. Then the man-spirit went to the shore of Lake Superior and killed the great fish. To this day, human beings will find the marks of Nanabozhoo in the tree's bark. They are little dashes. They will also find patterns of the little thunderbirds.

Many tales centered on Nanabozhoo, a half-human, half-spirit trickster, who was often entangled in humorous scrapes and brought innovations, such as medicine, to humankind from the spirits (Nanabush went by many other names: Nanabush, Naanabozho, Nanibush, Nenabozho, Manabozho, Minabozho, Waynaboozhoo, Wenabozho, Wenabozhoo, Wenebojo, Winabojo, or Winneboshoo).

The Ojibwa word for a thunderbird that is closely associated with thunder is animikii, while large thunderous birds are binesi.

---- written by: Mark Sakry

"If you talk to the animals..., they will talk with you...
...and you will know each other....

... If you do not talk to them..., you will not know them....

.... and what you do not know..., you will fear....

...What one fears.., one destroys...."��

---- Chief Dan George

VISION QUESTS AND FASTING

Cold fingers of an early October morning

Gripped the exposed head of the young Anishinaabe man

Sitting with his back to the hard granite rock of the Canadian Shield,

As the dark green of old growth pine trees reached up

Majestically from the shoreline

Of the crystal clear aqua blue waters of the lake below,

The branches so close that he could almost touch them,

Especially with his mind already partially numbed

By the cold and emptiness of his belly

From three,�� or was it five � days of fasting,

Seeking the vision, or dream, or whatever it was

That would help guide him along the traditional road

He tried so hard to walk

But which he continually seemed to have veered off of

On so many previous attempts,

Usually finding himself caught up in the trappings

Of a fast paced urban environment

Complete with all of the latest modern technology

Computers, iPods, cell phones, WiFi, laptops,

Texting, the Internet, video games and so much more

That literally seemed to suck everything out of him

Like some ravenous vampire

Or made him feel like when he had years before as a child

When he landed so hard on the ground,

Falling out of that tall oak tree he was climbing,

Having dropped so hard and so fast,

Hitting the ground like a runaway train

All of the air knocked out of his lungs

Taking everything out of him

Except for the spirit that then glowed dimly inside him,

Despite all of the constant demands

And bomdbardment on his very being

And it was this spirit that he now sought to nourish,

To allow to grow and take root

Like one of those tall trees of old growth forest

Just out of reach of where he now was perched

Precariously on a rocky crag,

Waiting for some sign or omen of what was to come,

Of a purpose he was to take on in the not so distant future

Something that he wasn'��t quite sure of yet

But more than open to

But for now... sitting and just waiting.

---- Bill Mason

In the Ojibway language, Bawazigaywin means dream.... Bawajigaywin is the vision quest....and Makadekewin refers to the fast done at the time of puberty.

In Anishnaabek culture, fasting often occurs in the Spring and in the Fall, although it can be done during other times of the year.

"In The Shaman: Patterns of Religious Healing Among the Ojibway Indians" - John Grim:

Although the vision fast is not the sole manner of encountering the manitou, it is considered one of the most effective means of invoking the patronage of the supernatural. (p.102).

The shaman Mis-quona-queb (Red Cloud) was a central personality during the Ojibway migration westward. He was not only a tcisaki, naming visionary, and midewiwin shaman but also the most prominent war leader in southwest Ontario during the midnineteenth century. His shamanic call came to him during his puberty fast for a vision:

He came up to me where I lay. There was a light glowing all around him; it even looked as if the light shone right through his body. And his whole body was covered with hair from head to foot. I could not recognize the face because it was hidden behind the hair.

I was not going to speak to him because I was overwhelmed with surprise and fear. I never thought I would see anyone like that before me. It is very hard for me to describe what I saw.

When he first spoke to me his voice sounded like an echos from the sky above. I could not understand what he said, I was so afraid. Then my fear vanished and I calmed down. He spoke words of greeting to me:

“Ke-koko-ta-chi-ken. Grandchild, be not afraid.�

As he spoke he raised his arm in a friendly gesture. It was obvious he had not come to do me harm but teach me the things I had come there to learn. After a few moments he was so friendly my fears were gone. He spoke to me again:

I know what you want without asking. I will help you as long as you live. Your future is clear and bright. If you follow my wisdom I will protect you from harm.�� (p.170-1).

In "Ojibway Heritage", Basil Johnston writes:

According to the Anishnabeg, man was a spontaneous being made out of nothing; that is, created from new substances unlike those out of which the physical world was made. Out of corporeal and incorporeal substance was man created according to and in fulfillment of a vision of Kitche Manitou. Man was, in the abstract metaphysical sense, a composite being.

But as the Anishnabeg conceived man as a being endowed with a capacity for vision much like his creator, man became more than an abstract being, a creature of the mind. Man was bound to seek and fulfill vision and as such was a moral being. His life therefore was to be regarded in a moral sense.

Men were required to seek vision; moreover, they had to live out and give expression to their visions - it was through vision that a man found purpose and meaning to life and to his being. (p.119).

In "Ojibway Ceremonies" by Basil Johnston, in the chapter, Waussaeyaubindumowin (The Vision Quest):

Now that it was morning, Mishi-Waub-Kaikaik was relieved. It was true: he had survived. All the dangers and all the unseen foes that had threatened him throught the night had vanished. He reflected; and the more he thought about his anxiety, the more he was ashamed of his fears and of himself. His fears had not been inspired by the owl or the fox or the whippoorwill - creatures who meant no harm, and who had awakened when others had gone to sleep only to come out and feed and talk among themselves as old men do. Instead, the fears had come from within himself, from within his spirit.

And Mishi-Waub-Kaikaik ranged within his own soul in quest of the source of his fears. He found nothing; but he came to know a little about himself. He discovered things that he had not previously known because of his preoccupation with the activities of man and with the immediate and concrete world around him. He discovered things that would be hidden to others unless he revealed them. When he began to understand these things, Mishi-Waub-Kaikaik felt better. (p.47).

In "The Vision Seeker", James Whetung tells the story of fasts and vision quests in the form of a children'��s narrative. The premise is that after a dark time of rivalry and war and young boy seeks to help his people, who have become sick and weak from fighting instead of hunting.

A Little Boy, anxious to help his people, asked his parents what he could do. They told him he could go, go to the high place and seek a vision. Maybe through his fast and the Vision Quest he would learn how to help his people.

The Boy's family helped him to get ready. When he was prepared, his grandmothers, his grandfathers, his aunties and uncles, his mother and father, his brothers and sisters – all of them gathered together to wish the Boy well. (p.6 & 8).

The boy travels for four days, only eating one kernel of corn per day, each day traveling in one direction from morning to night. The first day, he walks east, the second, south. Then west, then north, where he finds the place where he will fast.

The Boy had reached the high place, the place where he would seek his vision. And so he rested and began to fast. It is not known how long he went without food and water, but by and by, the Boy began to dream.

In one of his dreams, he traveled through the four levels of color, to the dark side of the moon. When he arrived, he saw a lodge, and inside the lodge he could hear voices. The Little Boy was afraid and shy. But then, a friendly voice called from within. "So you are the Vision Seeker. Come inside, you are welcome. There is nothing to fear."

The Little Boy Stepped forward and entered the lodge. (p.17-18).

Then, he receives gifts from the Seven Grandfathers, which he must share with his people.

Vision quests are part of the culture and tradition of the Anishinaabe. One of the best descriptions of this comes in "Vision Quest: A Search For The Meaning Of Life", found online in "Native Art In Canada: An Ojibwa Elder��s Art And Stories". The author writes:

"A vision quest is simply an ongoing search for the meaning and purpose of life.

Ultimately it answers the questions: Who am I? What am I doing here? What does it all mean?

Whatever the culture they are born into, folks like to think that there'��s some sort of significance to their existence, that there'��s more to life than just survival and eventual oblivion. For the Ojibwa, their understanding of their role in the universe is inextricably linked to creation and the Creator himself."

Later on was this on the Anishinaabe vision quest:

.."For the Ojibwa the meaning of life was understood through their comprehension of Creation.They knew that from nothing, other than conceiving of the possibility, Kitchi-Manitou had created the universe and everything in it. They also knew that Manitou had given man this same imaginative foresight;�� an ability to create a future that is not pre-ordained. It was clear to the simple minds of those *savage beings* (*DO NOT LIKE THIS REFERENCE).. that although man had a corporeal existence he also had the capacity to dream;�� to have a vision of his own position in the universe. A vision of what he might do with the life given him. And with that gift of vision came the moral responsibility for each man to discover his OWN purpose and bring that revelation into existence."...

This is later explained in How this worked in practise:

.."Although man is born with the capacity to create meaning for himself, it doesn’t happen automatically. It'��s a process of growth;�� first physically, then spiritually through self-awareness. The successful quest was, and still is, a defining moment in the spiritual development of any man.

Traditionally the Anishinaabe life was divided into four units;�� referred to as hills. The hills corresponded to the four stages of a man’s life. It was necessary to climb one hill to get to the next; climbing again suggests effort."...

The hills to climb to a successful vision quest:

Infancy: a time when those around you contributed to your life and well being and prepared you for responsibility.

Youth:a time when it was required that you master the skills necessary to take care of your physical self, but also a time to prepare yourself to be mentally and morally worthy of receiving your purpose in life; your vision. Conscious preparation (the quest) was ongoing.

Adulthood:� with survival skills mastered and moral sensitivity developed, the gift of vision was possible. Vision came only when a man was ready. Not everyone received the gift of vision but, because it always depended on personal effort, it was always possible to attain if one persevered.

Old age: the fulfillment of vision.

These phases of life corresponded with the stages a man went through in realizing his moral/spiritual responsibilities – preparation, the quest, the vision and the fulfillment.

The Anishnabe have a saying: "No man begins to be until he has seen his vision." It means that a man is just surviving in the world, much like an animal, until he has done the work required to fathom his purpose. Fathom is such a good word to use here. It means to understand, to work out the meaning – but it also implies depth.

More on this is continued in The Ojibwa solution:

.."For similar reasons, the Ojibwa tradition of a vision quest being part of a ceremonial separation from the community made it possible for individuals to think more clearly about their role in the unfolding of what’s possible in their universe.

The Ojibwa vision quest included a solitary period away from social distractions. As boys began the transition into manhood, they were taken to a remote location that was conducive to spiritual awakening. It was a place that allowed for solitary contemplation regarding the relationship between living and being.

To sustain life one needed only to provide the basic necessities of food, water and shelter. But “to be” required an understanding of who you were, why you were here and what you were going to do about that.

Away from the community, focusing on his own abilities and needs, the youth tried to bring his inner being and his physical body into a common accord. He tried to envision a life that would allow him to use his unique abilities in a significant way.

For a few the vision of themselves came early and they moved on to the next stage of fulfillment. For others the quest took years. A man would only receive his vision when he was ready. Never before. And for the Anishnabeg a youth was not a real man until he had done the spiritual and emotional work needed to receive the vision of who he was to be in his lifetime. Because supernatural forces were integral to the reception of the vision it was demanded that the individual live his life in fulfillment of his potential in respect of those supernatural forces."....

Further on is The meaning of life unfolds:

..."Three kinds of visions could occur. The first type of vision came during the ceremonial quest if the youth had done the necessary preparation. If he was ready, his vision of himself at that time was always complete and the message was clear.

But not everyone was able to see themselves clearly. Not everyone received a vision at the time of the ceremonial quest.

But as life continued back in the real world and individuals bumped up against the trials and tribulations of their lives they could also receive new insights. That growth allowed for new possibility. A new vision of how it was possible to live one’s life.

In that way, although a man was only receptive to minor changes in his life at any given time, if he continued to consciously apply himself, his vision of himself might finally unfold and the meaning of his life become clear.

The third type of vision was similar to the first with the exception that it came during sleep as a dream. It was usually so powerful that it caused the dreamer to wake-up to a conscious new awareness of himself. That type of vision is known as apowawin which means an awakening (to self)."....

This article concludes with The vision quest was ongoing:

Men are only men. They are not perfect. They don’t lead perfect lives. At any moment they may
"forget" their commitments or shy away from the reponsibility of their power.

The birch scrolls of the midewiwin show that men and women following the path of life might take up to nine errant trails any one of which meant that they had betrayed their vision, their purpose for being in the world.

So this can be part of the healing journey.....; the individual healing journey....

Final Thoughts... (of Bill Mason.., not my own... LOL!)

Maybe governments should think about their ’poor track record�� when it comes to ��consultation�� of First Nations. Whether Provincial or Federal, governments should learn to listen to First Nations....to actually hear them....we have two ears and one mouth so should listen twice as much as we speak...

But then it was said that when the Europeans first came and "��discovered"�� North America that they had no eyes and no ears, since they didn'�t see or hear. Maybe it is time to change that. Open up their eyes….and ears….

But then again Native people sometimes wear what is called a Unity button....a button with the four colours of red, white, black and yellow on it.....these colours represent the four sacred colours of the Medicine Wheel.....the four races of man.....and these colours all meet in the middle.....so we need to learn to meet in the middle too......to actually find common ground.....equal footing.....

��Whatever I see, I see from my heart. Whatever I say, I say from my heart. Whatever I do, do from my heart. And this for me is activism, may it be social, political, economic or environmental�� said Cat Criger, an Elder from the First Nations People, at the opening of Ontario student activist assembly organized by Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).


Aboriginal Elder Cat Criger alluded to in his opening prayer: “When we all speak, think and walk from our heart, everything will turn out OK.”

"It is easier said than done, to base community development on the values of people".

---- The Zuni Pueblo Conservation Project / Jim Enote (Zuni)

"A difficult birth does not make the baby any less beautfiul."

---- The Rebirth Of The Sovereign Hawaai'ian Nation / Mililani Trask (Hawai'ian)