Medicine Wheel

The Native American medicine wheel symbolizes life's cycles.  Each cycle of life is honored in a sacred way, giving us a way to see the value of each step of our path and a new understanding of our growth patterns. 

mullein

The medicine wheel is a circle of lessons each person must pass through life to complete their journey. 

Physical life begins at birth, which is the south direction of the hoop. We will all travel on the circle from the South -North path until we reach the place of the elder, which is the North.  As we grow, we change like the seasons, passing through the sections of the circle, learning from each. 

I was inspired to create a medicine wheel garden after seeing a book on a friend's dining table called The Medicine Wheel Garden, Creating a Sacred Space for Healing, Celebration, and Tranquility, by E. Barrie Kavasch. 

 In the spirit of our Native ancestry and of the original inhabitants of this place we call home, we tried to grow the sacred plants that belong in each quadrant of the wheel and were successful in growing many types of native sages.  My tobacco seeds never came up but the amaranth grew tall in it's place.  

We planted ginger and lemon geranium, thyme, mullein, yarrow, wormwood, rosemary, borage, zataar (wild oregano), comfrey, horseradish, California poppies, lavender, echinacea,  aloe vera, white and black sage.



East- The significance of the East is knowledge and the sacred plant is tobacco.

South- From the South we experience growth, the direction where everything in life is replenished and in full bloom.  The sacred plant of this direction is cedar, the purifier of the body and protector from evil. 

West- From the West we encounter reflection and spiritual insight, the sacred plant of this direction is sage.

North- From the North we experience the purity.  The sacred plant is sweet grass.

lemon geranium

horse radish



wormwood



mullein close up

Top photo by Lori Eanes