The Medicine Wheel and the Cartography of the Shamanic Universe seen from a Transpersonal and Holotropic Perspective
Introduction
The theoretical introduction presented here seeks to illustrate and summarise the Native American medicine wheel within the shamanic cosmological framework, also from the perspective of perennial philosophy, transpersonal psychology and Holotropic Breathwork.
I will discuss the connection between the holotropic Inner Healer, the Great Spirit within, and Jung's process of individuation. The Inner Healer can be seen as an inner teacher and shaman and the centre of the process of individuation.
In this summary, I integrate my transpersonal and holotropic experience with various shamanic teachings I have followed over the last few decades: Foundation for Shamanic Studies and those of Michael Smith, a Cherokee shaman and Jungian psychotherapist, precisely because he bridges the transpersonal and shamanic paths.
This writing is a first theoretical lesson, but it can be developed at an experiential shamanic level.
Sacred and profane time and space
Each of us is a tiny link, a stage in the process of life that precedes and follows us, begun in time immemorial. We are part of the whole from which we originate, but when we are born into this world we lose our memory of it and perceive ourselves as separate beings. However, within us, beyond this 'ontological oblivion', lies the memory of the entire universe. Although this memory is not normally accessible, since ancient times humans have explored the inner psyche in order to know and heal. Shamans explore non-ordinary states of consciousness. Mystics from different latitudes, as described in Aldous Huxley's Perennial Philosophy, have described the unity of the whole. The tree of life, Axis Mundi, is an archetype present in many ancestral cultures that represents this unity and awareness: moving from profane unconsciousness to ontological consciousness, from the labyrinth, from chaos, to the search for the meaning of life and the order of the sacred.
According to Michael Harner, shamans have long believed that their powers were the powers of animals, plants, the sun and all the fundamental energies of the universe. Thousands of years before Charles Darwin's discoveries, members of shamanic cultures believed that humans and animals were linked by kinship ties.
In ancient cultures, the perception and notion of time and human life itself were circular and closely linked to the cyclical rhythms of the day, the seasons and the phases of the moon. Sacred time was in turn represented topologically through the directions of Sacred Space, present in many cultures: in Indo-Buddhist mandalas, at Avebury and Stonehenge, in Romanesque churches, in the representation of the Tree of Life (Axis Mundi) and in the path of the heart represented in the Native American Medicine Wheel. The medicine wheel is essentially a 'mandala'. Mandala in Sanskrit means circle and is a representation of the cosmos and the microcosm, one of the many ethnic representations of sacred space and time, one of the ancestral cosmologies, one of the ancient transpersonal cartographies that has survived to this day. It represents sacred space, the mystery of life and the cosmos, the process of bringing inner order to the individual, but which has its external expression in society and the universe. That Self in which the sacred dwells, which in transpersonal terms corresponds to that described in Advaita Vedanta: Tat Tvam Asi — that is you, in which Atman and Brahman are identified as one, or as Grof writes: 'In extreme forms, individual consciousness seems to embrace the totality of existence and identify with the universal mind' [1978, Grof, Halifax].
In shamanic traditions, we seek to bring order to chaos, to restore or bring us closer to the sacred transcultural centre (Mircea Eliade) of spiritual traditions; 'illness' is the result of violating or distancing ourselves from this. As Michael Smith teaches, the medicine wheel represents an archaic process of individuation. We will also see how the characteristic of the shamanic path of proceeding towards the centre has analogies with the holotropic path.
The shamanic universe
Shamanism is the oldest known method of exploring non-ordinary dimensions. Shamanic cosmology, while differing in various regions of the Earth, has a cartography with common transcultural elements, with analogies in different geographical areas of the planet in many different traditions and latitudes: North and South America, Asia, Oceania, Africa and even in ancient Europe (Chauvet, Lascaux, Les Trois Freres, Altamira, Celtic culture, etc.). For a shaman, reality has a deeper nature than it may appear on the surface; everything that exists in the world has a living force within it. For Joan Halifax, this vital energy — the mana of the Polynesians or the wacanda of the Sioux — is conceived as a divine force that permeates everything. In this cosmology, every living creature is endowed with a soul. The shaman therefore has great respect for nature, as his soul has no individuality of its own outside the universal soul of which it is a part. Black Elk said: 'The Great Spirit dwells in the heart of every creature, even the smallest ant'.
The shaman experiences non-ordinary states of consciousness and travels to invisible dimensions or worlds. The universe and the shamanic worlds are structured in a cartography of three realms: the Middle World — the world known in our daily experience, but which for the shaman also has a spiritual dimension and depth; the Lower World — the underground world, populated mainly by animal spirits (archetypes); and the Upper World — populated by benevolent disembodied spirits with human appearances. The three worlds are interdependent and must be in balance. They are interconnected through the Axis Mundi, represented in different but similar ways — as a tree, a vine or a ladder.
For Michael Harner, learning in the Shamanic State of Consciousness also includes a deep respect for all forms of life and a humble awareness of our dependence on plants, animals and even inorganic matter. The shaman knows that human beings are connected to all living forms and that these are 'all our relatives'. He believes that if, in an altered state of consciousness, we approach Nature with respect and love, it will reveal to us things that cannot be known in the ordinary state of consciousness.
The Middle World is the world in which we live most of the time. It has a visible and an invisible form. Each of these elements of the material world has a perceptible spiritual dimension. These spirits of Nature are all intrinsically linked in the permanent dance of life and death. The notion of balance is central — the imbalance of a single element has repercussions on the whole world. The middle world also includes the souls of the dead who need compassionate burial and accompaniment by the shaman in his role as psychopomp.
The lower world is the world of Earth energies, a realm of the subconscious and inner energies, closely linked to Mother Earth, her psychic, emotional and instinctive interiors. Powerful telluric energies, linked to 'animal spirits', guide the shaman on his shamanic journey. These animals are called 'power animals'. There are various techniques for 'descending' in order to find one's power animal and establish a relationship with it. This encounter will give you considerable spiritual power, teachings, joy, compassion and balance.
The world above is a more subtle and lighter world, that of purely spiritual energies. It is populated by benevolent spirits who manifest themselves in human form: deities, Masters, great sages, guides, ancestors, liberated souls. They can teach us wisdom, various types of knowledge — spiritual, philosophical and healing. It is the world that welcomes souls who ascend at the end of their earthly life, and is therefore the home of our Ancestors.
The Great Spirit without form is beyond the world above. It is in all forms and cannot be conceptualised or represented in the cartography of the three worlds.
The specificity of the Medicine Wheel archetypes
The Medicine Wheel is the Amerindian version of the shamanic cosmology of the three worlds, connected through the Axis Mundi, but it is also a guide to personal growth in the middle world. In the Medicine Wheel, there are seven archetypal directions, and the Middle World is further divided into the four cardinal directions, which can be represented graphically with a circle with a cross passing through the centre.
Michael Smith said: "When an Ojibway calls out the directions, he kneels and touches Mother Earth, who includes the Lowerworld as her deep inner psychic-spiritual life. When he points to the sky and says Kitchmanitou! he is not simply pointing to the sky, but through it to the Great Spirit."
In the centre is our heart, the inner manifestation of the Great Spirit, which coincides with the sacred fire that the Cherokee call Ishkudé. Fire and heart coincide; they are the seventh direction. The medicine wheel is not just a map — as a sacred space, it is a temple and represents the cosmos. The cardinal points correspond to the periods of the day through the rising and setting of the sun, the seasons of the year and those of human life. As the Way of the Heart, the Medicine Wheel also represents a methodology of inner growth that has connections with Holotropic Breathwork.
The Four Directions are archetypal metaphors with multiple dimensions:
East = morning, birth or rebirth, spring, childhood South = midday, summer, play, growth, creativity, youth West = evening, autumn, death of the ego, letting go, middle age North = night, winter, ancestors, old age, wisdom
The East archetype: vision
The east is the direction from which the sun rises, representing the beginning of the day and beginnings in general. It is the archetype of rebirth, of the sprouting of vision, of new things, of potential and talents to be implemented — the acorn that has the oak tree within it. It is the direction of dreams and dream time. It corresponds to childhood. In the cycle of the seasons, it represents spring, when the light continues to grow, the days lengthen and nature returns to expansion.
What is the teaching of the east? To bring attention to our potential, our dreams and visions, and consciously connect them to the process of individuation. Making our life a creative act, becoming artists of the spirit — something similar to what we do in the holotropic path.
The animal often associated with this direction is the eagle, which flies higher than any other bird. This direction is dominated by the element of air.
The archetype of the South: the warrior
The south is the direction in which the sun is high in the sky, connected to light and heat in their maximum expression, to midday and summer, representing courage and assertiveness. It corresponds to the archetype of the warrior. The direction in which the element of fire dominates.
The South is the completion of the process of externalisation in spring. It represents and symbolises the peak of empowerment, of individuative growth (Jung), cyclical like the seasons, time and human life. It is the age of exuberance, of young adults who have grown and gone through the process of developing their talents and expressing them — liberating and expressing that energy that allows us to become artists of the spirit.
We have all experienced this archetype when we have been courageous and expressed things that would otherwise have remained in the shadows of our inner selves, before beginning the process of internalisation that is characteristic of autumn and middle age.
The archetype of the West: the wounded healer
The west is where the sun sets, a direction associated with shadow and evening, when we turn inward, toward that inner space to be liberated so that our authentic, deep nature can manifest and realise itself without being hindered by problems, ancient traumas, COEX (constellations of condensed experiences from different layers of the psyche in Grof's psychology: biographical, perinatal and transpersonal) and everything that is blocked in our being. Autumn is the season associated with the West.
After experiencing and integrating the South — the courage and empowerment that represent the peak of external manifestation — we retreat and turn our gaze inward. The West corresponds to those stages of life in which we orient ourselves towards the invisible, the essential, the substantial. Jung's midlife crisis can be connected to the archetype of the West.
The animal associated with the West is the bear, which retreats into its cave — a cult present across many cultures — and which cyclically emerges at the end of winter. The West, where the sun sets, is also the direction of death and rebirth in many ancient cultures. This is the direction dominated by the element of water.
The archetype of the North: the teacher
The archetype of the North is an important experiential stage in the medicine wheel process of bringing out the inner teacher.
The North is the direction of cold, night, winter, mystery, ancestors, old age, wisdom, teaching, help, sacred compassion and empathy. We all know and have experienced this archetype when we have been helped, welcomed or have helped others. The North represents the age of experience, of those who have travelled through the previous archetypes and are Masters of Ceremony. The North is the completion of the process of internalisation of autumn.
With the onset of winter, the light begins to grow again. We move towards the spring equinox, the archetype of the sprouting of vision and inner potentials to be realised in life and the individuation growth (Jung) of spring/summer.
A direction dominated by the earth element.
The Centre, Axis Mundi
The seventh direction of the Medicine Wheel is the centre. This is the main bridge between transpersonal psychology and Amerindian shamanism: it connects the Great Spirit within and the Inner Healer.
At the centre of shamanic cosmology are both the universal principle and the individual principle, as in the Atman Brahman identity of Advaita Vedanta. Shamanic cosmology can also be represented as a fractal; we are all centres, at least in potential. When we are in our centre, we are also in the centre of the Axis Mundi of the cosmos. Individual sacredness corresponds to universal sacredness.
When we listen to our heart, we access our inner Axis Mundi. The way of the heart is the way of the Native Americans. In the shamanic view of the world, everything is one and we are a manifestation of the Great Spirit. The heart can become an inner guide. Michael Smith calls it our inner GPS. There are similarities with Jung's process of individuation and with the holotropic Inner Healer.
Hollow Bone
In comparing the shamanic path and the holotropic path, it is important to illustrate the inner dimension called Hollow Bone, which can be achieved on the shamanic path by becoming open and receptive to what the Great Spirit breathes into us. The power of the Great Spirit flows through a sacred man (shaman) only to the extent that a person has transformed himself into a vessel for that power, becoming humble and selfless.
Becoming a hollow bone is an experience that belongs to overcoming the dimension of the ordinary self. This has similarities with the holotropic path of surrendering with trust to the process of the Inner Healer and to what 'he' — and not our ordinary self — will manifest to us.
To draw a parallel with Holotropic Breathwork, Hollow Bone is similar to when we are open and receptive, we tune in and surrender to the inner holotropic process, we give voice to the Inner Healer, an experience that transcends the ordinary self. To develop the dimension of Hollow Bone, in Amerindian shamanism it is necessary to open and listen to one's heart, through which the Great Spirit speaks to us.
I remember Stan Grof saying, 'Breathe and enter into the process until something happens that you did not expect before'. The holotropic Inner Healer also brings extraordinary experiences and develops a power of inner listening, an inner centre, which can become a guide, an inner voice.
Michael Smith defines the shamanic path as an archaic process of individuation, which proceeds from the centre. The condition of Hollow Bone is necessary for this to happen.
Michael Smith teaches: 'The indigenous shamanic view is that everything is an emanation and manifestation of the Great Spirit and its creativity. Since the Great Spirit resides in the heart of each of us, we can reconnect with it through the heart, through the centre of our sacred circle of life, and learn again how to be in balance and in perfect relationship with things. The Red Path of the Native Americans is one of the paths that allows us to restore the sacred centre and helps us to walk the path centred on the heart and in honour of the earth. Finding the one who is within... finding one's vital core, one's centre of being... with the mind aligned with the heart, in service to the heart' [Smith M., Jung and Shamanism in Dialogue].
The path of the heart and the psychology of the centre
We need a psychological model that includes within it the spiritual centre of each person which, although it has different names, represents similar processes: the inner Axis Mundi, the Great Inner Spirit, the Inner Healer, the Jungian archetypal Self. It carries within itself the function of the Spiritus Rector and is also holotropic (from the Greek olos trepein, which makes us proceed towards wholeness), integrating together the sky, the earth and opposites, the fragmented or repressed parts of the soul. Among Native Americans, this psychology of the centre is called the path of the heart.
There are two aspects that characterise this psychology of the centre. The first is contact with our true nature and the process of bringing it to the surface: the East archetype. The second is the aspect of purification/healing (Inner Healer/Divine Physician), archetype of the West, working to remove obstacles (COEX) and traumas that prevent it from expressing itself. The two aspects are not separable; one supports the other.
There are two branches of a single path of the heart. The right branch helps you to create the life you truly desire, to become artists of the spirit. In the left branch, you must face with respect and an open heart, love and heal the suffering parts of yourself that have been rejected. If you do not do the work of the wounded healer on the left, the left side will sabotage you and completely divert you from the path of the heart. Spiritual bypassing corrupts the intent to walk the path of the heart.
Opposite poles in the medicine wheel: the red line and the black line
The archetypes of the directions can also be dynamically connected in opposite poles. In the Medicine Wheel, two lines pass through the centre. The good red road runs from south to north; the black road runs from west to east — a circle with a cross. The masculine is opposite the feminine: in the north the earth (feminine), in the south the fire (masculine), in the west the water (feminine), in the east the air (masculine), and in the centre the Unity.
In Michael Smith's Cherokee teaching, each direction represents a part of ourselves that we must take care of, and each of the four parts is interconnected. If one of these is neglected, the others will also become diseased and destabilised.
The ancient Cherokee allegorical story of the two wolves tells that two wolves dwell in the human soul — the white wolf, good and generous, and the black wolf, aggressive, selfish and discontented. Both struggle to dominate our soul. The legend teaches that if we nurture both, without neglecting the black wolf, we can find a balance between the two and even have it as an ally. This symbolic story teaches us that the difficult or dark side of each of us should not be ignored or rejected, but can be managed and, with respect, become an ally — an alternative to the New Age spiritual bypass, where only the positive is nurtured.
The red line runs from south to north. It is the path of the heart, guided by the Great Spirit — or by the Inner Healer. It is the line of emotional wisdom, connecting 'the Warrior' in the south — masculine, youthful, exuberant, connected to fire, assertive and individualistic — with 'the Master' in the north — wise, generous, compassionate and empathetic, receptive, feminine, connected to the earth. Being assertive must be expressed in balance with the generosity and compassion of the North.
The black line directly connects the West to the East horizontally, passing through the centre. In it, we live with and for the ego, for selfish or egocentric reasons. Cherokee medicine attaches great importance to the polarity between belonging and independence. Too much independence (West) and too much belonging (East) run the risk of imbalance. To keep the sacred circle of our lives intact, it is necessary to maintain a balance between solid, heart-centred individualisation and community participation that honours the earth.
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