Medicine Wheel

Source: God of Light

Medicine Wheel



The Medicine Wheel is representative of American Indian Spirituality. The Medicine Wheel symbolizes the individual journey we each must take to find our own path. Within the Medicine Wheel are The Four Cardinal Directions and the Four Sacred Colors. The Circle represents the Circle of Life and the Center of the Circle, the Eternal Fire. The Eagle, flying toward the East, is a symbol of strength, endurance and vision. East signifies the renewal of life and the rebirth of Cherokee unity.

East = Red = success; triumph
North = Blue = defeat; trouble
West = Black = death
South = White = peace; happiness

There are three additional sacred directions:
Up Above = Yellow
Down Below = Brown
Here in the Center = Green

Winter=go-la
The color for North is Blue which represents sadness, defeat.
It is a season of survival and waiting.
The Cherokee word for North means "cold" u-yv-tlv.

Spring=gi-la-go-ge
The color for East is Red which represents victory, power.
Spring is the re-awakening after a long sleep,
victory over winter; the power of new life.
The Cherokee word for East is ka-lv-gv

Summer=go-ga
The color for South is White for peace, happiness & serenity.
Summer is a time of plenty.
The Cherokee word for South means "warm" u-ga-no-wa.

Autumn=u-la-go-hv-s-di
The color for West is Black which represents death.
Autumn is the final harvest; the end of Life's Cycle.
The Cherokee word for West is wu-de-li-gv.

RED was symbolic of success. It was the color of the war club used to strike an enemy in battle as well as the other club used by the warrior to shield himself. Red beads were used to conjure the red spirit to insure long life, recovery from sickness, success in love and ball play or any other undertaking where the benefit of the magic spell was wrought.

BLACK was always typical of death. The soul of the enemy was continually beaten about by black war clubs and enveloped in a black fog. In conjuring to destroy an enemy, the priest used black beads and invoked the black spirits-which always lived in the West,-bidding them to tear out the man's soul and carry it to the West, and put it into the black coffin deep in the black mud, with a black serpent coiled above it.

BLUE symbolized failure, disappointment, or unsatisfied desire. To say "they shall never become blue" expressed the belief that they would never fail in anything they undertook. In love charms, the lover figuratively covered himself with red and prayed that his rival would become entirely blue and walk in a blue path. "He is entirely blue, " approximates meaning of the common English phrase, "He feels blue. "The blue spirits lived in the North.

WHITE denoted peace and happiness. In ceremonial addresses, as the Green Corn Dance and ball play, the people symbolically partook of white food and, after the dance or game, returned along the white trail to their white houses. In love charms, the man, to induce the woman to cast her lost with his, boasted, "I am a white man," implying that all was happiness where he was. White beads had the same meaning in bead conjuring, and white was the color of the stone pipe anciently used in ratifying peace treaties. The White spirits lived in the South.

Two numbers are sacred to the Cherokee. Four is one number, it represented the four primary directions. At the center of their paths lays the sacred fire. Seven is the other and most sacred number. Seven is represented in the seven directions: north, south, east, west, above, bellow, and "here in the center" the place of the sacred fire. Seven also represented the seven ancient ceremonies that formed the yearly Cherokee religious cycle.


Cherokees of California, Inc.



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Reincarnation

 Recently, I was interviewed on CBS Radio's Spiritually Raw discussing the value of considering the belief in reincarnation.

Here are some of the main points of my discussion:

1. Why the teaching was suppressed by orthodoxy:
3. Scholars have said, only by suppressing gnosticism did orthodoxy establish a system of organization which united all believers into a single institutional structure.

The teachings of the Early Church fathers on reincarnation: Clement of Alexandria referred to reincarnation to remind us of the vital truth taught by Jesus- "ye must be born agian..."

The early  Church fathers taught reincarnation until the 6th century.  They were not outside their comfort zone, as Christianity spread in a world dominated by Greek philosophy.

Woman Priest

Message for Eastern Ugandan prisoners

Pastor Paul Bulenzi, founder of Beam of Hope For The Disadvantaged delivered the following Sacred Voices message today at 4 prisons. We have been collaborating for several years, and this our newest initiative with Behod.org.



Many people have many spiritual questions. What is the purpose of my life? Why am I here? but they don't realize the answers are already within. God has equipped each one of us with the means by which they can recieve answers through the Spirit. Even through hard and traumatic experiences, God is walking with us each step of the way.

One of the problems in the world today, is that man does not believe God's spirit resides within, and man insists on living in ignorance living life at a lower frequency in their thoughts, rather than embracing the divine.



Whatever your station in life. God has sent invisible helpers and messengers in the form of angels and spirit guides to surround you. Their purpose is to show what your divine purpose is in life, and to protect you from any harm.



Though you may feel that " the sun of hope never shines, and no light appears at the end of the tunnel," you should know the light of God's love surrounds your every waking minute. There is nothing to fear in your life anymore, as God is your friend.


Christ said, "I am about my Father's business," because He knew this was the true business of life, and He taught that no matter what happens to us on earth, we are to work towards transcending all difficulties by God's infinite grace.



We are all here to learn lessons for the evolution and perfection of our souls and that is the true purpose of our lives. I lost my son last year, and through that immense suffering, I learned that all things in nature are growing, as a result we grow as well through trauma as part of the divine purpose.

Once I lost my son, I thought I would not have a future, and never know happinness again. I lost all my ambition and energy. But slowly, I discovered the God of my being in my mind, and in my despair. I realized quickly, that God is the source of life and happiness for the human soul and spirit.


So God is the source of life and happiness for your soul and spirit. In your contemplation and prayer today, imagine the future as an inner light, infinite in its presence in your mind. Think of this light as God within you. God's light within dissolves all sorrow, or negativity. know that God's wisdom works through your thoughts today to help you see the good that will emerge out of temporary difficuty. Amen+

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The Wisdom of The Ascended Masters:

The Wisdom of The Ascended Masters: By Jackie O'Neal

Father Edward Hays has a section in his book Prayers For A Planetary Pilgrim called "Cosmopolitan Prayers." I love the notion of a cosmopolitan prayer as it assumes we will draw upon other faith traditions besides our own. Father Hays affirms : "Speaking through the lips of the prophet Isaiah, the Divine Mystery said: My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus to view the cosmos as a temple means to view the prayer and worship of all those who dwell on the planet Earth as the praise of the children of God."

Many people fear inter-religious dialogue, and yet if we strive for peace in the world, it is essential. Scripture teaches us: Beloved let us love one another because love is of God, everyone who loves is begotten of God and has the knowledge of God.

The Buddhist tradition affirms We are what we think. What we are is the result of our thoughts. With our thoughts we make our world.
It's vital for all of us to think only pure and loving thoughts about others and life. How else can we help create a compassionate world?

Can we help build a world full of joy by insisting that only one faith tradition has all the answers? Why not stretch our minds and make the realization that the Holy Spirit was moving upon the earth even before the birth of Christ?
It would seem that God's intention is for man to be creative enough to embrace the wisdom drawn from all traditions and we can be so spiritually enriched by doing so. We can learn not to take each other for granted. We learn also of the temporal nature of life. Listen to the following Aztec prayer to God from the Native American tradition:

Oh, only for so short awhile have you loaned us to each other.
Because we take form in your act of drawing us
But only for a short while have you loaned us to each other
Because even a drawing cut in cystalline obsidian fades
and the green feathers, the crown feathers
of the Quetzal bird lose their color
and even the sounds of the waterfall die out in the dry season.
The companionship of our loved ones is so precious, and because life is so fragile, any of these dear ones could be called by God to return Home. The day before, my son perished in an accident, we were all together as a family, and my last day with him was one of love, affection, warmth, laughter. None of us knows the hour when we will be called, or when our work on this earth will be finished.
The Islamic tradition teaches us that We are born asleep and at death we awake. What a magnificent idea that helps lead us to honor everything around us that lives and breathes. And to see the inter-connectedness of life. What a sense of comfort to know too, that those loved ones that have passed on, have been born anew and continue to thrive, and perhaps we are the ones that exist in a slumbering state waiting to realize the beatific vision or as Father Hays wrote: Lift my drooping eyelids this day
from the slumber of the unawakened
so that I might see you in the vastness of the universe, in the busy work of an ant, in the awesome beauty of the flower,in the ordered cycles of the seasons and in all I shall encounter.

The mystics of Judaism of the Hasidic tradition assert : Do not think that the words of prayer as you say them -go up to God. It is not the words themselves that ascend but rather it is the burning desire of your heart that rises like smoke to heaven. God examines the heart of everyone to see if the intentions are pure. Words and acts of piety are not enough to expand the soul, or to learn the lessons we are here on earth to learn. Sometimes it is not sufficient to pray mindlessly, but to establish a friendship with God and our unseen helpers. This is when we become truly spiritual. The Hindu tradition teaches that We are born into the world of nature our second birth is into the world of the spirit.

What a marvelous knowledge that the world of the unseen is more real than matter. As we develop our awareness of the world of spirit, and know we are not alone, our life journey becomes less tedious. How fascinating to know God sends messengers in the form of spirit guides to infuse us with knowledge and show us right direction despite whatever trials or tribulations we face.

My son was still alive when I first began writing my book, and after his death in 2009, I had to learn to grow spiritually, and in so doing I began to reject some of the patriarchal teachings of the church, and to embrace the reality of a Mother God. Many cultures have acknowledged a female principle for thousands of years. The reason why many of the Gnostic Christians were martyred was not because they would not bow down to the emperor, but because they believed in the female principle. In the Episcopal church, devotions to the Blessed Mother have disappeared. I do recall an Episcopal priest gritting his teeth, and snarling: "You and your rosary," when I suggested using one during an Advent Quiet day.

Every day, I am aware of God as a loving God not a punitive one as I had been taught via my Anglo-Catholic faith. Since I am a person who tends to internalize guilt, I feel myself becoming more at peace, and releasing the need to please others. I have become less judgemental in appreciating other's uniqueness. Each one of us was made uniquely with our own persona. From the moment we came from God we carried a unique temperament, disposition, personality, and sense of humor. Annie Besant affirmed the transcendence of the great masters. She wrote: "The great Teachers—it is alleged by Hindus, Buddhists, and by some Comparative Religionists, such as Theosophists—form an enduring Brotherhood of men who have risen beyond humanity, who appear at certain periods to enlighten the world, and who are the spiritual guardians of the human race. This view may be summed up in the phrase: "Religions are branches from a common trunk—Divine Wisdom." The writer Besant went on to assert an inspiring truth that is as fresh in modern day as it was when she wrote it in 1907: "And it may be that if the world grows more spiritual, it may be that if Spirit again becomes triumphant over matter, after passing through the darkness which was[46] necessary in order that the intellect might be thoroughly developed and might learn its powers and its limitations; it may be that, in days to come, when the world is more spiritualised than to-day, climbing as it is again the upward arc, these living Masters of the world's religions will come amongst us again visibly as in the earlier days. It is not They who keep back in silence. It is we who shut Them out, and make Their presence a danger rather than an encouragement and an inspiration. And every one of you—no matter what your faith may be, Christian, Hinḍu, Buḍḍhist, Theosophist, what matters it?—every one of you who makes the Master of your own faith a living reality, part of your life, nearer than friend and brother, every such believer and worker is hastening the day of joy when the world shall be ready for the open reception of the Masters, that They may move visibly amongst humanity once more.That it may be so, open your heart to every breath of truth; that it may be so, open your eyes to every ray from the one eternal Sun. "

My traumatic experience of loss brought me spiritually to where I am today, a seeker of truth and one who can no longer accept only one faith tradition, but who embraces the wisdom of all the ascended masters. Sometimes trauma can open the mind to transcend an attempt to understand knowledge above and beyond the ordinary, and I beleive this has been my experience in internalizing the passing of my son. In closing, I'd like to draw upon the wisdom of Annie Besant who noted: "Divine Wisdom; and the name historically, is identical with that which in Eastern lands has been known by various names—as Tao, in China; as the Brahmaviḍyâ, in India; as the Gnosis, among the Greeks and the early Christians; and as Theosophy through the Middle Ages and in modern times. It implies always a knowledge, a Wisdom that transcends the ordinary knowledge, the ordinary science of the earth; it implies a wisdom as regards life, a wisdom as regards the essential nature of things, a wisdom which is summed up in two words when we say "God-Wisdom." —man can really never know anything at all unless he knows himself, and knows himself Divine; that knowledge of God, the Supreme, the Universal Life, is the root of all true knowledge of matter as well as of Spirit, of this world as well as of worlds other than our own; that in that one supreme knowledge all other knowledges find their root; that in that supreme light all other lights have their origin; and that if man can know anything, it is because he is Divine in nature, and, sharing the Life that expresses itself in a universe, he can know at once the Life that originates and the Matter that obeys."