Medicine wheels: from Native Americans to shamanic medicine.
Often when talking about archaeoastronomy, constructions that are not striking are overlooked. We have been told a thousand times that the three Egyptian pyramids coincide with the stars of Orion's belt, that Stonehenge is aligned with the solstices; every year we are reminded of the descent of Kukulcan on the pyramid of Chichen Itza, and on some occasions they have even given repercussion to the ahu moai of Rapa Nui. However, the so-called Native American medicine wheels have hardly been mentioned.
These wheels vary in appearance, generally the basic form is a circle of accumulated stones that marks the center, between 2 and 7 meters in diameter. Then the outer circumference is made, which measures between 12 and 30 meters; There may or may not be an outer wheel, and several spokes (usually 28) that emerge from the centre or from this second circumference. The spokes are undoubtedly what gave them their name of wheels. Sometimes there is only one central circle, and there are also the case of several smaller circles on the outside.
Some of the best known and best preserved are found on the tops of mountains, such as the one in Big Horn Park, in Wyoming, USA, or those in Alberta, Canada, where 70 monuments are gathered, practically half of the total medicine wheels (about 150). These wheels are located in the Great Lakes area, in the north of the United States and in the south of Canada.
They are dated between 5,000 and 3,000 years before our era, and it is estimated that they were in continuous use well into the 15th century. They thus become the oldest monuments with the longest duration of use. However, given their age and continued use, as well as possible additions to rocks or uses over time, some circles are more regular than others, and some are better preserved, and others can only be speculated about in shape. Other stone structures have been found that represented sacred animals such as snakes and turtles, and especially with the latter, a correlation has been sought (as if the center and the circle were the shell, and the spokes or outer circles the legs), but it has not been confirmed. The origin of this theory is surely the commemorative circle of a battle between two warriors at Snake Butte, South Dakota, near which a Maneuver Turtle, a symbol of the victor, was made out of boulders.
Although it is unknown whether they had a specific purpose, it seems clear that one of the objectives of the medicine wheels was astronomical observation and seasonal calculation, like other astronomical monuments. The dispute arises from the fact that some spokes of the wheels indicate the cardinal points, while in others they do not. However, the correlation of the 28 spokes with the length of the lunar months cannot be denied. Others seem to mark specific astronomical events.
Several wheels, according to Eddy's studies (1974), mark the solstices and equinoxes. This is notable in wheels that have a spoke that goes outside the main circumference, with the specific purpose of marking a small outer circumference, as occurs in the medicine wheel of Moose Mountain, in Saskatchewan or in the Bighorn wheel. These wheels stand out because they have six circles added to the outside of the wheel, which are supposed to be some specific events or festivals, even some anniversary that is unknown today. Three of these outer circumferences in the Bighorn wheel coincide with the position of the birth of the stars Sirius, Aldebaran and Rigel. Not long after, Jack Robinson (1925-2016) discovered that other stones pointed to the star Fomahault, in the constellation of Pisces. Astronomically speaking, these stars could be important because the first day they appeared or the last day they were seen would indicate the time remaining until the summer solstice and the beginning of certain seasonal periods.
Detractors point out that the night sky and its events have been changing over the centuries, so it would not be so easily linked. They also support the fact that some of the wheels are very different from each other, and have other possible uses such as an observatory from above, simply for hunting or battle purposes.
Others have wanted to link it with the dances of the different tribes, since many of these were circular and had some relation to nature or the sky, and were performed exclusively at specific seasonal moments, such as the summer solstice precisely for purification and renewal purposes. It is known that the Cheyenne people prepared a structure with a central pillar and coincidentally 28 exterior pillars to support a roof, and in this space ritual dances were performed. It is also true that remains of tipi stones (also circular) have been found near some of these wheels, so it would be reasonable to think that in some cases, the village or part of it would move to the place for the celebration or observation of special rites.
This is not so far-fetched. The Bighorn Wheel is part of a much larger archaeological complex, around which one can find numerous ceremonial preparation areas traditionally used even today by contemporary American Indians, as well as areas for collecting medicinal plants, ceremonial areas, the location of altars or special enclosures, such as sweat lodges or fasting spaces (to obtain visions). We can say that the entire area was a sanctuary.
It is also known that the natives carried out meditations and initiations on peaks and other remote places, as well as the medicine men also developed periods of learning and knowledge. The possibility has been raised that they were a tool of the medicine men to treat very specific problems and diseases, which required contact with nature and celestial spirits. Most likely, it is by association with the medicine men that the invaders gave these monuments that name.
This wheel, despite the lack of knowledge and mystery surrounding the original constructions, has entered fully into the shamanic world, not only in the American continent, but also in Asia (if it is not from Asia that, according to theories, the American populations came from)
The hypothesis of the cardinal points is maintained, although each tribe and even each practitioner has a slightly different version. The wheel is divided into four equal parts, which indicate the north, the east, the south and the west. The personal evolution or direction of the wheel is counterclockwise. Four colors are associated (yellow, red, black and white), which also vary between communities, although the most common is East yellow, South red, West black and North white. Based on these four parts, each one is associated with a facet of man: physical, mental, spiritual and emotional, as well as a season of the year, a star, a plant, an animal… The understanding of this wheel is simple, but it varies so much between schools and communities that in this article it is not worth going into too much detail, as we would run the risk of straying from the main topic.
What we can mention regarding the medicinal stone wheel is that many shamans respect these constructions and have even created a new medicinal wheel of 36 rounded stones, intended for individual and personal use. Each of the stones represents a part of the cosmos, the person builds it by dividing the circle into four parts. The person or some other valuable object can be placed in the center, and the wheel has a therapeutic value, since in some way it seeks a psychophysical balance represented by the four variables of seasons, elements, cardinal points, etc.
For some communities the stone circle is a mandala. By consciously making it yourself, you manifest your intentions and energies, and it becomes a place of reflection and meditation, rather than a medicine wheel as such. Between 2004 and 2006, the Kiwanis Society paid tribute to the First Nation of the Great Plains by building a Medicine Wheel at the Ayda Hayden Heritage Park.
Finally, there are those movements that arose mainly from New Age, in which the mandala tradition is mixed with shamanic magic and healing. Here the medicine wheel becomes a tool for transmitting and receiving energy from the earth. An example would be the Bear Tribe Medicine Society. Sun Bear had a vision in 1971 and since then his medicine wheel has become a phenomenon and the center of his spirituality. In his own words:
<<Medicine Wheels of stone, constructed by the original Native inhabitants, once spread across the Americas. These wheels were the ceremonial centers of earth people; powerful vortexes for both giving and receiving earth energy. On the psycho-spiritual level, Medicine Wheels provide a complex map of the human psyche, a way to deeply connect with yourself and with others. Earth Peoples used the Medicine Wheel to understand and celebrate change in their own lives and in the cycles of the earth. What these ancient ones knew and practiced is knowledge sorely needed by modern men and women.>>
Pietro V. Carracedo Ahumada – pietrocarracedo@gmail.com
Bibliography:
-Bender H. E. Medicine wheels or "calendar sites": Indian time or the space/time continuum. Time and Mind, 1(2), pp. 195–206. 2008.
-Molyneaux, B.L. La Tierra sagrada. Paisajes que reflejan el poder espiritual de la tierra. Evergreen, 2002.
-Robertson, L. H.. The Medicine Wheel Revisited: Reflections on Indigenization in Counseling and Education. SAGE Open, 11(2). 2021.
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