The medicine wheel is something that today is regarded by outsiders as inherently Indian, like the dreamcatcher — as something that belongs to all tribes and is universally “Native American” (much like non-Native conceptualizations of so-called “Native American religion”). It’s not, of course; its origin as a so-called “medicine wheel” was actually fairly limited in geographic scope. In point of contemporary fact, however, it has become something of a pan-Indian symbol, adopted by tribal nations all over Indian Country to represent their own cultural interpretations of various traditions.
Exploring the medicine wheel, as either concept or artifact, is not something we’ll do here today; we’ll save that topic for a time when we have more literal representations of them in inventory. On this day, we’re merely going to look at a few of its contemporary symbolic qualities and manifestations.
The original medicine wheels, of course, were laid out in ancient times on the grounds of the Northern Plains, using large white rocks to create spokes radiating from a central stone hub. And despite the wheel’s modern incarnation as a hoop intersected by four spokes, the original versions had many spokes, apparently not always of the same length nor spaced the same distance apart. Archaeologists, anthropologists, self-styled New Age “shamans,” and self-appointed “experts” of all kinds will gladly tell you, in authoritative tones, exactly what their purpose was and how they were used, but the fact of the matter is that it’s guesswork at best. Among the latter two categories, it’s ill-informed, counterfactual, exploitative guesswork at that. And the less said about fraudulent exploitation like so-called “medicine wheel astrology,” the better.
All that said, the “medicine wheel” has become an indigenous motif much like the bald eagle and the white buffalo: a symbol of solidarity and the sacred, something that translates easily into the cultural argot of many tribal nations and traditions. In its modern incarnation, it tends to take on a specific stylized form: a single hoop with four spokes set at the cardinal directions, intersecting at the center. In some versions, nothing exists between the spokes, which ay themselves be painted in specific colors; in others, the wheel is rendered more in the image of a shield, with solid colors filling the gaps between each spoke. It’s a symbolic representation of the number four, significant and even sacred in many tribal traditions, often for multiple reasons. And there are commonalities in the colors chosen, too: In my experience, they are most often rendered in combinations of white/yellow/red/black or white/yellow/red/blue, although the order in which they appear on the wheel varies considerably by tribe and tradition.
So, too, does the symbolism vary, and depending on the tradition, it may represent multiple concepts, depending on context and use. For some, it’s a representation of the Four Sacred Directions — North, East, South, and West — with all the specific associations and powers that that may imply. For others, it serves as a marker of the seasons — Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter — and with that association, for some, comes the notion of “human seasons,” the stages of life (infancy, youth, adulthood, elder status). For some, it’s the elements, Nature’s inherent forces of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. I’ve even heard of associations with sacred substances — cedar, sage, sweetgrass, tobacco — although I suspect that’s a more recent development.
What unifies them all, though, is the simple imagery: four become one in the sacred hoop.
And that is what I see in this piece that Wings created some time ago. From its description in the Rings Gallery here on the site:
The cardinal directions. The elements. The seasons of the year. The stages of life. Over and over, the number four appears in indigenous cultures as a marker of the significant and the sacred. Keep its symbolism close to hand with this simple, elegant band hand-wrought in sterling silver. The ring itself is made of four individual pieces, two pairs: one pair of slender strands of triangle wire, peaks ever so slightly elevated, fused in the center; flanked by another pair of strands of half-round wire, one strand melded at either edge. The four pieces are soldered together, fused so completely that they appear to have been milled from a single heavy piece of silver. Unisex; sizeable.
Sterling silver
$195 + shipping, handling, and insurance
No, it’s not what most people think of as a medicine wheel. But as a metaphorical one, it’s fitting.
And for those who want to know: Yes, I have tried it on. It’s solid, substantial, and seamlessly one. It’s impossible to tell that it was once four separate strands of silver, now melded together.
It’s a perfect representation of the wheel, and of the sacred hoop.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2016; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
