Cross Culture Shamanic Self-Healing on the Medicine Way with Donna Nunn
Different Indigenous tribes hold different traditions. So not all tribes hold the same directions for each quarter of the Medicine Wheel. The teachings on Dolma website are based upon those learned from my own indigenous teachers. Other tribes and indigenous cultures have different definitions than those listed here. Each tribe’s Medicine Wheel is based upon their own tribe’s historical experiences and the ancestral wisdom unique to their ways of life.
The Way of the WEST: The Teacher’s Path
The ELEMENT OF WATER relates to the Way of the West; including
Steam, Liquid, Hail, Frost, Snow, Ice, Flow to Rigid & Back & Forth
- This is the realm of the TEACHER and the STUDENT.
- It is the Realm of NOT-KNOWing. Understanding is low. You can feel lost in confusion.
- Detachment from specific outcomes. Confusion. Your everyday life changes forms.
- Release, Letting Go. Emptiness. Grief. Regret. Disruption of your sense of Purpose.
- Getting ready to start over or finding RENEWAL through loss.
- Replacing loss with well-earned WISDOM.
- The WEST is the power of Autumn & the Autumn Equinox.
- The WEST is the experience of decreasing LIGHT to Darknes & the place of the VOID.
- Harvesting what you have sown or results of what you have done or not done.
- It is the primal tipping point for seeds sown. You learn more Persistence & Patience.
- CHANGE! Endings of things, projects, plans, people, relationships, etc.
- Wisdom & insights gained through DEATH & TRANSFORMATION
- Making PEACE with outcomes you cannot control & feeling powerless.
The West is the power in the Medicine Wheel that teaches about the flow of emotions which come from all the trials and blessings, opportunities and challenges of the WEST. You learn new skills to handle ‘NOT KNOWING’ and Letting GO. Being able to forgive both yourself and others is crucial to healing the wounds of the WEST. You learn the cleansing power of tears, and the wisdom of the subconscious. Through the challenges, obstacles and losses you can discover the ways to find the TRUTH inside yourself. Experiences show you the importance of gratitude, patience, boundaries, endurance, Will Power and hope as slowly the Path to Transformation unfolds as you do your inner and outer work of the WEST.
The West signifies the season of Fall when you reap that which you have sown. Sometimes it feels as though the difficulties, problems and challenges of the WEST are a punishment. But while there can be a sense of not having done ‘enough’ in some things, it is also a time of the freedom to CHANGE things that have needed changing. It is a time of very deep life assessment and a time of release, introspection, and acceptance of the cycles of life. You come to grips with the things you cannot change and learn new ways to deal with the results of the ‘Way things Are’.
So often in the WEST you are unable to force your way to achieve the results you want. You learn the great power of WATER in it’s sense of overcoming obstacles bit by bit instead of through a tsunami.
Empowerment tools of the WEST:
Element: WATER: Fluid, Solid Ice, Steam
Realm of: The SPIRIT
Instrument: CLICK STICKS, BONES
Meditation: Silence: Sitting Down
Healing Chant: Bone-a-Bone Song
Healing Salves: BEING OPEN TO (possible) OUTCOMES
TIME: Less light going toward Midnight. AUTUMN
The WEST teaches the importance of RIGHT TIMING and RELEASING DRAMA.
Animal Allies of the WEST:
Bear Ability to lie low, to wait or hibernate during times of loss or low energy.
Owl Ability to nurture yourself in darkness or chaos.
Frog. Slows down & hibernates as weather becomes cooler. Traveler in 3 worlds.
Raven & Crow who release or take away that which is dying.
A Few of the Many Tests and Challenges of the WEST
- Learning to be alone. Dealing with loneliness. Learn Solitude.
- Learning to make decisions & ways in which you have CHOICES.
- Handling confusion.
- Getting used to NOT KNOWING. Letting go. Not being in control.
- Dealing with doubt; loss of hope and loss of faith.
- Not getting your own way with people, things & situations.
- Learning not to be forceful; being unattached to outcomes.
- Push less and not over extend yourself. Stop over-working!
- Deal with challenges & even poor health due to Adrenal Exhaustion and Over-work.
Focus in the WEST is On:
Engaging in actions to grow your Inner Teacher; support your well-being & health.
- Take time in nature, with plants, tress, animals, out of doors, in water, fresh air, rain, wind.
- Contact with the elements.
- Learning about what to harvest and when to harvest.
- Noticing what to DO BETTER or DIFFERENT, NEXT TIME.
- Unstructured time alone to absorb who you are & let your life, feelings & thoughts catch up with you.
- Being able to slow down. Take little naps or breaks.
- Pay attention to the quality & amout of your SLEEP TIME.
- Work less and stop functioning on adrenal powers.
- Learning to be alone in solitude; learning to transform loneliness to solitude.
- Keeping a DREAM journal of your experiences, feelings, & revelations of inner truth.
- Discovering your own inner Truth and WISDOM.
- Learning how to do Out of Body Experiences.
- Learning how to Lucid Dream; Remote Viewing; Astral Travel Safely.
- Belief in a Higher Power; Connect with a Divine Source; ONENESS, the Goddess, Immensity, etc.
- Faith in a supernatural essence upon which you can call & depend upon for help.
Passage through the Ways of the West can occur at other times of the year, just as all parts of the Medicine Wheel are functioning every minute of every day. During the AUTUMN, the WEST is the predominant theme in Nature and will more directly affect your everyday experiences. Keeping a journal of your Life Experiences can help you gain the insights that will pave your awareness to Wisdom that makes the challenges of the WEST easier.
Remember that when challenges come in the areas you have previously experienced, it only means you get another chance to use and build the skills you learned last time. These challenges are usually not coming as punishment nor judgement, as such, but rather as opportunities to gain strength in your resolutions to overcome such things as loneliness, addiction to emotional drama, fear of being out of control or not knowing, having to end things & and make new starts, etc.
