We have often heard the expression that someone is “spirally out of control”, meaning basically that they are completely losing their mind or their ability to make reasonable and safe decisions, or that they are perhaps struggling with addictions or suicidal tendencies. I would like to offer an alternative expression, that being “spiralling INTO control”. How we do this is to understand the medicine beneath the spiral.
The Spiral is something that exists in Nature. For example, you will find spirals in the patterns of the seeds of the Sunflower. You will also find it in the pattern of the developing fern, or Koru (sacred spiral). This has represented to many the unfolding of life. As the fern gently unfolds it becomes a full leaf. As we unfold in our lives, we become full people.
Something that many do not know is that there is a form of spiral medicine wheel, with teachings that go with it that help one to unfold into a full human being and realize one’s potentials. I will share these teachings. Each teaching is associated with a particular stone on the spiral medicine wheel. Remember, though, that as one travels the spiral it is not just in one directions, for at the center stone we turn and spiral back out to the first stone. The diagram can be found at the end of the text.
- This stone represents Birth and New Beginnings (of any sort) in life. We need to be able to acknowledge these new beginnings every day, because to not acknowledge them (even out of a false sense of humility) we miss the opportunity to pause and allow our full consciousness to integrate the moment.
- This stone represents the Soul and the Journeys of the Soul. This incorporates teachings regarding karma, dharma, past lives, where we have been in this life, what we have learned and where we are wanting to go to next.
- This stone represents our Personality and how we relate to others. The personality is something that develops as we grow through life. Yet there are certain personality traits that we cannot help but acknowledge are inherited from our parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts etc. This is opportunity for us to decide what aspect of personality we wish to develop further and which we would prefer to have set on a back burner because it is not as useful for getting ourselves through life.
- This stone represents our Character. Our character is something that develops over time and is something that determines and demonstrates our true value in life, and in our communities. Someone of good character, for example, will do what is needed for everyone, not just what is needed for the self. But in doing so, what is good for the self also needs to be brought into consideration.
- This stone represents our Creativity and how we manifest our lives. We are much more in charge of what we bring into our lives than we often think we are. This does not negate the fact that sometimes others bring things into our lives that we do not/would not want. It simply means that we then have to make a choice about whatever it is that was brought to us. We can find creative solutions to many things that otherwise seem insurmountable. Creativity is also how we express ourselves, which can be through music, art, dance, writing, or even as simple as how we dress or how we walk.
- This stone represents Pleasure and Passion and their roles in connecting with Spirit. In many religions there is a taboo on such things as pleasure and passion. This is where they miss the mark. Spirit is all about pleasure and passion and that is what keeps life happening on our little blue planet, and the sooner we accept that the better.
- This stone represents the Intellect as well as how we perceive connections and communicate them with and to others. If not for the intellect, we would still be afraid to cross an ocean for fear of falling off the edge of the world.
- This stone represents the Analytical Mind and our ability to Reason. When we only allow ourselves to FEEL and never allow ourselves to reason things out, we end up in a state of complete ignorance and fear, because we completely lose our grounding and our grasp on reality.
- This stone represents our Intuition and our ability to Love. When we limit ourselves to cold, hard reason ALONE we disconnect from empathy and compassion. When we incorporate love and intuition into our daily lives, we end up much more fulfilled. So we don’t end up isolated and simply working every day and every night and actually connect with people around us and enjoy our lives.
- This stone represents our connection to the Earth. This means a connection to Nature. Those who disconnect to the world around them, disconnect from nature, and spend too much time in their heads or in their make-believe worlds will suffer a malnourishment of the soul.
- This stone represents our connection to Animals. Animals in our homes and animals in nature help to bring us out of our myopic perspectives in the world. We learn from animals…not just about the animals themselves and their habits, but about ways in which we, as humans, carry some similar traits as the animals around us.
- This stone represents the Cycles of Life and of Change. Change is the only constant thing in life, and as a result our lives are on a continuous cycle of conception, birth, life, death and rebirth. It is all around us in nature and in the changing seasons, and actually in every moment of our day when we look at the passing of each moment into the next.
- This stone represents the Divine Feminine in life, in nature, and within each and every one of us, no matter what gender we identify as.
- This stone represents the Divine Masculine in life, in nature, and within each and every one of us, no matter what gender we identify as.
- This stone represents the Ancestors and the Stars. There is a traditional statement that from the stars we come and to the stars we will return. This is similar to the concept of “ashes to ashes, dust to dust”. We are all made up of a great deal of star dust. And this flows through our bodies daily. Ancestors are often associated with the stars because their spirits look down upon us and watch over us, but also because they have, upon death, returned to the state of star dust.
- This stone represents the element of Fire, and the spontaneity that comes within it, both around us and within us.
- This stone represents the element of Water, Emotions and the deep aspects of the Soul. Laughter ripples and tears flow, and so they should, because water needs to flow around us and through us. We are also made up of a great deal of fluid and so we need to become at one with the water aspect in order to be able to flow with life’s little changes.
- This stone represents the element of Earth, the physicality of the human body, the strength of the human body and spirit, and our ability to hold energies within us properly.
- This stone represents the element of Air and of the Mind. It speaks to the accumulation of knowledge and the appropriate use of said knowledge, which would be called Wisdom. It represents as well our ability to receive energy and information properly. If we are closed minded we are not going to get very far in life.
- This stone represents the point of Death in our lives, but also the threshold between life and death, which many walk along, for one reason or another, for a very long time throughout their lives. Sometimes this is because of poor physical or mental health, but often that walking along the threshold of life and death is because we are walking with one foot in each world in order to be a bridge between the two for other people.
- This stone represents Spirit itself, as well as Rebirth. This rebirth can happen at any moment in our lives, or it can happen after we have crossed over to the other side. One way or the other, it simply and naturally happens.
Really, all of these teachings are simply about honouring the natural flow within us all. When we do so, there is great comfort that is achieved. We get to acknowledge ALL of ourselves and know that we truly do b
elong. As we become aware of this, we become, naturally, much more in control of our own lives.