Our story starts with this symbol:

This symbol was given to me by a Caribbean Practitioner (Shaman? Witch? Healer?) of Taino heritage  who gave me a personal totem of Green Parrot.  My first totem, medicine animal.

I was young and egotistical.  I thought I should have a tiger or a bear or an eagle as my personal totem, not a Green Parrot.

I lived in Indiana.  There were no Green Parrots there.  I was arrogant, and too ignorant to know better. (interesting, as Green Parrot now reminds me to not be deceived by appearances!)

This symbol is the Medicine Wheel.

She said, the first part of your journey is to learn the Medicine Wheel.

I spent the next 20 years of my life learning the Medicine Wheel.  I am still learning the Medicine Wheel!  The wisdom and teaching of the Medicine Wheel is the basis for all of my practice, and it is, like any other study, infinite in its potential for learning and growth.

The Four Directions (also called Four Elements):

East – Air – Thought & Ideas

South – Fire – Passion & Play & Innocence, giving

West – Water – Emotion & Spirits of the Ancestors

North – Earth – Physical body, possessions, holding and grounding (including making a living).

As I worked these, and met other teachers, I learned about more directions:

Above – Male energy, Sky Father, Weather, Rain that fertilizes the womb of Earth.

Below – Female energy, Earth Mother, the fertile ground which gives all nourishment

Within – That spark of divine within me that touches the whole world.

Walkside Left and Right – companions of our Creative and Rational sides.

(Walksides, I learned from Tsalagi Wise Man, Don Waterhawk, who learned from Grandmother Twylah.  Tsalagi is what white folk call “Cherokee.”)

So 20 years, I spent, studying, learning and growing within the Medicine Wheel.  The Medicine Wheel divides the Sacred from the ordinary, makes a space where it is safe to Invoke and Create and Perform Ceremony, Ritual, and Magick.   I learned a pipe ceremony, from a white man, who was given the ceremony from a red man.  This ceremony was suitable for white folk to use, and I took it up as a weekly practice.  I gave the ceremony to a half dozen people over my life.  I made a Medicine wheel out of birch frame and sheepskin, with my Totem Animals on it (but there were no Green Parrots.  I had forgotten about the Green Parrot!)

Then I moved to Australia.

In Australia,  the North was the South, and the Water was to the East and the practitioners here sometimes call the Elements of the Medicine Wheel according to – where is the ocean, where is the mountain, where is the lake, where is the wind?  But when I looked at my Medicine Wheel Inside, I could not match it to the elements outside.  The Chinese have 7 elements, including wood and metal.  I began to get confused.  How could I match that within me, to an outer practice?

In Ayurveda and yoga, the elements reside in the same places in the body, and they spin according to your body, not according to which hemisphere of the planet you live upon.

Even worse, how could I teach it?  Everyone here has a different view of the Medicine Wheel!

Some put fire in the North, some put it in the West.

Some put water in the East, some put it in the North

And so on.

So how could I teach this very basic thing, how to make Safe Space – without teaching the Medicine Wheel?

I offer a simple chart for my Circle:

Lately, I have learned that different Native American tribes place different elements in different quarters of the medicine wheel, too.  For me, now, each person needs to find their directions, find their own compass, to understand.  Learning the 4 elements is a terrific place to start, and honouring them in your practice will teach more about where they are on your Medicine Wheel.  It depends on your tradition, your blood, what you are attracted to, the land upon which you walk, and your inner guidance.

I wish I could just say, THIS direction is THIS element, but I cannot.  I can, however say, these elements are vital parts of human existence, and learning and honoring them is a step towards better understanding our place and role with each other and The Earth.

The most amazing thing I gained by coming to Australia – is that every day, I see these birds (Rainbow Lorikeets):

 

And I know that the Taino teacher was right.

It is with great joy that I bask in the medicine of Green Parrots.  I am especially fortunate, because the green parrots I see the most are Rainbow Lorikeets – and their colours are exquisite, and remind me of the integration of my chakras, and of spreading joy.

Rainbow lorikeet in particular speaks of overcoming disability with creativity, freedom, the ability to change my life, and dreams coming true.

I now welcome this Green Parrot Medicine!

Aho, to the Taino woman who set me on this path.