Ā 

Medicine Wheel Reading- Example

Step 1:

Create sacred space, place your cards in a stack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2:

 

Separate your deck, using inner guidance, into four stacks (upside down!). Place a stack in the East, South, West, and North.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3:

Draw one card from each direction/stack (STILL FACE DOWN!) and place all remaining cards in one stack again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 4:

Intuitively choose ONE card from the stack of remaining cards, and place it (FACE DOWN) in the center of the four directions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 5: The Reading:

1. Say the prayer, turn over the card that is in the Eastern Direction, answer the questions.
Great Spirit of Light, come to me out of the East with the power of the rising sun. Let there be light in my words, let there be light on my path that I walk. Let me remember always that you give the gift of a new day. And never let me be burdened with sorrow by not starting over again.

2. Say the prayer, turn over the card that is in the Southern Direction, answer the questions.
Great Spirit of Creation, send me the warm and soothing winds from the South. Comfort me and caress me when I am tired and cold. Unfold me like the gentle breezes that unfold the leaves on the trees. As you give to all the earth your warm, moving wind, give to me, so that I may grow close to you in warmth.

3. Say the prayer, turn over the card that is in the Western Direction, answer the questions.
Great Life-Giving Spirit, I face the West, the direction of sundown. Let me remember every day that the moment will come when my sun will go down. Never let me forget that I must fade into you. Give me a beautiful color, give me a great sky for setting, so that when it is my time to meet you, I can come with glory.

4. Say the prayer, turn over the card that is in the Northern Direction, answer the questions.
Great Spirit of Love, come to me with the power of the North. Make me courageous when the cold wind falls upon me. Give me strength and endurance for everything that is harsh, everything that hurts, everything that makes me squint. Let me move through life ready to take what comes from the North.

5. Turn over the card that is in the Center of your Wheel, and answer the questions.
May my soul awaken, may I begin to truly inherit my life. May I leave the kingdom of fake surfaces, repetitive talk and weary roles, and slip deeper into the true adventrue of who I am and who I am called to become.

6. Do the Integration activities/journaling.

7. Breathe a prayer of gratitude!

Example, by Anne Marie Bennett

Date: Wednesday, 8/22/12

I am on a quest for a more healthy/normal relationship with food.

 

AIR/EAST: Peaceful Warrior- Council Suit

  1. What ideas and thoughts do YOU (the Neter/energy of the card) have about my quest?

I am the one who is your Peaceful Warrior. I have been with you since you were a little girl.Ā  Your quest for a healthy relationship with food and your body, is a good one.Ā  It can be done peacefully, without harming yourself or anyone else.Ā  I think that there is an inner part of you who is confronting you with traits that you donā€™t like, and you do not like confrontation, so you are avoiding this part of you.Ā  I think that you can use my energy to make peace with this part of you that is blocking your quest for a healthy relationship with food.

2.Ā  What new beginning do you suggest to me as I invite more balance with food into my life? The new beginning is that of peaceful coexistence with the parts of you who are in your way.Ā  I am a warrior. I get the job done.Ā  I protect the inner tribe and the outer tribe.Ā  But I do it peacefully, without violence. For many years you have been doing violence to your body and your health with food. The new beginning you seek is accessible through my peaceful energy, not by forcing.

3.Ā  How does the light and shimmery air of the Eastern Direction assist me in my search for a healthy relationship with food?Ā  It is no coincidence that I am facing East!Ā  I am facing the dawn, the place in the universe that stands for new beginnings.Ā Ā Ā  The AIR of the east helps you every time that you BREATHE!!!Ā  It sounds simple, but there you have it. Breathe, focus on your breath more often, and you will stay in the present moment, where you KNOW what your body needs instead of what your mind wants.

Ā 

FIRE/SOUTH- Geneen Roth- Community Suit

  1. What needs to be burned away in order for me to have a normal relationship with food?Ā Ā  I am Geneen, who has taught you so much about what you know about your relationship with food, and how to eat intuitively and cleanly.Ā  What needs to be burned away is your old ideas about what is normal, your old ideas about what food can do for you.Ā  What needs to be dropped into the fire are your old habits, your old thought patterns.

  2. What fires burn within me that will help me to give myself more control over my eating habits?Ā  You are a warm, loving, passionate, strong, courageous woman. You are creative and divine.Ā  You are a seeker and a lover of life.Ā  All of these fires burn within you and will help you on your quest for a normal relationship with food.

  3. How does the burning fire of the Southern Direction help me in my quest for a healthy relationship with food?Ā Ā  The South brings you warmth and comfort, which you have often sought from food.Ā  Allow the southern winds to blow through you, with every breath, allow these winds of Spirit to comfort and contain you.Ā  You have been seeking comfort and solace and courage and contentment in the food, and with these Southerly winds, you can let it all go.

Ā 

WATER/WEST- Imagination- Council Suit

  1. What feelings/emotions do YOU (the Neter/energy of the card) have about my quest for a healthy relationship with food?Ā  I am the one who is Imagination.Ā  I am an archetype and a spirit guideā€¦ I have been with you since you were born.Ā  I am the one whose mind is flowering with ideas and images and magical places.Ā  I feel happy that you are on this quest, because it means there will be more space in your life for ME!Ā  You have been expressing your imagination and passion for creativity through the food that you are eating. You have been feeding your imagination with cookies and candy, when you need to be feeding me with stories and art and knitted things and collage.

  2. Looking back on my life journey so far, tell me what lessons I have already learned that will help me in my search for a normal relationship with food.Ā  Ah, simple!Ā  You have learned many lessons about self-expression and about using your imagination. You have learned that guided imagery recordings are really really helpful.Ā  You have learned that writing it all out is really really helpful in this quest to normalize your relationship with food.

  3. How does the flowing clear water of the Western Direction assist me as I seek a healthy relationship with food?Ā  Bathe in the cool clear waters of the West in your imagination.Ā  Allow the waters to flow over you, and they will wash away all your doubts and fears and hesitations.

 

EARTH/NORTH- Marti (Community Suit)

  1. Please tell me what needs to be made manifest in order for me to have a healthy relationship with food.Ā  Ā I am the one who is your dear friend. I am the one who brings you light and peace and unconditional love. I am the one who has the wisdom of Crone and the silliness of the young girl. What needs to be made manifest is your belief in your wise and wonderful self.Ā  You need to shine the light on the bright and beautiful places and stop focusing on the dark.Ā  I am here to remind you that in the last 2 years you have let go of 40 pounds. It is time to celebrate that and stop beating yourself up about the 15 you still want to release.

  2. What does my physical body have to say to me about what I seek?Ā  Your physical body is telling you that it is happy with the weight it is at right now.Ā  It is saying, ā€œpause and celebrate me for what I am right now. Stop beating me up with too high expectations.ā€

  3. What needs to die in order for my quest to be made true? What needs to die is your false beliefs about how hard this is, about how you canā€™t change your relationship with food.Ā  What needs to die is your self-doubt and your self-flagellation.Ā  What needs to die is your fear of taking your inner daughter by the hand and unconditionally loving her, comforting her, and spending time playing with her.

4Ā  How does the solid grounding of Mother Earth aid me in my journey towards a normal relationship with food?Ā  TheĀ Ā  solid grounding of Mother Earth is your support and your stronghold.Ā  Keep your feet rooted and grounded on your daily walks.Ā  Honor and bless the earth that gives you the food that nourishes and sustains you.Ā 

 

 

SPIRIT/CENTER- Slender Self/Body (Committee Suit)

  1. How do YOU (the Neter/energy on the card) feel in this moment about what I am seeking?Ā  I am the one whose strong and healthy, fit body, is emerging from the shadows of the heaviness of the past. I am the one who stands tall and proud.Ā  I feel excited and happy and grateful about your quest for a healthy relationship with food.Ā  I feel proud of you for seeking answers, and I feel great joy because the healthier your relationship with food is, the healthier my body is, and the healthier we are!

  2. What do YOU (the Neter on the card) need to have in order for me to have what I seek?Ā  I need to have healthy foods and lots of water every day.Ā  I need to have comfort and attention to my other needs for pleasure and sensuality and mental stimulation.Ā  I need you to be gentle with me, and kind.Ā  I need to know that you love me exactly as I am because I am not perfect.

  3. What is your relationship to each (any) of the other four cards?Ā  And/or do you have anything to add to any of the wisdom that has already been brought forth in this reading?Ā  I am intricately connected to each of these other Neters (energies).Ā  Geneen Roth has informed me since I was in my early 30ā€™s, about intuitive eating, and being kind to myself.Ā  Marti has taught me much about the power of unconditional cherishing.Ā  Peaceful Warrior has taught me about not doing my body violence.Ā  And I have used the power of Imagination many times to change my feeling/thinking about something, particularly FOOD.Ā  I would like to add to Geneenā€™s wisdom, by reminding you about her expression about sitting beside yourself and pulling up a chair.Ā  Looking at what is going on inside of you with curiosity and compassion.Ā  –

 

INTEGRATION

  1. Read everything youā€™ve written so far.

  2. Circle or highlight words or phrases that seem important to you now as you look back over your reading.

  3. Note any similarities among the cards, or any differences that stand out.

  4. If it feels right, journal a dialogue between 2 of the cards.

  5. If it feels right, ask the 5 cards to join forces and speak to you as one: “We are the ones who…” or “Our message for you about your quest is this…”
  6. Journal a summary statement that answers this question, based on the information you were given from your Neters:
    * How can I bring (__what I am seeking__) into my life? *