The Medicine Wheel is representative of American
Indian Spirituality. The Medicine Wheel symbolizes the
individual journey we each must take to find our own
path. Within the Medicine Wheel are The Four
Cardinal Directions and the Four Sacred Colors. The
Circle represents the Circle of Life and the Center of
the Circle, the Eternal Fire. The Eagle, flying toward
the East, is a symbol of strength, endurance and vision.
East signifies the renewal of life and the rebirth of
Cherokee unity.
East = Red = success; triumph
North = Blue = defeat; trouble
West = Black = death
South = White = peace; happiness
There are three additional sacred directions:
Up Above = Yellow
Down Below = Brown
Here in the Center = Green
Winter=go-la
The color for North is Blue which represents sadness,
defeat.
It is a season of survival and waiting.
The Cherokee word for North means "cold" u-yv-tlv.
Spring=gi-la-go-ge
The color for East is Red which represents victory,
power.
Spring is the re-awakening after a long sleep,
victory over winter; the power of new life.
The Cherokee word for East is ka-lv-gv
Summer=go-ga
The color for South is White for peace, happiness &
serenity.
Summer is a time of plenty.
The Cherokee word for South means "warm"
u-ga-no-wa.
Autumn=u-la-go-hv-s-di
The color for West is Black which represents death.
Autumn is the final harvest; the end of Life's Cycle.
The Cherokee word for West is wu-de-li-gv.
RED was symbolic of success. It was the color of the
war club used to strike an enemy in battle as well as the
other club used by the warrior to shield himself. Red
beads were used to conjure the red spirit to insure long
life, recovery from sickness, success in love and ball
play or any other undertaking where the benefit of the
magic spell was wrought.
BLACK was always typical of death. The soul of the
enemy was continually beaten about by black war clubs
and enveloped in a black fog. In conjuring to destroy an
enemy, the priest used black beads and invoked the
black spirits-which always lived in the West,-bidding
them to tear out the man's soul and carry it to the West,
and put it into the black coffin deep in the black mud,
with a black serpent coiled above it.
BLUE symbolized failure, disappointment, or
unsatisfied desire. To say "they shall never become
blue" expressed the belief that they would never fail in
anything they undertook. In love charms, the lover
figuratively covered himself with red and prayed that
his rival would become entirely blue and walk in a blue
path. "He is entirely blue, " approximates meaning of
the common English phrase, "He feels blue. "The blue
spirits lived in the North.
WHITE denoted peace and happiness. In ceremonial
addresses, as the Green Corn Dance and ball play, the
people symbolically partook of white food and, after the
dance or game, returned along the white trail to their
white houses. In love charms, the man, to induce the
woman to cast her lost with his, boasted, "I am a white
man," implying that all was happiness where he was.
White beads had the same meaning in bead conjuring,
and white was the color of the stone pipe anciently used
in ratifying peace treaties. The White spirits lived in the
South
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