East
The body. Direction of the rising sun, Grandfather Sun. Physical body. All that is new in life in the creation. As the sun rises, a new day is brought to light. So it is with all things. Time of change. See the eagle soaring this direction as it represents all birds that fly.
West
The spiritual. Direction of the setting sun. Time of gradual change as daylight to darkness. Life to death. West is time of full maturity. Time of insight. Direction of the emotional part of ourselves. See to the west and the see the Bear, the two-legged ones, Bear and us. See the mountains, the trees, the plants. Trees stand tall. Straight and tall equals Honesty. When we go west we learn about honesty.
North
The mental. Time of our elders and old people. Time of wisdom, those things positive, a time of snow and purity. See all that swim and crawl and the wolf.
South
The emotional. A continuation of our cirlce of life is the direction of maturing life. Full understanding. See the four leggeds this direction. Family and friends.
Mother Earth
From where we stand upon Mother Earth we have connectedness to the four directions. Mother Earth cares for us and blesses us with food, clothing, shelter, and medicine.
Sky
Where we look to acknowledge the Great Spirit, the Creator. The Creator gives us everything we know.
On the Medicine Wheel there are four directions. Physical. Mental. Emotional. Spiritual. All four are connected. When our life is not balanced in all four directions then it becomes unhealthy or out of balance. For example: when sick, the other three areas of the wheel will suffer. When we are healthy and happy, all four directions are in harmony with one another.
This is also true in relationships. There must be balance in each person's life. Where there is balance, there is harmony in all four directions. Everything in the wheel has a relationship with the other.
If a person has no spirituality in their life, there is really no direction. There is no belief system. What are they going to do with their emotions when they have no one to turn to? When you have spirituality, your spirit is strong. It fills the void of emptiness. You know the Creator is there and you are not alone. You know that your spirit is within yourself. When we see the Medicine Wheel, we see the Creator who is in us. If we do not love ourselves, we cannot love those around us. If we do not respect ourselves, we cannot respect the Creator or those around us. If we cannot understand ourselves, we cannot understand the Creator or those around us. If we cannot feel anything for ourselves, we cannot feel anything for other people.
The Medicine Wheel shown on this page belongs to the Lakota. You will find a reverse in direction of the east and west as described above. However, my spirit guides me to accept the teachings of West being the Red Path to spirituality and the East to be the Yellow Road of new life and the physical body.