Song of the Deer
The Great SunDance Journey of the Soul

With permission, the following is exerpted from "Song of the Deer" by Thunder Strikes with Jan Orsi, published by Jaguar Books, Inc,.1999.

"The Sacred Medicine Wheel,
the Wheel of Life"

Basic to any Twisted Hairs teaching is an understanding of the alchemy and energy of the wheel or circle. Wheels are cognitive maps that describe the cyclical patterns of life experience.  The Medicine Wheel represents the unity of all things in the Universe an connects us with the energy flow of all creation. When we build Medicine Wheel and enter it in ceremony, it helps us to establish of connecting link to the intent of the Great Spirit, or the Everything

Wheels or circles have been used since ancient times as tools for teaching the ways of the Universe.  They offer an accurate way to perceive how one form of life is completely interconnected with other life. There is no beginning or end, only phases which appear as beginnings and endings, simply a change of reference points. Birth into physical existence is not the beginning of life, for spit is eternally alive.  Birth allows spirit a different perception point through which to experience its aliveness within physical form.  It is simply movement and change on the Wheel o f Life.

All the wheels of the Sweet Medicine SunDance paradigm spin and interconnect with one another.  We do not come to understand ourselves, others, or the dynamics of Nature by separating, isolating, or dissecting.  Rather, we must look at how we affect and are affected by everything in the Universe in a continuous spiral of existence.  That is why this book addresses our individual journey within the context of a cosmic drama.  According to Sacred Law: "As Above, So Below."

To do things in a linear way - logically, sequentially - is to assume that everything can be held stationary or static, which is an illusion.  Quantum physicists have demonstrated that matter cannot be "nailed down" and observed in the same place at the same time. Most of us have been taught to think in straight lines.

Fig. 1c  The Elements Wheel

It is not easy to switch thinking processes, but once you have worked with the Medicine Wheel, you will understand that, despite describing infinite, complex systems, the Medicine Wheel is powerful in its simplicity.

A wheel always contains the four cardinal directions‑South, West, North, East‑and the void in the Center. We see that life itself is based on a construction of the number 4.  One of the most basic wheels is called the Elements Wheel, which places the five basic elements in their respective directions along with their proper energetic expression (see Fig. 1c). 

An expansion of the basic wheel adds the four noncardinal directions‑Southeast, Southwest, Northwest, Northeast.  The cardinal directions hold and stabilize a wheel and its energy; the noncardinal directions turn the wheel and create movement and the evolutionary process.

Each wheel is like a tiny little gear that moves.  However, for teaching purposes, the wheels presented here are frozen or locked into place in their neutral positions.

Each wheel is a creation process in itself.  Starting with the basic elementary wheels, you will see how one wheel creates and connects with the next.  We will overlay wheels to help you discover your natural, undiscovered self, the richness of who you truly are.  When you study a wheel, you access memory which causes you to work with your left and right brain equally.

The Elders say that first we study the wheels.  Then we apply the wheels and experience them in our lives.  Next we begin to dream the wheels.  When we dream the wheels, they begin to dream us.  Then we begin to breathe the wheels, and when the wheels breathe us, we become the wheels of wisdom and realize they have always been inside us.  Our memory is stored in the circular movement of our DNA, RNA, and ETA (Evolutionary Transformational Agents), the three genetic codes in our body, and in the circuitry of the universal life force that flows through our system and through everything that lives. The wheels show you how to gain memory of what you already know; they encourage you to remember, to gain knowledge and then illumination and enlightenment.

Be Your Own Teacher

It is important to recognize that no one can teach you anything.  Someone can impart knowledge to you and guide you, but ultimately you teach yourself.  Furthermore, don't always believe or accept at face value what someone tells you, what you see or hear in the media, or what a teacher presents to you.  Check it out for yourself.  Keep an open mind.  Be an empty cup.  Explore what is given.  See if the knowledge works for you.  Try first to prove it absolutely true; then test it by trying to prove it absolutely false.  In the process, you will find what resonates for you.  A master teacher will always encourage you to question.  We encourage you to do this as you read this book.

We give meaning to life through the pursuit of knowledge, the joyful expression of our artistic originality, and the mastery of the physical. To the extent we stay in ignorance and pain, we walk asleep.

The wheels and keys of this Sweet Medicine SunDance Path represent a self-teaching approach to self-discovery and mastery, and lead you to the realization that the only true knowledge is self-knowledge.  They dance and sing the Song of the Universe, and tach us the Twenty Sacred Powers that guide us in our evolution.