Medicine Wheel Feng Shui
by Dawn Gettig
Dawn currently offers two courses through WWU : Medicine Wheel Home: Applying Natural Feng Shui to Create a Home with Meaning and The Medicine Wheel Path: Living a Life of Balance and Spirit
Feng Shui + Medicine Wheel
by Dawn Gettig, AIA, MWFS, and teaching mentor at WWU.
Big, tall hemlocks and oaks sway and dance in the wind. An artful mosaic of moss, wildflowers, and dark rich humus cover the earth. A lovely little stream trickles and sparkles in the ravine below creating a soothing rhythm which nourishes the mind and soul.
Early morning sun shines down and warms me as I sit upon the earth. Fox, deer, hawks, owls, and so many other wildlife live here and you can feel their primal nature and spirit permeate this place. I am enveloped by the beauty and harmony of the outdoors as I sit in contemplation in my circle of stones, my Medicine Wheel.
I built my Medicine Wheel in the North section of my plot of land. This Medicine Wheel, a sacred wheel of life, has become a year-round power place for me. I take time to sit in my wheel where I observe the seasons and patterns of life and try live in alignment with them.
The Medicine Wheel is a place where I meditate, pray, create, get answers, celebrate the solstices and equinoxes, connect with the elements and directions, and view the beautiful web of nature
There are many types of ceremonial circles around the world that have been used in sacred ways. Some examples are: labyrinths in Egypt and Italy, the Celtic wheels of Ireland, and ancient Medicine Wheels created by Native Americans. In this modern world we live in, we too can create Medicine Wheels.
A Medicine Wheel can become a sacred place and a sacred tool that you can use your whole life through. The Medicine Wheel principles can be used to create sanctuary outdoors. Additionally these same principles can be used to create sanctuary indoors.
As a practitioner of Medicine Wheel Feng Shui™, I use two systems that overlap in theory and applications: Native American Medicine Wheel and Chinese Feng Shui. Despite their very different origins, these two systems are similar in many ways. One important way they are alike is that they were both developed by observing and connecting with the wholeness and balance of nature.
Native Americans created the Medicine Wheel (also called the sacred wheel of life) which is a circle of stones and also a symbolic system based on nature and its cycles. It symbolically encompasses all of the universe, including all visible and invisible energic forces.
Feng Shui is the art and science of working with the energy of spaces. Loosely translated, Feng means wind and Shui means water. It is considered the first green design because it works closely with nature to create spaces that are in accord with the earth. Many cultures around the world have a form of Feng Shui, a design style of harmony with nature.
For example: India has Vastu, Native Americans have Medicine Wheel, the Japanese have Wabi Sabi. And there are many more cultures who have philosophies on creating beautiful and harmonious environments. Each of these methods have some similarities yet they all have different approaches.
The fundamental concepts of Medicine Wheel and Feng Shui share common ground in many ways. Most importantly, they both drawn upon the forces and power of nature to bring Chi (or vital-life force energy) into your environment - indoors and out.
When using Feng Shui with the Medicine Wheel model we connect with the four directions, four elements, four times of day, four seasons, the divine or great spirit in the center of it all. This is done to help balance and energize your life and home. Feng Shui and Medicine Wheel are about viewing your home and life as a mirror of you. It is about working towards creating a home and life that is in synchronization with nature, as best as possible.
Your home is where you spend the majority of your time, making it a very influential place. Therefore it is valuable to create a sacred space where you can regenerate, create, grow, dream, spend time with family and friends, feel safe, etc. I find that working with the Medicine Wheel and Feng Shui really resonates with my clients and students. That is because it can be an effective method of designing a home and enhancing your life.
Feng Shui and Medicine Wheel methods not only create a balanced physical life but also enhance the spiritual, mental, and emotional aspects of life. Your nature inside your being (and your home) reflect and are in kinship with the outdoors. You are working on an energetic and subtle level which symbolically represent the qualities and cycles of nature.
Working with Feng Shui and the Medicine Wheel can transform your home into a place filed with a profound feeling of serenity and sanctuary. And it can assist in creating a life that mirrors your authentic self and supports your dreams and goals.
2011 © Dawn Gettig - Not to be reproduced without author’s permission
New at Wise Woman University
~Medicine Wheel Home: Applying Natural Feng Shui to Create a Home with Meaning~
(Link to detailed description of Medicine Wheel Home )
The Medicine Wheel Home course is an excellent way to learn to create a home with good chi (energy) and bring the spirit of nature into your spaces. In this unique course you will learn the basics of the Native American Medicine Wheel combined with Feng Shui to create a home filled with your very own personal style and meaning.
This is an experiential course and you can use these concepts throughout your lifetime. You will not look at your home in the same way after taking this course.
~The Medicine Wheel Path: Living a Life of Balance and Spirit~
(Link to detailed description of Medicine Wheel Path )
The Medicine Wheel Path: Living a Life of Balance and Spirit teaches how to develop a deep relationship with nature and its seen and unseen beneficial forces. When you connect with nature you also bring yourself closer to your authentic inner spirit, in turn creating a more meaningful life.
In this class you will learn the valuable concepts of the sacred Native American Medicine Wheel - the circle of life. The Medicine Wheel is a method and system of personal growth and wholeness. This is an experiential course and you will learn to connect with nature in ways that can serve you and help you attain your goals.
Dawn Gettig lives in Northeastern Ohio and is the owner of Gaia Design - Soulful Decorating, Feng Shui and Green Living. She has a certification in Advanced Feng Shui and Seven Star Space Clearing and Blessings™ as well as certification in Medicine Wheel Feng Shui™ with Interior Alignment® School. Dawn also serves on the board of the Interior Alignment® Feng Shui School. She has been studying Feng Shui for over 10 years and has studied yoga and spirituality for over 30 years. Dawn teaches The Medicine Wheel Home and The Medicine Wheel Path courses at Wise Woman University.
Website ~ www.gaiadesign-foryourlife.com
Email Dawn at ~ gaiadesign22@sbcglobal.net
