MY
MEDICINE WHEEL GARDEN Pictures and plants followup Construction of the wheel |
Few
gardens or lives are linear. In my own
Medicine Wheel Garden, based upon the astrological wheel, I came to
realize that sometimes-strange patterns emerge
when we just take the time to make note of them. In relationships as in
gardens, the first attractions may be based entirely upon physical
(or fire to fire) attractions;
but long-term compatibility and sustainability throughout the seasons
must
depend equally upon the emotional or spiritual connective ness of all
involved.
Gardens constructed later in one’s life are more successful for having
passed
through more phases in the circle's turning -- more self-knowledge and
perhaps
less surprise at sudden changes in one's character. I hope so; it is an
optimistic picture. Are relationships of positioning's, Fire-to-Fire,
or Water
to Fire based upon birth charts? Astrology presents a rather
inescapable linear
road -- one I am uncomfortable with, but respectful of.
In my own garden, I asked all my closest friends to bring a rock that
had
spoken to their spirits and let them place it on their birth
positioning. This
places them in association with not only myself but with other kindred
spirits.
Perhaps this is all wrong -- maybe I should let them place where they
think
they are in the present. This would be much more difficult though. I
know,
because I am in three different places at this moment in time. Even for
those
who pass through all of the circles evolving stages and finally come to
the
passaging into the inner, final garden, rare is it that the soul is
completely
evolved and harmonious.
Most bitter to me is the desperate holding onto of people ready and
needing to
go. Respirators and life support technologies keep the fragile shell
tied to a
garden when the spirit and soul wish to leave. I have never feared
death, but I
do fear this.
We have birth practitioners who assist our dance into life. Why not the
same
caring embrace for when we pass on. Thanatology? Do any of you have
good
answers? I do know of two women who would be well suited to be such
sisters of
'Charon.' I also see myself coming to the same place where these two
women are
today.
A friend of mine has already written her own eulogy.
It was so beautifully done
that I told her she could write mine as well. I missed the point
entirely; for
unlike most of us, she took the time to reflect most accurately as to
the
person she is and what someday might be said of her. She gave it to me
and if
the occasion comes, I will be very proud to read it. She also added a
humorus and fictitious
epitaph which I enjoyed
My own Medicine Wheel positioning, as is hers, is firmly rooted in the
dark
garden. Some misunderstand this ‘darkness,’ but aptly describes as
"the look within garden." This placement is comfortable with darkness
and the introspection of the night. It is a color of learning, not
negativity.
So perhaps my long-standing affair with the veil that night brings with
her
garden of stars, is easily explained.
Be it the Sioux Prayer Garden or Chippewa there is much talk of
complementary
clans. For an Elk, it is supposedly a Deer -- surprisingly similar to
Western
Astrology. Of the twenty friends in my garden, only one is in this
position...
I return to my original feelings, that awareness of one’s present
positioning
in this circle is the important thing -- as is the ability to progress
evenly
or compatibly with another. I know of many couples where one has
progressed and
the other has not. Some of these now mismatched people stay together
for societal
or monetary reasons. Certainly, this is spiritually self-limiting. The
circle
suggests that progressions do not have to be linear and that for some
of these
people later multiple jumps or even passages completely across the
circle may
be possible.
I am sure we have all known young ones whose minds are far down this
circle and
some who are aged who have returned to spring. Perhaps in the search
for
compatibility with another we need to be examining more strongly that
of our
own -- and simply accepting the challenge and difficulty of keeping in
step
with any other person.
...
Moreover, find hope in the chance meeting of the rarest of souls who
keep the spark of their youth through all the seasons and assist those coming to their end.. As we, all continue to evolve. And since I just did a light piece on Pithy sayings: I would lie to end with this observation. Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "...holy sh*t ... what a ride!" Remembering: You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing. (c) Herb Senft 2013 |