Creating Sacred Space

Sacred Space is central to the wheel tradition. It holds that in the act of dedicating or claiming sacred space we do indeed create an actual context for contact with the Great Mystery and its aspects. Wheels have a life and power all their own that is supported by the centuries long lineage of many traditions. But the mysteries are not calcified, not frozen in time; they change and grow with the changes that occur in humankind and indeed all life. Every sacred space that is created has its own natural energy or underlying principle and teaching to offer. For instance, in a sweat space dedicated to the work, the "real" heat of the ceremony is a kind of hotness which burns away the things which separate us from the sacred. The ritual circle as sacred space is thus not a place arbitrarily set apart from the realities of the world, but on the contrary is truly aligned with the essence of creation through the coordinates of North, East, South and West. Through each act of sacred space we create, the mystery grows and evolves by our commitment. A corner stone of the Old Ways is to honor unique places of spiritual power. They have a special influence on consciousness. By honoring sacred place and creating sacred space, spiritual power is drawn down to us and to the earth.

Initiation

Many modern psychologies work on the premise that the path to health and wholeness is through strengthening the ego. Earth-based spiritual traditions teach us to surrender ego control of the personality. They teach the concept of right relationship to the ego. The process of initiation removes our ego from the center of the universe. When societies abandon initiation rituals, individual egos lose an appropriate means of learning this valuable lesson. Life circumstances will urge the same lesson upon the ego eventually, but often in a painful and disintegrating manner. Even more importantly, the most serious consequence of ceasing initiation practices is the loss of learning about the true nature of maturity. A society has to know what maturity is before it can pass wisdom on. Walking the Sacred Wheel offers a modern form of initiation practices with a special difference. Initiates in many systems undergo a series of profound and dramatic tests or initiation ordeals. Only after many years of deep devotion and practice do they learn or have revealed to them the how and why of the ordeals. In Sacred Wheel work, initiates are guided in a more gradual and moderate way that explains the meanings of the teachings and the lessons to be learned at the time they are presented.

What the Lessons Cover

Areas covered during the year long process include: initiation and the call; grounding, protection and purification; altars and the setting of sacred space; the web of power and power sites; service and the give-away; the spirit body; naming; the evolution of consciousness; life marking rituals; women's and men's mysteries; chanting, toning and power songs; ceremonial objects and medicine piece construction; journeying; power animals; sacred and trance dancing; help from guardians and guides; opening energy centers; fire building; fire walking; the magic of minerals, stones, herbs and plants; story telling and mythic realms; vision quests; praying, healing techniques and foretelling; transitions and thresholds; releasing and transformation; using the Wheel to work with the power of dreams.