Learning the Four Sacred Directions

[Rozan]

This is an excerpt from the Akta Lakota Cultural Center - https://aktalakota.stjo.org/lakota-culture/native-american-four-directions/

Welcome to this sacred knowledge that's been gifted to us, to all the two-legged that walk on Mother Earth.

These teachings that are being shared are sacred teachings. From tribe to tribe, the details may differ but the basic teachings are the same. They have been followed and shared for many, many years. So we honour the ancestors, the ones that have walked before us, because they're the ones that sat in circles many times before, and prayed that their children and their grandchildren would follow in their path. When we honour the ancestors, we honour ourselves.

There are Seven Sacred Directions.

The Four Cardinal points on the Medicine Wheel are the Four Sacred Directions, represented among the Ojibwe by the colours yellow, red, black and white. Blue represents Father Sky in the upper realm, Green represents Mother Earth below, and purple represents the self, that spirit that journeys in this physical world, at the centre of the wheel.

The Seven Stages of Life are also found on this Medicine Wheel. They begin in the east and move across the Wheel to the West. The Seven Stages of Life are: The Good Life, The Fast Life, The Wandering Life, the stages of Truth, Planning, and Doing, and The Elder Life.

The Seven Grandfather Teachings are also located on this Medicine Wheel. They begin in the Northern direction and move down to the centre of the Wheel. These gifts are the teachings of Honesty, Humility, Courage, Wisdom, Respect, Generosity and Love.

The Teachings of the Medicine Wheel are vast. There are seven teachings within each direction on the Ojibwe wheel, and all these have sub-teachings to them, such as where all the medicines like sweetgrass came from, and what they mean.

The four directions of the Medicine Wheel remind us of many things, such as the need for balance in the world, and the balance we must strive for everyday within ourselves. Here you will begin to get an idea of a few of those many teachings and connections that are in the circle. Everything comes in fours, so it's easier to digest, easier to learn. The four direction teachings go clockwise, beginning in the east.
In the Nemenhah Book of the TUHHUHL NUHMEHN, Chapter 4, we learn more about the sacred directions:

7) You should give thanks for all the gifts of the Creator and then present the Pipe in a Sacred Manner to the Seven Sacred Directions.

8 ) The first Sacred Direction is the Sky. Offer the Pipe to the Father in thanksgiving for all that you have received, all that you do now receive and all that you shall yet receive, and also as a token that you do
honor all spiritual things.

9) The second Sacred Direction is the Earth. Offer the Pipe to the Mother in thanksgiving for all that you have received, and all that you do now receive, and all that you shall yet receive, and as a token that you honor Her and remember Her, and that you do honor all living things.

10) The third Sacred Direction is the West. This is the Seeks Council Habitation and represents all that this life may teach you.

11) The fourth Sacred Direction is the North. This is the Spirit Habitation and represents all that you may receive from Heavenly Beings.

12) The fifth Sacred Direction is the East. This is the Sees Far Habitation and represents all that you may receive from your Grandfathers and from other Heavenly Messengers.

13) The sixth Sacred Direction is the South. It is the Looks Within Habitation and must remind you that all that may be learned in mortality must be carefully analyzed and internalized or it is of no use or validity, and that you must have the courage and the commitment to make those changes that need to be made.

14) The Seventh Sacred Direction is toward your own Heart. Offer the Pipe to yourself in token of your sacred commitment to the Thanksgiving Way.