HIV/AIDS MEDICINE WHEEL –WEST

The West represents ADULT. It's a time of facing the inevitable..., of wrapping up loose ends to prepare further for our journey to the Spirit World.

. It's during this stage of life that we face our fears which we have carried with us throught our lives. It is time to bring into consciousness all of the fearful things we have buried and avoided. We have the opportunity to deal with all of the "little deaths" which have made up the losses we have suffered in our lives, perhaps alcoholism or drug addiction, sexual addiction, or poor judgement. We deal with these aspects of loss and change as we shed the terrors which we have carried with us from our families and our life experiences.

Its often at this stage that we learn to let go of the past, to come to a place of forgiveness and acceptance, but more importantly it’s a time we can forgive ourselves. We do not look back and say “ I wish I had done this or that differently”, but rather we accept that we did our best and we make amends to those we may have harmed along life’s way.

Often it is not until this stage that a person with AIDS finds inner peace and is ready to move on.

By now hopefully, all arrangements have been made. Living Wills, Last Wills, Funeral Ceremony arrangements have been taken care of. We take an active role in these arrangements, not leaving it for loved ones to have to cope with after we are gone.

We might find ourselves giving personal belongings away, seeing old friends, or simply spending more time with our Elders and loved ones.

The Totem often identified with the SOUTH is the BEAR. Bears, which are of a ruthless uncompromising nature represents the tasks we face in the West. We are invited to use these same qualities in facing ourselves and in facing the many lies — mistaken beliefs, we have been telling ourselves throughout our lives. These totem animal spirits teach us about integrity and about fearlessness in confronting our issues. We learn about the many ways in which we use fear to sabotage our Spirit's purpose. Many of our grief and recovery issues related to our family-of-origin and our life choices are related to the tasks offered us by facing our deepest fears.

As we continue on the spiral of life and on the Path of the Medicine Wheel we have many chances to clear out of our unconscious even more old and archaic fear which is hampering us from becoming totally clear and completely in our integrity and by this I mean being accountable for our actions and for all that occurs in our lives. It means that we are no longer willing to be victims and we move to being survivors...... warriors. So long as we deny our fears and refuse to deal with them we remain victims. The terror keeps us frozen in the time and place where the original assault on our true nature occurred. It is time to take on the tasks of the West, to be accountable and to deal with these terrors so we can come to a place in our lives where our own and our mistakes can no longer run or ruin our lives.

In the West we come to fully realize our responsibilities to ourselves and to become accountable to Creator.


"NORTH"