Medicine Wheel Hoop of Life

Relax. Take a deep breath. Imagine that you are king and queen of your domain. You reign over a type of internal Camelot that is in the shape of a circular medicine wheel with four quadrants to it. You, as king and queen, reside in the North of the wheel within a great castle. From the top of your castle, you can effortlessly survey your vast kingdom/queendom. It is a glorious and beautiful land. This is where your domain lies. You reign happily and your Camelot is filled with happy people.

One day, while holding court, a messenger asks for an emergency audience. The out-of-breath messenger presents his report, “Oh great King and Queen, there are reports of some very unhappy peasants in the lower left quadrant of your kingdom. In fact, this faction of peasants is miserable, sick and starving. They are breaking into hamlets and villages all around the area and stealing and robbing. They are killing chickens. They’re doing bad things, they’re behaving very, very badly.”

Now you have been happily ruling your kingdom for quite some time so this is especially disturbing news. How is it that you were unaware that this was occurring in your kingdom? A real problem within your citadel has presented itself. You are the king/queen. You are the sovereign ruler. What do you do? People are starving; chickens are being murdered. As supreme ruler, you must ascertain a balanced solution and act upon it.

As the sovereign king/queen, what would you imagine you would do? Let them eat (chocolate) cake? Give them what they want? Let us now take the next step on this journey and discover the answer together.

As a wise king and queen, you examine the information provided. The messenger stated that a faction of disgruntled and angry villagers are becoming more aggressive. They are spreading outwards and wreaking havoc in the local villages. Now as the king/queen you must begin your journey towards a solution.

The first step on your journey takes you to visit your inner magician in the West. You meet with him and describe the problem and situation. You tell him the goal is for an effective and successful outcome for all. You wait for his wise counsel and advice.

The magician offers suggestions of what to do and how to do it. Because you are a wise king/queen, with thoughtful consideration, you weigh his suggestions. You take into account all factors and information, some of which the magician may be unaware.

Is it the job of the magician go and handle the issue with the disgruntled villagers? No. The only job of the magician is to suggest wisely to you what to do and how to do it. You as the king/queen make the final decision.

If the magician is allowed to take action, the saboteur aspect of the magician stands to benefit and the risk of compromise, misdirection and imbalance grows. Remember, the first part of the word magician is magic. The challenge is manipulation. The magician if allowed could take the throne and potentially sink to the darker depths of the saboteur aspect and take over. Through manipulation, you may not see the sleight of hand; you may not see it coming. You as the good king/queen must not allow that to occur.

Instead, you must meet the needs of the magician. Ask him now what he needs in order to perform the job more efficiently. Perhaps it is a new wand, cloak, laboratory, assistant, office space, Nimbus 2000 flying broom, Ferrari, Tardis or owl; whatever is required, it is up to you as the king/queen who holds the golden purse strings to provide it.

With his needs met, your magician replies, “Now I am prepared to conjure great information for you, O great King/ O great Queen.”

After receiving the wise counsel from the magician, you thank him and head toward the South.

Once there in the South, you visit with the warrior of the kingdom. The warrior is your go-to guy, superhero. He gets the job done. His job is to serve – that is it. Beautiful. Simple.

You describe the problem and situation. You then tell him what you wish for him to do and how to do it based on the advice from the magician. You tell him the goal is for an effective and successful outcome for all. You wait for his suggestions for the campaign.

You listen to the warrior’s battle hardened wisdom (common sense) and suggestions for a successful campaign. Your warrior, however, has been slogging away at it for years. It can be a thankless job. Because you are a wise king/queen, with thoughtful consideration, you weigh his suggestions. You take into account all factors and information, some of which the warrior may be unaware.

What if the campaign gets out of control because your warrior has his own agenda? Perhaps you discover your warrior’s potential of aggression? The warrior’s power imbalance is very different from the magician’s sleight of hand. If the warrior is allowed to take action, the overpowering nature of the warrior stands to benefit and the risk of compromise, misdirection and imbalance grows yet again. The warrior is full on and he/she will yank the rug right out from underneath you and overpower the situation. At that moment, you will have no doubt who is sitting on your throne. Through aggression, you may not be able to contain its usurping power. You must not allow that to occur.

The king and queen also have the responsibility of providing what your warrior needs. Ask him now what he needs in order to perform his job more efficiently. Once again, you provide whatever your warrior needs in the way of fresh troops, supplies, better cots, tents, weaponry and military technology. After the campaign perhaps you plan a vacation or much-deserved holiday of rest for your warrior.

With his needs met, your warrior replies, “Now I am prepared to perform a great service for you, O great King/ O great Queen.”

You have one more need to offer the warrior to get the job done, but this requires another journey. After receiving the commitment of service from the warrior, you thank him and head toward the East. This is your last task and it is a crucial element to the success of the campaign. You must go now to the East stone of the medicine wheel and call forth the inner child/lovers.

You announce, “There is a problem with some very unhappy villagers. We have a mission to relieve this situation. This is the plan of what we will do to execute. This is the plan of how we will go about executing it. This is who will be doing the service. Additionally, I need you (inner child/lovers) to fuel the warrior with your unique offering. Give him your passion.”

Often passion is lacking in our activities and lives - the passion to get a job done. The lover’s job, the child’s job is simply to be passionate, nothing more. It is that very fuel that the warrior requires to get the job done.

There is a dark aspect to the inner child/lovers which is like the story of Little Lord Fauntleroy; a petulant, tantrum-y, whining, victimized and tremendously little crybaby. If the inner child/lovers (little prince or princess in training) are in their dark aspect, it may be because they do not feel safe. They have certain needs and wants. Remember, one day, the inner child/lovers will be a king and queen, which is wonderful; however, now is not the time for them to assume the position. Not yet.

You as a good king and queen also have the responsibility of providing what your inner child/lovers need. Ask them now what they need in order to perform their job more efficiently. As prince/princess, they may benefit from having their own mini-castle, a fresh box of Crayola crayons and watercolor paints, Silly Putty and Silly String, a beautiful new pony and stables; and the lovers no doubt would appreciate fresh flowers throughout the house, a private garden picnic of grapes, cheese, baguette and wine; and a high-end sound system to flow beautiful music throughout their mini castle.

Remember, their job is to be passion (passionate) for life. Their entire purpose in life is to love life; to live, run through the fields and grasses, ride horses all day long, pet puppies, dance through the house, fly kites, make cookies in the kitchen and smell the roses of life.

When you understand this you may realize the inner child/lovers are often burdened with inappropriate responsibilities in life. It is your due diligence as king and queen to give them the opportunity to fulfill their sole job, to be passion.

With their needs met, your inner child/lovers reply, “Now I am prepared to be an inspiration for you, O great King/ O great Queen.”

After receiving a passionate commitment from the inner child/lovers, you thank them and head home towards the North; a day of successful negotiations behind them.