On the Fourth Day of Winter Solstice…

… witch named brandee gave to me

Four Directions

Indigenous folks all around the world look to the four directions as a symbol of life cycles. The four directions bring about the four winds, the forces that move us through the changing four seasons and the stages of life. One of the main ways humans have found meaning and healing in the world has been by respecting the cycles of life. Many also associate a direction with a certain animal or one of the four main elements. With so many things transitioning through four separate cycles, it’s unsurprising that many different cultures came to similar conclusions.

Many Indigenous American tribes (Navajo, Crow, Lakota, Cherokee, et al) honor the four directions as symbols for healing and life cycles. The concept of a medicine wheel has been used all across America, represented by a range of things from beaded jewelry and woven baskets to larger sculptures, like the Bighorn Medicine Wheel. Each direction has a certain color associated, varying from tribe to tribe. In Navajo tradition, the South is represented by blue, whereas to the Lakota South is White. Often these differences occur to what the local geography looks like, other times the associated meanings affect the color.

There are animal representations in conjunction with the four directions that remain somewhat consistent around China, Japan, Mongolia, and Vietnam. There’s the Black Tortoise of the North, the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermillion Bird of the South, and the White Tiger of the West. Not only are the directions associated with time and the seasons, but these creatures also became revered because of their place in the rotating constellations. In these cultures, however, there are five elements and directions (adding metal as an element and center as a direction).

In Celtic traditions associated the four directions with their four elements and celebrated seasons with Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtaine, and Lughnasa.

In Norse mythology the directions are represented by the four dwarfs, Nordri, Sudri, Austri, and Vestri holding up Midgard, the home of mankind.

Through Yoruba theology, the four directions are also closely tied to life cycles. Each direction has an associated transformative principle and when they intersect, awareness can expand as we become more aware of the divine (Olódùmarè).

Take this as an opportunity to look into your own cultural traditions. It’s likely that the four directions have been used somewhere by your ancestors. Take a page out of their book at notice where you are in different cycles. Notice how much more you can understand about your existence when you allow yourself to see where you are in the larger picture. You’re part of the cycle and, through examining it, these directions can show you where you need to go.