White
North
Winter
Night
Spirit World
Rest
Hummingbird

Gold
East
Spring
Morning
Growing Years
Vision
Eagle

Black
West
Autumn
Evening
Elder Years
Reflection
Jaguar

Red
South
Summer
Daytime
Working Years
Action
Serpent

Contact Information

Telephone
641-472-2598

E-mail michael@dawnhawk.com

The above diagram encapsulates some of the main principles of the Circle of Life, a cyclical world view espoused by many Native American peoples. Native people once lived very close to the cycles of nature (some still do) and their lives were largely organized around these cycles. They came to associate the different phases of these cycles with the four directions: north, east, south, and west. As you can see above, the cyclical phases apply to many areas of life including season, time of day, time of life, creative principles, and energies embodied by animal totems.

Previous to developing my writing seminar, I had been taking graduate courses at the University of Iowa in Native American Studies. When I was searching for a unifying principle for my seminar, the Circle of Life seemed ideal. For me, the phases of the Circle of Life are a perfect metaphor for the creative process that one would ideally engage as a writer. When one engages this process, writing becomes a means to self-understanding and spiritual development.

In one of my early seminars a student commented that what we were doing seemed very shamanic to her. I realized that she was right and also realized that I really wasn't qualified to be acting as a shaman. At that point I serendipitously stumbled upon the Four Winds Society and Alberto Villoldo's Healing the Light Body School. The curriculum was organized according to the phases of the Circle of Life. The right knowledge offered itself to me at the right time. I dove into these studies wholeheartedly.

In the Healing the Light Body school, I went through a two year process of personal transformation and healing based on the Circle of Life. I now feel fully qualified to teach my "shamanic" writing course. As a bonus I have also become certified to guide others through a process of personal transformation and healing, aided by shamanic techniques that have been handed down for countless centuries among the native peoples of Peru.

A detailed academic discussion of how the Circle of Life fits into one Native American world view is available in D’Arcy Rheault's Examination of Anishinaabe Philosophy at http://www.sky-lynx.com/book/book_frame.htm

If you want to go deeply into a transformational experience informed by the Circle of Life consider the courses of the Four Winds Society at http://thefourwinds.com/

This is a portion of a Circle of Life quilt that was handmade by my sister Raven. She surprised me with it a few days after I decided to use the Circle of Life as the theme of my seminar. I took this as confirmation that I was on the right track.