The Dreaming Wheel

“Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle”

                                                   -Black Elk, Oglala Sioux

Dreaming Wheel

The Dreaming Wheel  is a series of 5 one day workshops over 5 weeks (once a week for 5 weeks) that draws on the teachings of the four directions through archetypal energy, the natural world, ceremony, the creative and personal enquiry. The Dreaming Wheel, based on the Native American Medicine Wheel is a universal map that helps orientate the individual towards personal growth. 
Each archetype and symbol within the wheel taps into the deepest mythic roots of humanity so we too can draw on this wisdom as we begin to collaborate with these archetypes and symbols within ourselves for transformation and healing. 

Week One - The Centre & Sacred Geometry

 The Lemniscate, The Labyrinth and our Central Column

Sacred Geometry is a universal language that is the building blocks for the principle of interconnectedness. 

We will explore the sacred universal pattern and the centre within ourselves through the embodied practise of walking the Labyrinth (a single path that leads to the centre) and the Lemniscate (also known as the infinity symbol and the dance of the bee) These two forms are no mere static symbols, but rather living glyphs that circulates a pathway of knowing. Through meditation we will build our Central Column (also known as our Chakras or Energy System within the body) to understand the Tree of Life within us and the Centre in our Dreaming Wheel.

Week Two -   The East 

Working with Intention/Prayer and Accessing the Path of Heart

Learn an ancient Andean practise of anchoring your intentions into a shared altar of healing for your community. Together we will create a masculine and feminine vortex for our communities to receive powerful healing energy. 

Journey with the condor to gain the practise of seeing the bigger picture of life and the invitation to open to your heart space.

Week Three - The North

Facing our Challenges

Trance Dance has evolved through the ancient wisdom of shamanism, and invites you to return home, deep within yourself. Trance Dance is a powerful and profound blindfolded dance, incorporating a dynamic blend of music, spontaneous movement, energising fire breath and focused intention. Through the experience of Trance Dance we are aiming to find the stillness within us to face our challenges.

Week Four -   The West

Healing

Journey with the Grandmothers to receive personal healing. 

Sacred Tobacco Ceremony and Personal Healing Ritual 

Sacred Tobacco Ceremony (optional) From the indigenous point of view, this ritual is a sacred shamanic snuff medicine with profound healing effects. It is made from different medicinal plants and is believed to help release emotional, physical, and spiritual illnesses, easing negativity and confusion, and enabling a thorough grounding of the mind. In addition, it paves the way to detoxify the body and cleans out excessive mucus, toxins and bacteria.

Healing Ritual

Learn a healing practise that includes drums and rattles to induce an altered state whereby one journeys to bring information of healing for the individual. 

Week Five -   The South

Acknowledging the Ancestors and The Art of Divination

Be introduced to the Ancestors Altar on the land and learn the Sangoma (South African Shaman) way of creating an Ancestor Altar. 

Divination is the practise of revealing what is hidden in space, time and in our interior and exterior world. It is a navigation system that can help to inform your direction and action through insight.

Learn how to use the collaged cards made in each of these five weeks in a practise of divination within the Dreaming Wheel.

About Jo

Jo has training as an art therapist and transpersonal counsellor with a shamanic underpinning.  She has facilitated group workshops for adults and children for over 20 years and utilises creative techniques to enhance the therapeutic relationship.

Jo lives on the South Coast of New South Wales and has  found the natural world to be her greatest friend and teacher.  
This love of the natural world deepened as an adult and she discovered as a therapist the value of working  restoratively with the land and with earth-based practises. So began her years of study with Shamanic teachers from Columbia and Peru. 

Through Jo's involvement with ‘Rites of Passage’ work she has found a special joy guiding individuals and groups as they move through life’s transitions and assisting them to find their full potential and true essence.  Jo has come to believe that when someone has a need to understand themselves at a deeper level, they can achieve this through a weaving of the arts such as body movement, stories, archetypes, writing, art and earth-based medicine.   In this way a person's psyche strengthens and resolves and reflects back inner wisdom, guidance and healing.

Image - Spiral Speak by Sam Brown