Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

Course Four: Rites 163

Big Horn

Medicine Wheel

Devotional

Devotional shrines are often in the form of min-

iature temples for particular Gods or Goddesses—sort

of like a little dollhouse. A common form is a kind of

cabinet or shadow box that may be decorated both

inside and out. Frequently these have doors that may

be closed or opened, often with scenes painted on the

inside. The main item in such a shrine is an image of

the God, Goddess, Saint, or even teacher, such as the

shrines devotees of Indian gurus create for their

teacher. This can be in the form of a statue, photo, or

other representation (including something purely sym-

bolic, such as the Chinese Taoist shrines that are simple

red posts and lintels).

Many churches and temples have niches set into

their walls, with statues of saints and deities. Hindus,

Buddhists, ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and

others all established such shrines throughout their

lands. In Catholic countries, shrines to the Virgin Mary

are everywhere. Statues in such shrines may range in

size from tiny plastic images to huge and imposing

figures many times life size. One of the main things

you notice about such shines are the offerings left by

pilgrims. Candles, incense, flowers, and personal

items may be piled at the foot of the shrine. Healing

shrines may be piled high with abandoned crutches. I

saw a shrine to the Virgin Mary high in the mountains

of Peru that had thousands of football-sized river rocks

stacked up all around it. Apparently, part of the pil-

grimage involved carrying such rocks from the river

far below all the way up the mountain.

When you are out in Nature, you will sometimes

find yourself in a special place. You feel that there is

some special energy there. It could be the abundance

of bio-diversity, many kinds of trees, birds or animals,

special rock formations, or just a beauteous spot. You

may feel the inspiration to honor that place with a

prayer or small ritual. You can do this all in your mind,

visualizing a Circle or altar, but you could also create

a little devotional shrine. Don’t disturb the beauty,

but placing some stones, flowers, and the like at the

Quarters is usually not a problem; and why not use

that special rock, tree, or creek as the center of your

altar or Circle?

Commemorative

Commemorative shrines are called memorials.

Some may be in the form of small temples, such as

the Lincoln Memorial, with a statue of the person

being commemorated. Others may be more symbolic,

such as the Washington Monument, which is a tall

Egyptian-style obelisk, otherwise known as “Cleo-

patra’s Needle.” Graveyards are common places to

find commemorative shrines to the Beloved Dead.

Often the gravestone itself becomes such a shrine, as

grieving friends and relatives place photos and flow-

ers on it. The graves of famous people can become

shrines for pilgrimages—I once visited the grave of

Jim Morrison (poet and lead singer for The Doors) in

Paris, France, and the whole area was covered with

flowers, poetry, and offerings from his many fans,

decades after his death. War memorials are often re-

garded as shrines—particularly the Vietnam Memo-

rial in Washington, D.C.

Other commemorative shrines are the ones you

sometimes see at the side of a highway where some-

one has been killed in an accident. A little cross may

be erected with the person’s name and maybe even a

photo. Sometimes there will be flowers, cards, prayer

ribbons, and other offerings, just as in a graveyard.

After the destruction of the Twin Trade Towers in New

York, the walls and fences of the neighborhood were

covered with photos and mementos of the dead. Vis-

iting such a memorial can be a very emotional expe-

rience, with much shedding of tears.

Lesson 6: Medicine Wheels

Medicine Wheels are large circles marked out with

rings of stones on the ground, with a central cairn

(pile) of rocks and radiating spokes of pebbles. There

are usually big rocks or cairns where the spokes join

the outer circle. The whole struc-

ture looks like a huge

wagon wheel laid out

on the ground, so the

term Medicine Wheel

was first applied to

the Big Horn Medi-

cine Wheel in Wyo-

ming, the most south-

ern one known. The

“medicine” part of the

name implies that it was

of religious significance

to Native peoples.

Dozens of these Wheels, many more than 40’ di-

ameter, were made in remote areas of the Western U.S.

and Canada by Native Americans. Two-thirds of the

70 known are in Alberta. One, Majorville Medicine

Wheel, contains an enormous central cairn 30’ in di-

ameter, surrounded by a stone circle 90’ across.

Twenty-eight spokes link the central cairn with the

outer circle. Several dating techniques reveal that the

central cairn was constructed some 4,500 years ago!

Apparently, it served as a ceremonial center for sev-

eral thousand years. Hunting magick or buffalo fer-

tility might have played a part in the rituals, but the

deeper meaning of the site is lost in time.

One of the most interesting theories is that there

are significant stellar alignments present at the Medi-

cine Wheels. Astronomer John Eddy suggested that a

line drawn between the central cairn and an outlying

cairn at the Bighorn Medicine Wheel pointed to the

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