|
 The element associated with Wabun, the Spirit Keeper
of the East position on the Native American Medicine Wheel, is air. The mineral associated with Wabun is catlinite, or pipestone. The plant of Wabun is tobacco,
the animal is the golden eagle, the colors are gold and
red, the season is the spring, the time of day is dawn,
and the time of human life is that of infancy and early
childhood. Wabun directly influences all the moons in the
eastern quadrant; the Budding Trees Moon (March 21 to
April 19; Red Tailed Hawk), the Frogs Return Moon (April
20 to May 20; Beaver), and the Corn Planting Moon (May 21
to June 20; Deer).
The power of Wabun is a very straightforward power: It
is that of new beginnings. Wabun brings the time of new
growth to all of earth's children. The time of Wabun is
the time of freshness, newness, enthusiasm, and
creativity. It is the time of bursting through, of the
light that comes after each darkness, of the brightness
that you see after you have come out of the void. The
East is truly a time of rebirth, a time when all things
are possible. It is a time of innocence and a time of
awakening.
Wabun brings the eternal promise of spring, the
eternal promise of dawn. Wabun helps us to know that each
moment can be a new beginning. The gifts of Wabun are the
gifts of spontaneity, playfulness, wonder,
inquisitiveness, and truth saying. Wabun brings the
abilities to explore, to feel high energy, to be full of
curiosity, to question everything, and to have the
determination to see what is around the corner.
People under the influence of Wabun feel that they are
the messengers of truth and, in reality, they do have the
ability to see farther and more clearly than people who
are under the influence of other Spirit Keepers. In part,
this comes about because of their connection with the
golden eagle, the animal associated with Wabun. Like all
eagles, the golden eagle has the ability to fly high, to
soar to the Creator. From this height, the eagle can see
what is happening on earth. Like the eagle, people who
are experiencing Wabun also have this ability to soar and
to see from a broad perspective.
When the earth enters the time of Wabun, all of life
seems to be bursting forth with new energy. The seeds
that were frozen in the breast of the Earth Mother poke
their tiny heads up through her soil and begin to greet
and dance with the energy of Father Sun. In the time of
Wabun many of the animal people bear their young and
begin to teach them the lessons that they need to prosper
on the earth.
When humans are in the time of Wabun, they are like
the rest of nature. They're bursting with enthusiasm,
energy, and the willingness to try as many new things as
they can. The time of Wabun is a magical time both for
the earth and for all of her children. It is a time when
everything seems to be possible, when each breath, each
moment is a new beginning, when incredible energy is
available for growth on all levels.
When you are experiencing a position influenced by
Wabun, it is a good time to explore life on all levels of
your being. It is a good tome to contemplate doing those
things you only dreamed about when you were in other
positions on the Medicine Wheel. It is a good time to
soar and to see and to learn how to say the truth you
have been shown.
During such times it is important that you do not
volunteer truth to people who have not asked to have your
help in seeing the world. It is very easy for people who
are under this influence to lose whatever sense of
discrimination they have and to lose their knowledge of
limits, and boundaries. When you are under the influence
of Wabun, you also need to learn to control your energy.
Otherwise, it can be difficult for you to work with
others or to sustain either a project or yourself.
Some of the important lessons you can learn in the
East are how to turn the knowledge of the Spirit outward
and how to find a way to take this knowledge into the
world. Wabun provides a good time to take advantage of
your clear-sightedness, your ability to work with things
of the earth while still remembering the lessons you have
learned from other realms.
The time of Wabun is the time of healing of the mind.
This is the place we seek if we seek if we need to find
the truth of life and get rid of any lies that might be
binding us to old places that keep us from new
beginnings.
Wabun is the place to come if you wish to have healing
on the mental level. The Wabun position can help if you
wish to make a new beginning in any aspect of your life
or in any of your relationships. It bestows abundant
energy, intensity, and persistence. It is the place to
come if you want to look at the world with new eyes, if
you wish to open untapped sources of creativity, if you
want to become more optimistic, observant, passionate, or
determined. Wabun can help you know what truth really
means to you and how you can communicate that to others.
This is the stone to seek to understand that although the
mind is very important to life, it is not the only part
of you that has importance.
The powers of Wabun are those of truth, of openness,
of illumination. Exploring Wabun will help you to know
how to let the sacred energy that is the Creator flow
freely and vitally throughout your whole being. |
|
PIPESTONE
 The
mineral totem for Wabun, Spirit Keeper of the East is
Pipestone, also known as catlinite, Pipestone is a red or
red with white or, rarely, gold fine-grained
metamorphosed clay that is easily carved. This stone is
mainly found in the Minnesota and Dakota areas of the
United States.
Pipestone has been used in Native ceremonies for
thousands of years. The bowl of the sacred pipe is
frequently carved from pipestone. So are small fetishes
and figures. Several Native tribes tell a story in which,
many years ago, there were two warring tribes that would
not stop fighting although many, many people died. The
Creator was disgusted by this killing and came to the
tribes telling them they must stop their battles. To
remind the people of the folly and waste of war, the
Creator turned the blood of the dead into stone and told
the people to make pipes from this stone. When they
desired to war, the Creator instructed them to smoke the
pipe instead. In this way all people had a new beginning.
Pipestone promotes peace, truth, healing, prayer,
ceremony, wisdom, clear sight, and love. It can help you
leave your small mental boundaries and book into the
collective consciousness. This will help with the
personal healing that will help you heal the earth and
work with all of nature. It also can help you develop
faith, optimism, communication, harmony, and
tranquility.
People who are strongly drawn to this stone can work
with it to find new ways to help the Earth Mother and to
develop deep forms of communing with her and with Spirit.
Pipestone can awaken both the peacemaker and the
truth-sayer within you. |
|
TOBACCO
 The
Spirit Keeper of the East, Wabun, is represented by
Tobacco. Many Native peoples tell a story of a sacred
woman who became pregnant with twin boys. Even inside the
womb these boys fought. One represented all that was good
in humans while the other represented the opposite. When
it was time for them to be born the good son was born in
the normal way. The other son was so anxious to get out
of the womb that he kicked his way through the side of
the woman thus mortality injuring her.
The good son remained with his mother, and with his
extraordinary powers, buried her as she instructed. She
told him that even with her death good things would come
to the people. He remained by her grave for some days as
she requested. Before he left he saw that from her body
grew the three sister plants-corn, beans, and
squash-which would from that time on give sustenance to
all the people. From her forehead came the sacred tobacco
plant.
Because it came from this part of the sacred woman,
tobacco is considered to be an herb whose smoke can bring
clarity. Clarity is a two-edged gift that can draw you
both to good and bad: freedom or prison. So it is with
tobacco. Used properly it can bring clarity, draw in
energies, absorb negativity, and transform it into
positive energies. Used incorrectly, it can poison you.
It is a plant that must be used with respect.
Tobacco is considered one of the most sacred plants by
Native Americans. When smoked in a sacred pipe it carries
prayers to Spirit, It is frequently used for making
offerings to the Spirit Keepers and Spirit Guides. To
smoke tobacco is to call to the Spirit plane for help, If
someone smokes for recreation than they are continually
calling Spirit to them with a false alarm similar to the
one given by "the boy who cried wolf." The
tobacco leaf is six to twelve inches long, large, broad,
and pointed. The leaf is the part that is used for
smoking.
The tobacco plant belongs to the genus Nicotiana. Most
store-bought tobacco is laden with chemicals. It is
largely the chemicals that are hazardous to your health.
A common Native American name for a smoking mixture is
kinnikinnick. Kinnikinnick can refer to just one herb,
most often uva-ursi, or to tobacco and herbs in
combination.
Tobacco is a strong helper plant. Used in smudge or in
the sacred pipe it can, like Wabun, bring new beginnings
to whoever is using it or to whatever projects or places
for which it is burned. |
