The Medicine Wheel: An Embodied Non-Linear Data Transformation Tool
Medicine Wheels simultaneously represent time and space as well as the transcendence of the limits of time and space. So, like a seed comes from what came before and contains what will be, Medicine Wheels are living non-linear thought tools embodying all wisdom.
Traditional depiction of four-fold Medicine Wheel. (Image: Courtesy © The Orange Snowman).
The limited and limitless are possible through the Medicine Wheel’s still and infinite center. A center present on all levels of existence and embodied within our DNA. A center that enables communication and/or connection to the primordial consciousness present from before creation and that brings light from beyond time and space creating awareness of complimentary geometrical opposites (e.g., before and after). This awareness creates possibilities for the emergence of more holistic and innovative STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) outcomes than those developed through the use of Western quantitative and qualitative thought models, alone.
Big Horn Medicine Wheel (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Linear and Non-Linear Thought Models
Linear thought tools traditionally understand the whole by dissecting it into individual parts without first understanding how the parts work together. This dissection creates linear distances from the center or Unity, reducing the integrity and experience of the concept. Though Western thought models identify individual system components, the integration of system components by non-linear thought models is what facilitates viewing data holistically.
- Mysterious Medicine Wheels of the American West
- Mysteries of the Native American Medicine Wheel – Healing, Rituals, and Astronomical Aid
- First complete genome sequence of an ancient North American offers clues to Native American ancestry
As a non-linear thought tool, the Medicine Wheel’s purpose is to help humanity transcend linear constraints that separate data like rungs on a ladder and to facilitate weaving together an intricate understanding of data relationships. A weaving that links knowledge gaps and facilitates exploring and measuring the distance required to bridge the gaps.
Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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