Workshop available on request whenever we have at least 4 people ready to commit to coming!

 The Medicine Wheel is an ancient and powerful ceremonial space for prayer, gratitude, spiritual growth, and orienting oneself to the natural world and Spirit.  Used by Native peoples for centuries as both a ceremonial space and a teaching tool for Native values, it has parallels throughout the world in the form of mandalas, labyrinths, mesas and other symbols of the journey toward wholeness. All indigenous cultures, including indigenous European cultures, have honored the wisdom and power of the 4 directions and the value of living in balance with Spirit and the natural rhythms and teachings of the Earth.

 In this introductory workshop we will learn about the significance of the medicine wheel, and how to work with it.  We will use guided imagery and journaling to discover our own personal relationship to the 4 directions, Earth, Sky & Creator; and our current place on the wheel. We will also learn how to engage the power of ceremony with respect, as we build a medicine wheel together. 

As with all teachings that originate with indigenous elders, I offer this workshop with deep respect for the source of this wisdom.  The information shared is that which is part of the heritage of all earth-honoring people, and which is also part of my own lived experience.

 This 6-7 hour workshop takes place outdoors in a beautiful waterfront retreat space on the North Fork. Please bring a pot luck lunch contribution or a donation towards food (let us know ahead of time, so we can plan accordingly.)  It is offered whenever there is a group of 4 people who are ready to do it!  Let us know of your interest and we'll gather those interested! 

The workshop can also be offered at a location where you would like to create a medicine wheel for your community or personal use.  Call to discuss the possibilities. 

Jeanne can also offer a nine month series of Medicine Wheel workshops to take you beyond the Introductory session, to fully integrate it's teachings into your life. To offer this I would need a committed group of 6-8 people. Let me know if you'd like to go the journey.

Jeanne Marie Merkel has been working with the Medicine Wheel for over 20 years, in Native American, Celtic and Andean traditions.  She has learned from the Medicine Wheel Prayers of Grandmother Twylah Nitsch (Seneca); the writings of Ken Cohen, Sun Bear, Frank MacEowen & Loren Cruden; the beautifully embodied teachings of Lorraine Simone, Cathy Pedevillano, Tom Cowan and don Alejandro Apasa Machaca; and her own practice of engaging these teachings whole-heartedly in her life.  She carries special gratitude to the spirits of her land in Mattituck, of Mt. Desert Island in Maine, of the Mountain Mullaghmore in Ireland, and of Colca Canyon, Peru for their powerful teachings.

Because the Medicine Wheel has been such a transformational force in her own life, and because we have a desperate need to learn to live in harmony with the earth and find inner peace and balance; Jeanne feels called to share what she has learned, fully acknowledging that there is always more to learn, and that each indigenous culture has their own sacred (and sometimes secret) teachings which must be honored.  She offers these workshops for all Earth Beings who desire a more respectful and healing realtionship with the natural world and with Spirit.