Interconnectedness of All Things Taught
 with Medicine Wheel Art 
By Eagle Soaring 

Shields in Native American cultures gave each individual a way of understanding who they really were and their purpose. In front of every teepee was a shield. This was an interpretation of that human’s earth walk, who they were, and why they acted the way they did. 

The concept of Native American time was based upon a period in a year. They didn’t know the words June, July, etc., but they did know what was happening on the Earth Mother at that time. Corn Planting Moon Deer meant it is time to plant corn seeds. These would be Deer People, which you know as Geminis. The shield we are focusing on in this article is Warning Sun, Moon Flicker. A simple translation is that at this time of year, the sun is very hot. You need to get into the shade or you will get sunburned. 

If everyone in your neighborhood had a shield hanging on their front door, and you knew how to interpret shields, you would understand your neighbors and yourself. The Power Animal that represents you by the date of your birth is an interpretation of your personality profile. If you understand what you personify, you will know how you interact with others. 

POWER SHIELD: WARNING SUN MOON/FLICKER
JUNE 21 - JULY 22
Warning Sun Moon/Flicker is one of the three moons of the Summer season. Beginning at the Summer Solstice, this month marks the Festival of Expectation. Warning Sun Moon is a warning of the stronger sun to come. It is the first of the Summer Sun Moons, and is the time to be outdoors, a time of lush vegetation and smells of fragrant flowers. 

This moon marks the height of the year when the days are longest and nights are shortest. Nature starts to slow its pace and the seeds planted in Spring grow towards the maturity of fruitfulness. For people born in this cycle, a lifetime of testing and developing is required to bring the potential inherent qualities they brought with them at birth to the maximum.

DIRECTION: SOUTH 
People born in the Warning Sun Moon will be particularly affected by their feelings of closeness . . . this is a principal characteristic of the South. The way you act and the decisions you make will be largely determined by your emotions. The Spirit Keeper of the South is Shawnodese and walks the Earth Mother in the physical form of Brother Coyote, and what better being could there be to illustrate the time of “trial and error”, “tricks and lessons”, and “innocence and trust”? 

Among the tribes of the American West, he was the chief animal of the pre-human animal age, and was thought of as an independent creative force or maker of fateful decisions. The Plains Tribes regarded him as a cultural hero who secured for man such necessities as fire and daylight, always falling into his own trap and revealing a deeper “hidden” lesson. 

FROG CLAN 
You are born into the Frog Clan and your natural element is water. Without water, most life would end. Without water, Earth’s children would never be cleansed, either physically or emotionally. Frog Clan people are good to have involved in a project that seems to have dead-ended. Because of their ability to feel and flow, they can bring new life to the project. 

Because of their association with water, Frog Clan people are natural healers. You have the ability to help others see blockages in their thinking, and to guide them into directing energy toward these blockages in such a way as to dissolve them. 

POWER ANIMAL: FLICKER 
Your Power Animal is the Flicker, the colorful woodpecker with a strong, sharp beak able to chip away at branches and tree trunks to create a nesting chamber or to bore in to catch insects. Flickers have difficulty letting go of their young ones, even when they are old enough to make their own way in the world, and will cling to them even into old age.

 Outwardly Flickers appear driven to express primarily through emotions; the problem is that this often leads them to feel vulnerable towards people they feel have threatened their security or brought their inadequacy to the surface in the past. Peace between outer and inner expressions comes when Flickers learn to let go of the past and let bygones be bygones. Then they will free their creativity from self-imposed limitations and set it free where it can help others. 

Romantically, the female Flicker likes to be held, cuddled and dealt with tenderly, enjoying caressing and being caressed. The basic spiritual sexuality of Flickers is feminine, meaning they are usually introverted, nurturing and protective. Their emotional receptivity makes them especially vulnerable and easily hurt.

 POLARITY TOTEM: SNOW GOOSE 
Your polarity or balancing animal totem is the Snow Goose. Practical and materialistic, Snow Goose people rarely respond to emotional appeal and dislike anything that smells of insincerity. Their life emphasis is on the need to become self-reliant and self-sufficient, and the establishment of individual self identity. 

Flicker is sensitive, impressionable and highly emotional, acting largely on gut feelings, and has much to learn from Goose who is more impersonal and objective and whose outlook on life is wider. Snow Goose shares the more “grounded” qualities of its stable and practical nature with you to soften your tendency to function on raw emotion. Goose also teaches ways to acquire discipline and self-control. 

SNAKE MOVES UP YOUR SHIELD 
From Brother Snake you acquire the ability to shed your skin, leaving behind the old and outgrown. Learn also that all things are equal in creation and that situations, objects and people that at first might be experienced as poisonous, can be eaten (taken in), ingested, integrated, and transformed if you have the understanding of this strong medicine. 

Snake accepts change as the natural way of life and urges you to look at the idea you fear changing because it would entail a short passage into discomfort. Feel Snake’s rhythm and glide beyond that place in your consciousness that has become safe, but unproductive. 

COUGAR STANDS HIGH IN YOUR SHIELD
 When Cougar moves into your shield, it is to remind you that you need to rest and replenish your emotional energies. Learn to take time to curl up and nap away the negativity you have a tendency to absorb from others. Without proper rest and reflective pauses, you, like Cougar, quickly lose your balance and your positive attitude and generous nature turns to an exaggerated sense of low self-esteem. 

The haunting scream of Cougar echoing through the distant peaks of the high country tells you to stand on your convictions and have the courage to lead yourself to your heart’s desire. Refuse to hide in the cave of your own shyness or uncertainty. 

DEER STANDS GENTLY
 Deer stands in your shield to tell you that you have some traits of him remaining. You have the gentleness of the deer with the emotions of the Flicker. Deer helps you to jump out and live, to see the world as it is, and not how you want it to be. 

Deer medicine allows you to see the truth in change and how it can benefit you by being aware and looking for the gift. You must bring your dreams, your visions, your wonderful flair for living, into reality. 

URTLE CLAN MEMBERS
 In the Native American teachings, Turtle is the oldest, and most sacred symbol for the Earth. It was Turtle who gave his back so that all other creatures could build a home. Turtle medicine gives solidarity to your creative energy, allowing for the completion of your projects. 

The Turtle uses his shell for protection from adverse conditions in nature as well as from predators who have a taste for his flesh. Learn his method to protect yourself from the hurtful thoughtlessness, envy, jealousy, and treachery of others. 

BEAVER SITS ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SHIELD
 Your relationship with Brother Beaver was designed by the Great Spirit to keep you more in touch with things on the material plane and to help you focus your energy so you can more effectively do your work or follow your life’s path. The Dam Builder helps keep your creative ideas from floating away on the vapors of the Dream World. From him you also acquire your appreciation for honesty and intolerance of falsehood or trickery. 

Beaver medicine is one of teamwork and reminds you that group mind constitutes harmony of the highest order without individual egos getting in the way. 

BEAR CLIMBS HIGH INTO YOUR SHIELD 
Brother Brown Bear ambles across your shield dispensing his wisdom, introspective nature and balanced earth-water energy. He will help you ground your spiritual energies and direct your natural inclination from the psychic, philosophical and mystical towards more practical abilities. Flicker people are easily overwhelmed by life challenges, often exaggerating it out of proportion. Bear teaches you to break down a problem into manageable components and deal with them individually. 

BUTTERFLY CLAN MEMBERS
 From Butterfly clan folks, those of the Frog clan can learn to transform themselves and things around them. When people of these clans learn to work well together, their combined energies can help bring healing to the Earth and her children. 

RAVEN BRINGS MAGIC 
Raven teaches you to fly straight and true, not up and down. Ravens are group oriented and teach you to not always be a loner. The Raven is a bird of balance. Native peoples connected Raven to the balance between man and nature. Raven will help you see that all is possible if you can separate yourself from other people’s belief systems and stand alone in your convictions. Like the raven in your shield, you can begin to become the leader you came here to be. 

OTTER IS LOOKING INTO THE WATER
Otter is the most curious and playful of wild animals. They slide down river banks and swim in groups, often mimicking the dolphins. You can learn from the Otter to play more and not be so serious. 

ELK STANDS BEHIND YOU
It bugles and tramples loudly, asking you to listen to Elk medicine. To stand up for your rights, to protect what is yours, to give you the strength to know what you can change, the wisdom to know what you cannot, and to know the difference. Elk also represents your ability to drum out the message to all creation so that people may rejoice and dance around you in love and joy. 

MINERAL: ROSE QUARTZ 
Sensitive, emotional and loving, the mineral of Warning Sun Moon humans is the Rose Quartz. It works with the heart chakra and helps to erase traumas, sorrows, fears and resentments that lay heavy on the heart. It promotes understanding and is a receiver and transmitter. 

COLOR: ROSE PINK
 A color that balances you, guarding against moodiness and extremes, as it works with emotions. Pink is the color of affection and compassion and of the bringing together of people. Its energy is loving kindness and signifies the desire to serve. 

PLANT: WILD ROSE
 Flicker people, like their plant totem, the Wild Rose, have a wild quality about them and a special attractiveness when they are in a natural setting. The medicinal power comes from its fruit, called hips, one of the richest sources of Vitamin C. Native people use rose hips, along with mint and raspberry, to make a tea for general health and happiness. 

SHIELDS AND WORKSHOPS
 Individual Power Shields depicting a woodland scene, including all of your contributing spiritual influences, are available for purchase in pen and ink at $295 and in color at $395. These are 19” x 24” and suitable for framing. The Mitakuye Oyasin, depicting all twelve moons of the Medicine Wheel, the Spirit Keepers of the Four Directions, Power Animals and Clan Membership, is 19” x 24” and available in a limited edition pen and ink drawing at $100, in color at $400. Please include $16 for shipping charges within the U.S. Shields are available with a one-year payment plan. 

Eagle Soaring has Workshops scheduled for November 10-12, 2000 and November 17-19, 2000, in sunny Arizona. They include Native American Wisdoms, a tour of sacred energy spots near Sedona, and a sweat lodge. The workshops are $300 per person, but those who order a Shield will receive a $100 discount. 

Eagle Soaring may be reached at New Vision Power Shields, P.O. Box 5647, Lake Montezuma, AZ 86342. Call (520) 567-5868, Fax (520) 567-5901, or e-mail eaglesoaring@sedona.net . Also check out his website www.eagle-soaring.com

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