This ONLINE workshop is a six week program for those familiar with the Four Directions / Four Shields / Medicine Wheel teachings of human-nature. The group will meet once a week for 2.5 hours, with solo explorations/assignments in nature between group meetings.
The Four Directions / Medicine Wheel teachings, first presented to Rites of Passage by Hyemeyohsts Storm over 40 years ago, provide a deep and powerful foundation for understanding ourselves as co-participants in Creation with the entire natural world.
This workshop will expand upon and deepen the core teachings of the Four Directions.
The idea of the Four Directions is found within many cultures and traditions, often understood as four cycles or seasons of nature.
-Four archetypes of human nature: Spirit, Body, Psyche, Mind
–The seasons of our life cycle, representing birth and infancy (Spring), childhood and early adolescence (Summer), self-consciousness of later adolescence and early adulthood (Fall), full adulthood (Winter) and elderhood (Spring again)
-Orienting our internal process to the landscape: the four directions of the compass
In this workshop, we will explore the shadow side of the Four Directions.
This exploration will include:
- Balances and imbalances of the Directions
- The risk of remaining a child and not growing up
- Our wounds (childhood and others) and the challenges of healing
- The risks of addiction in all its forms
- Attachment to our ideas and to logic, and how that limits us
- Spiritual escapism
- Projection of our shadow on others
To enroll, you must have some familiarity with these teachings, through participation in a Wilderness Quest, a Four Directions Workshop, the Rites of Passage Guide Training Program, or similar programs offered by other organizations.
This is an experiential event; each component will include suggestions for spending time in nature. Be prepared for 1-3 hours per week outside!
Testimonials from the Four Directions Workshop
I am really feeling blessed to be in this course with you, so thank you again for creating and holding this wonderful space. I have been loving the balance you are striking…. I think the sharing of the participants and then your reflections and offerings to each of us, plus the opportunity to reflect ourselves to our fellow participants is incredibly rich. I think your notes are fabulous…. The vitality and richness seems to be in the exchange, and then the notes (and now the videos) assist in personal reflection when we aren’t together. A wisdom community is a rare thing these days, and you have created the space for one, so well done!
-Dave L., physician, Canada
The power of the course is hard to suggest. The time here, on the land and with these people, has led me to great awareness that will help my in my own life. Most importantly, it has opened my heart, connected me to the beauty in humanity and in myself. I know the gifts given to me over these five days are only the beginning.
-Bianca Di Salvo, businesswoman, Yonkers, NY
