Becoming an Adult: A Journey through the Medicine Wheel

Will we get our long overdue coming of age ceremony?

The premise of this article is that Western culture is predominantly stuck in the developmental stage of adolescence. The Medicine Wheel offers not just insight into this, but a pathway through it.

The Medicine Wheel

The medicine wheel has been used cross culturally as a map for navigating the multi-faceted nature of reality. It can be simply broken down into four areas of focus, while maintaining the ability to unfold infinitely with everything in existence having a home in one of the four corners.

Thanks to my teachers, human and other

I am indebted to different teachers for my development of this idea. Bill Plotkin introduced me to my first in depth exploration of this idea in his book the Journey of Soul Initiation. Paul Chek helped me to develop this alchemically, and to turn it into a system of personal growth. Mac McCartney taught me a Native American version showing how communities are structured around the wheel.

While I’ve been deeply inspired by many teachers, the Medicine Wheel has been my greatest teacher. It is a living, breathing map that continues to reveal new layers.

What I share here is my own evolving interpretation, distinct in many ways from those who first introduced me to it.

As above, so below

There is a Hermetic Axiom - As above, so below. As within, so without. Of which there are many interpretations. But in the case of the Medicine Wheel we are talking about cycles - Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, being both an external cycle (above/without), while also being something that happens inside us.

This is also related to the micro seasons meaning we have a spring of our day, week and month. Then the macro seasons of our year and life. This relates to everything - a relationship, business or anything we engage for any period of time.

East – Spring – Childhood

Just as the sun rises in the East, so too do we begin our lives in the innocence and potential of childhood. The journey of the soul starts here, in the place of first breath and creative fire.

This is the start of our day when we plant the seeds we want to see grow. The relationship between day and year is obvious here - If you do not plant a seed it cannot grow through the spring/summer/autumn, nor can our days if started with poor habits and decisions.

This time relates to our childhood, and when we look at it through the seed planting lens we can gain a deeper understanding of why it is so important to nurture young children. In these formative years there is an opportunity to create a nourishing life, if we fail to do so the later seasons of life become more complex. We then have to return to these seasons at a later time to repair.

This is why we see a thriving mental health epidemic, in every wounded adult there is a child seeking healing and integration.

Alchemically this time is related to fire, it's when the sun first rises and when creative life force is high. Fire is the most closely related to spirit, so when we want to develop our childlike nature we develop ourselves spiritually. This could be through a practice such as Yoga.

As an archetype we see this clearly in Eastern Mysticism with the innocent sage like gurus. Someone like the Dalai Lama is a perfect example of this, he displays a childlike quality and innocence of character. This form of spirituality emphasises non-attachment and ego dissolution - which are childlike characteristics. To be free from relationships and the responsibility of the world.

Compare this to a well developed Western approach like Jungian Psychology, you see that the latter is about leaning into responsibility and claiming yourself as a whole and well rounded person. It is about being in the world of responsibility, forming healthy attachments and developing a healthy ego.

This is not to say one is better or more evolved, it is just archetypally different.

As an adult if we remain “childish” we are living out the child archetype, however, if we can mature while remaining “childlike” - this is where our connection to creativity will thrive.

In this stage we are forming the ego, which is the sense of self. In formative years there is no separation between Mum and child. Mum and Dad are the egos in the room, meaning the child is completely dependent on the parents' decisions making. If the parents have a strong sense of who they are with clear values and boundaries, this will pass on to the child, if not the child will end up confused and often attempt to take charge.

Alongside ego formation, children are exploring novelty. Everything for the young child is new, and they simply need presence and occasionally correction if they are going to do something potentially dangerous.

In this stage it is important to allow children to find competition in their tasks. If they are constantly interrupted or prevented from things like tying shoes, solving a puzzle, or building something, they can internalize a sense of incompetence, which fragments their sense of sovereignty.

South – Summer – Adolescence

As every morning turns to noon, the innocence of childhood gives way to the intensity of adolescence. In the South, the sun is high, as is the emotional charge of this life season.

In the South we find the emotional and instinctive wildness of adolescence. This is when we are forming social bonds, and seeking acceptance from a peer group. In healthy adolescence our task is to try out different masks and see which one fits. We are not as new as the child, but not mature enough to have a fully developed sense of self. This is a stage of trial and error, and getting sucked in by the wave we were strongly warned not to surf.

This relates to the Summer of our life, a time when our hormonal waters are swirling around creating uncertainty and chaos. This is the midday which is the peak energy of our lives, a highly sexualised time with young men's libidos coming online and females starting to ovulate.

Alchemically this is linked to water and our emotional body. This can be seen metaphorically in a common extinguishing of the fires of creation that comes in teen years. This is a cultural phenomenon, and not universal, with young children encouraged to be whatever they want to be. Then as the teen years approach and the prospect of work comes ever closer, adolescents are often told to grow up, and get real.

This often comes at the price of disowning the child, which is detrimental to development.

There is a need to transcend our lower stages of our development as we progress, however, if we disown them we leave a piece of ourselves offline and it disables us.

Another cultural blind spot is rebellion, if we are not given the space and environment to dip our toes into different waters to see which one feels right, then we rebel and attempt to take control where we can. Eating disorders and self harm are examples of this taken inwards, whereas being generally disagreeable or running away from home is an example of the outward expression.

Counterintuitive - Flow not Force

Despite what seems like an action stage of life, it is actually the momentum from the fires of the spring that moves us through adolescence. While it is a time of peak output, once the midday sun peaks, it slowly starts to set. The same is true for the summer solstice - once the peak happens, the days shorten a little more each day until Autumn. What this points to again is the need to lay good foundations in the spring of our day/week/year/life to be able to ride the momentum of Summer relatively easefully.

Emotions are so strong that they need to be earthed in the latter stages of life, but this cannot happen if we do not prepare correctly in the spring. This is evident in Western culture with the epidemic of young people (and adults stuck in adolescence) suffering from chronic mental health problems.

Summer is where most people in Western culture get stuck. Still developing a healthy ego, not sure who they are or what their purpose is. While isolated from an integrated, healthy and loving community. Does this sound familiar?

This is because we don’t have healthy ways to cross the threshold and become adults.

Feminine and Masculine Initiation

Regarding the feminine, many major initiations are within the physiology of the women - this is the menstrual cycle in adolescence, childbearing in adulthood and mesopores in elderhood. Culturally, the rites of passage ceremonies and rituals to mark these occasions are not honoured. There is often a lot of shame around menstruation. Childbirth has almost universally been medicalised. And there has become a trend of women taking hormone therapy during the menopause instead of slowing down.

The masculine differs as men have to create an initiation to mark major life transitions. One of these is the passing from adolescence to adulthood. This is where a child becomes a man, and has to start taking on the responsibilities of providing for his family and having a clear sense of direction and purpose.

In the young naïve stages the adolescent wander around hopping from idea to idea in the hopes that something will claim them. When we are able to pass through to adulthood we are claimed by our purpose, and this becomes the focus of our life.

Many cultures offer a vision quest which varies in its intensity, but usually means fasting from food and often water, then going out into the wilderness for 3-4 days. It is common that blood is spilled in these rituals, and the worst cases result in death.

While not traditionally a coming of age ritual the Lakota Sun Dance is an example where during the Summer Solstice Sun participants dance and participate in sweat lodges sometimes without any water, before hooking a piece of their flesh to a tree and spinning around it until it rips off.

This may seem barbaric to the “civilised”, however, it does produce strong people.

The Kalenjin people of Kenya have produced 14 of the top 20 marathon times, and when asked how they were able to consistently win the long enduring races, many link it back to their circumcision coming of age rituals.

NPR Reports: Elly Kipgogei, 19, remembers going through the ceremony at age 15.

First, he says, he had to crawl mostly naked through a tunnel of African stinging nettles. Then he was beaten on the bony part of the ankle, then his knuckles were squeezed together, and then the formic acid from the stinging nettle was wiped onto his genitals.

But all that was just warm-up; early one morning he was circumcised, with a sharp stick.

In shamanic culture there are plant medicine rituals. Usually a strong experience which will include years of preparation with a shaman who is able to spot when the child is ready before taking them through the ritual.

Psychedelics Today Reports: Within the Indigenous Huichol culture of Mexico, children are thought to begin ingesting peyote around the age of six, as they are able to verbally articulate their experience at that age (Stuart, 2004). Comparatively, within the Native American Church (NAC), younger children are less likely to consume peyote in ceremony, and are usually invited into the tipi as a rite of passage around the age of 12, when they hit puberty. Families in the Brazilian ayahuasca churches, Santo Daime and União do Vegetal, likewise allow children to participate in ceremonies and have also been known to give extremely small doses of ayahuasca to newborn babies as a symbolic initiation into their tradition.

West – Autumn – Adulthood

If we’re lucky, and well supported, we cross the crucial threshold from adolescence into adulthood. Like the sun descending in the West, this is a time of slowing down, refining focus, and facing the deeper purpose of our life.

This is seen in the evening sun, the energy calms while it sets. It is related to our journey into the darkness towards the underworld, as from Autumn to Winter the days start getting shorter.

We have to face our fears and shadows entering Autumn, before we can fully shed our leaves and embrace Adulthood.

When we pass into this autumnal phase we are met with the task of our purpose which presents itself as a challenge for us to engage. This often starts with difficulty, but then as we progress we learn to be masters of our craft and our very being becomes a gift to the world.

Elementally this time is related to the body, and anything that houses. For example a business in adolescence is a vague idea, maybe even a plan - but it does not have bricks and mortar. Once we move into adulthood we solidify ideas and make them into something tangible.

• To put this into perspective, as a child we have lots of fire and creative potential. But we lack understanding. Our job is to simply explore.

• In Adolescence we start to gain some independence, but lack direction and maturity. Like the water flowing and unable to fully embody our purpose. This is an instinctual time when we are starting to get a sense of who we are.

• To move into adulthood we need to keep the childlike creativity and combine this with the instincts of the teen, and learn how to channel this into a container. Alchemically speaking this is the squaring of the circle or learning how to place infinite potential into a finite container.

It is about less variety, and gaining a more singular focus of where to put our energy.

North – Winter – Elderhood

Eventually, every fire dims, every harvest is gathered, and we enter the quiet stillness of winter. Elderhood is midnight, a time not of ending, but of integration and deep silent wisdom.

Similar to the counterintuitive nature of Summer being Feminine and passive, Winter is actually Masculine and active. This reflects the rising energy that follows the Winter Solstice, when the light slowly begins to return and each day grows longer.

Psycho/Spiritually this is a time when our activeness is directed inwards, and all growth happens beyond the perception of the world. It is a calm and still time when the mind has the capacity to come online with a deep sense of wisdom which only comes with age.

If a person has successfully developed themselves in Childhood, Adolescence and Adulthood, they become a living library and will be tasked with tending to the community and giving their gift.

Life/Death Portal

A unique relationship exists between the young child and the latter stages of elderhood, as both are closest to the life/death portal. In healthy culture elders and youngers tend to pair up, while the parents use their energy to work. This is the symbiosis of nature - it allows the Eldest, wisest and most patient to be with those who need these qualities, while the young give the gift of youth.

This is also seen in the fire and air relationship, as they both bridge spirit and matter. Both are active as they are never still and cannot be contained. The Earth and Water however, are passive and can be contained. An example is a hot water bottle, the water will stay indefinitely once placed in the bottle, but the heat will slowly escape.

Alchemically this is related to the Air and our thoughts. Again we see this in the epidemic of mental health issues that collectively magnify during the winter months. There is a correlation between the ability to think in a mature way, and being able to survive our internal and external winters.

Archetypally this is the mentor, teacher or leader - I call this the Warrior of the Heart, characterised by someone who knows both what is worth fighting for and what isn’t. There is something inherently challenging about the winter months both externally in the season and internally inside of us and it takes many winters to fully realise that the spring always follows.

Conclusion

Just like the Earth continues to turns, we also continue to spiral through these seasons. In our relationships, creativity, healing, and our soul’s calling.
This is the gift of the Medicine Wheel - a reminder that no season is permanent, and each has its own medicine.

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Thank you for reading — this was my longest piece yet, and for good reason.
I've spent years exploring the Medicine Wheel, and recently distilled that work into something tangible: a 4-part video series called Seasons of Your Soul, created for those entering the second half of life who want to live with purpose, clarity, and impact.

If you feel a gift stirring inside you. Something the world needs but you’re not sure how to share. This free series is for you. Update coming soon.