Later in the afternoon our sundry vehicles trundled up the last mile of roadway to the topmost parking lot at Panther Meadows on Mount Shasta where some of our guests and visitors had already found their way.
With only a small prompt from Thundereater a wide circle was cast on the plateau whereupon all of these people entered and began to clear away every stone and rock inside to pile them at the circumference. Very soon the medicine wheel circle was clearly delineated in the once strewn vista by the stones that came from within it. The gate of the east was set up with a tall stone and a cluster of smaller stones around it. A smaller circle of 13 stones was placed (this was the 13th year of the circle celebrations) and within it, a large, flatter single stone altar. At the south gate sat our grandmother, at the west gate a larger stone to balance the east, and at the north a medicine staff was set in rocks, it's feather aloft in the breeze.
While we were setting up, other groups were also doing much the same things for their own full moon ceremonies. As the evening fell closer to sunset and dusk, there were organic symphonies with the sounding of Tibetan bowls and bells, drums and flutes toning across the plateau which lasted through to nearly midnight.
Each of the circles' music blended and harmonized while we were opening our circle. Elders Starwalker and Amraah, each with handmade drums, opened the circle by drumming around the circles from east to south to west to north sounding a clearing around the outer and inner circles and over the altar making way for the dances of our shaman Thundereater dedicating the circle. By the time he was finished fully 75 people were collected on the boundaries of the circle awaiting an individual purifying smudging with sage and cedar before entering the circle for the all night dancing. Other drummers were setting up and after they were smudged, they began drumming in the circle a lively rhythmic dance that everyone could move with. Of the 75 people who began the evening, about a dozen were dancing as dawn brightened its way across the western regions of North America.
The purpose of the circle is related to the meditation of dancing all night. It is a personal act of prayer and dedication made during a particularly energetic time. Full moons are high energy times which we may all attest to noting instances in our lives when full moon periods brought catastrophe or surprises. The full moon in August, the sign of Leo opposite the moon in Aquarius, is a healing moon and at this time many people were focusing on their own or others well being.
It began 13 years ago when Jim Thundereater, a Shasta native shaman, in a great deal of pain both physical and emotional, petitioned the Great Mother for a vision. The vision showed him that he would create a 16 year long series of Medicine Wheel Ceremonies during the healing Full Moon of August. In groups of 4 years, each step included first a new prayer, next a new dance, then a new song and a completion. This year, the 13th, marks the series which thank the Mother and Mother Shasta for allowing him to serve the people. Each person comes for their own reasons and all join the circle created by the shaman for the purpose of serving all the people, even ones who do not attend or even know about such a thing.
When two or three are gathered, there I Am.
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