Teachings in First Year Red Lodge
red lodge year one gateway

Students Listening IntentlyThe first year of Red Lodge consists of six extended weekend sessions and one Ceremonial Week in nature. During the first of these six weekends, you will learn about:

Medicine Wheels:

Medicine wheels symbolize life as a never-ending circular process, rather than a linear experience with a beginning and an end. We overlay wheels (put them on top of each other) to connect the concepts in each direction (graphical demonstration). In this way, we learn. For example, if we overlay these two wheels:

 


sexuality body emotions mind spirit human aspects wheel  

  catalyze hold / transform give receive determine wheel of energy uses


... we learn how our aspects can be used most effectively: catalyze (spark change) in our sexuality, give with our emotions, determine with our spirit, etc. If we do otherwise, we end up out of balance. For example, do you know someone who determines with their mind?




Here are two more fundamental medicine wheels:
The Elements:

the elements
The Four Worlds:

the four worlds of grandmother earth

Did you ever notice that a dog feels happy when you feel happy, and sad when you're sad? That's because animals are receivers of energy. We humans are determiners of energy (notice we are now overlaying the Wheel of Energy Uses with the Four Worlds). What are we determining for the future of our planet? In Red Lodge we change ourselves, and ripple positive changes into the world like a pebble dropped in a pond.

The above is only one part of the first weekend!