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L E T T E R F R O M S O U T H A F R I C A Shortly before I was due to travel to Hartebeespoort in September 2002 I learned of a new Medicine Wheel recently built in the Magaliesberg area by Roy Little Sun and Jan Harper Whale; so I decided to include a visit in our itinerary. My two daughters and I ventured out into ‘the middle of nowhere’ and eventually located it on a piece of land known as Common Ground Earth. A new community project has been started there and the Wheel is located at the top of a hill, one of many in a vast expanse of bushveld with wide views in all directions of this beautiful part of South Africa. Four long flagpoles, each bearing a red, white, black or yellow flag, marked the spot, they represented the four main races of humanity. Roy and Jan were slaving in the hot midday sun, there is virtually no shade anywhere in this area. I have known Roy for several years and shared many a ceremony with him, it was such a pleasure to meet again. He has traveled extensively to many countries, building a ‘Circle of Hearts’ Medicine Wheel wherever he went. The long-term intention of these Wheels is to heal Mother Earth. The Magaliesberg Wheel is the largest in the world, superseding the one in England. It forms a 40-metre circle and is divided into four sectors (for Fire, Earth, Air, Water). The outer circle consists of 12 large standing stones which connect to the 12 Tribes of Israel and to the 12 zodiac constellations. Under each stone a crystal has been placed, vibrating to the properties of each zodiacal sign. In all there are 108 stones and a central fire which will burn for peace in the world. The Medicine Wheel was inaugurated at a special ceremony on 22nd August 2002 when the Sun was aligned to the Royal Star Regulus, the Heart of Leo. It was also the day of the Full Moon. The intention was to link all the Medicine Wheels in the world and to celebrate the One Heart. We spent a while chatting under a very small tree which afforded only a spot of shade; it was a strange but wonderful feeling out there in so much space, so silent and peaceful, just the five of us. Roy related the events that led to the building of all his Medicine Wheels in various parts of the world, and especially why this one was built. An interesting point was that there had been a bad veldt fire which burnt a large area of land, but leaving untouched one circle of green grass – that circle is now the site of the central fire pit. Recently Roy acquired a metal pyramid which will serve as a cover for the fire when it rains or the wind threatens to extinguish the fire – it is intended that this fire will burn continuously until world peace has been achieved! Fire-keepers from around the world are invited to stay and maintain the fire. I had brought Roy several gifts from Cape Town, including a wooden symbol that we as a group had used at a special ceremony the previous week for world peace; I also gave him two stones - one of the smaller rocks from the Medicine Wheel built in December 1999 at the foot of Table Mountain for the Parliament of World Religions (that wheel had been broken and scattered soon after the Parliament closed), and a small pebble from the beach in Brekkubaer, Iceland where Roy had built a Medicine Wheel on the cliff above. These two stones will find a permanent home at the Magaliesberg Wheel. We walked the Wheel. It’s truly enormous and so impressive. I found the Aries rock to be the hottest, even the shady side of it. Taurus rock was incredibly "heavy" to the touch, even rather depressing. And the Aquarius rock interested me because it was the only one with a flat top that had wavy lines etched on it by the elements. Jan showed me some of the drawings of information that have come through so far, some symbols seemed familiar, but others were quite new to me. She said the Wheel is still so young that they haven’t learnt much of what it has to tell, but new information is coming through all the time, and they will continue to work with it. Roy had hoped in 1999 that the Fire and Water energies of all Parliament participants in Cape Town would merge to create a one-ness but this hasn’t happened as all the religious leaders had their own agenda and there was no meeting on common round. He is now dedicated to uniting these two forces. So he conducted a special ceremony to use the strong feminine energy from Cape Town that I and my daughters represented. He placed each of us women in positions of north, south, east and west and after we’d all smoked the peace pipe, he walked round the circle with the wooden symbol and the pipe, intoning various prayers. Eventually this symbol was burned in the central fire, to symbolize the breaking down of all barriers between humanity, so that peace can be achieved. His quiet singing by the fire was so deeply moving, the only sound that could be heard in this beautifully peaceful wilderness. The ceremony lasted quite a while and as none of us wanted to move away we sat in the wheel just talking and sharing, it was so special to be there, time seemed to mean nothing; just five people and a Medicine Wheel in a vast landscape. I felt we’d taken part in a rather unique and personal experience. Roy has one burning mission now and that is to break down all the barriers of "apartheid" – not in a political sense, but in all ways that create barriers between people of the world. He feels the only way to achieve "One Common Ground" is for healers to unite in spirit, to share The One Heart essence. He feels it is now a matter of urgency for the world’s religious leaders to gather in South Africa, to be of One Heart, because only then when they meet on Common Ground, with one Heart and Mind, will world peace be achieved. |
