Northwest -Spider woman-

weaver of the web of life, spinner of destinies, charms and magicSpider Woman is the creator and weaver of life. She is known as the great teacher, protector and mother of all creation, to many Native Americans of the southwest. Spider Woman is known to appear as both young and old. As a spider she will whisper her wisdom in the ears of both women and men. She has limitless wisdom and divine gifts because she is a magician and a prophet. Spider woman manifests as a sacred guardian.

North- Sky woman or Star woman-

She who falls from the sky to create the first people. She is cosmic mother, Knowledge bringer, life bringer, magician, creatrix, divine ancestress. She is light bringer, illumination and clarity of mind.

North East- First Woman-

First woman-  most every tribe has a version of first woman. this source is from the Navajo.

“In the beginning, First Man and First Woman ascended from the underworld together with Coyote, leading the people through trials and tribulations into the surface world which became their home. Deciding that the sky was too empty with only Sun and Moon, First Man, First Woman and Coyote gathered up glittering stones and placed them in the sky to serve as stars.” –www.meta-religion.com

she comes from the underworld with first man and coyote, bringing understanding to earth, balancing energy between first man and coyote and all the chaos they create with and against one another. Sometimes also associated with Selu –corn mother in her maiden aspect.

East White Buffalo (Calf) Woman

White buffalo woman is the native holy woman for the east/Spring equinox. Before she came, people didn't know how to live. They knew nothing. The Buffalo Woman put her sacred mind into their minds. " At the ritual of the sun dance one woman, usually a mature and universally respected member of the tribe, is given the honor of representing Buffalo Woman. She is another who  brought the sacred pipe to the people, she taught prayer, oneness of self, and relationship to all things. She is the herald of change, healing and right relationship.

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SouthEast- Arrow Woman In the Cherokee and other traditions Arrow woman, after following a wounded bear, finds a sacred healing lake of mystery where in lives the Uktena, a sacred serpent (dragon) who gives her the medicine pipe and teaches her the wisdom of the pipe. She brings it back to her people and shares the knowledge of the pipe bowl and stem being brought together to create balance and peace. She teaches the way of balance, healing and relationship. She sends the message of Partnership, courage, honor.

South- Selu /Corn Woman

She created corn from her own body to feed the people, teaches respect, sacrifice and patience. SHe is lady of abundance, nurturer, life sustainer. She gives of herself with no thought of return. She shows us the way of right relationship with all life through her love and selflessness.

SouthWest- White Shell/Bead/Turquoise Woman

White Shell (or White Bead) Woman, also known as Turquoise Woman, is the Sustainer of Life.  She created the Navajo people and sent them their home. She gave the gift of agriculture and taught the people to trade. White Shell Woman was said to be made of the white shell of the oceans.

West- Changing Woman

Changing Woman -shapeshifter who changes to maiden mother crone and back again. She went to live in the western sea on an island made of rock crystal. Her home was made of the four sacred stones: Abalone, White Shell, Turquoise, and Black Jet. During the day she became lonely and decided to make her own people. She made four clans from the flakes of her skin. These were known as the Near Water People, Mud People, Salt Water People, and Bitter Water People. When these newly formed clans heard that there were humans to the east who shared their heritage, they wanted to go meet them.

Changing Woman gave her permission for them to travel from the western sea to the San Francisco Peaks. They then traveled through the Hopi mesas where they left porcupine, still commonly found there today. Then they traveled toward the Chuska Mountains and on to Mt. Taylor. Finally, the people arrived at Dinetah, the DinE traditional homeland, and joined the other clans already living there. Dinetah is located in the many canyons that drain the San Juan

As gifts, she gave them shells, which became corn and other food bearing plants.  She gave them the animals, and the gifts of rain and beautiful flowers.

Center of the Wheel - Butterfly Woman

Butterfly maiden is also known as the mother of the four directions. She is the bringer of transformation and the lady of in between times, she is the chrysalis and the butterfly, she is both the safety of going inward and the freedom of breaking free and flying away without looking back.

Butterfly Woman Medicine

Wisdom from Grandmother Butterfly

I am Butterfly Woman. I am a keeper of the Pathways of Change. This law of our Holy Mother guides all aspects of change. Therefore, this principle is very active. It is the guidepost for that movement which we call Life. Life is ever-changing, ever-growing, ever-expressing. If you were to look within the very movements of the Elements, you would see this pattern known as Universal Law of Change.

I am here to speak of how to accelerate transformation. For the Butterfly walks the Medicine Wheel in the Four Directions, having four stages of life..

Great Spirit sends forth life. Mother Earth provides a little world for this life to grow. We call this life the egg. And within the egg the individual gestates and internalizes their purpose for being, visioning who they are and why. This is the first stage of life, the first stage of transformation. This is why the Medicine Path first sends the individual to first be with themself and Spirit, to be in this egg of centering.

It is a womb of nourishment, protection for the nourishment needed is already there; for the Universe takes care of all of its own. With great excitement the being moves from this direction of the East to the South, going forth as that caterpillar to experience life, new concepts; to become more through living life out loud with vigor in the strength of the self, to experience Love, to experience the innocent nature, to experience Truth in the world, and ingest the blessings of the Tree of Life.

This step upon the wheel tends to be a longer one. For there is much to digest in order to understand that vision, that purpose discovered in the East.

When the vision of Life unfolds and enough experiences have become one with you, it is time for the West, time to go within that cocoon, to go within that cave, as the Bear would teach. Look within to unfold experiences of Life, feel the warmth of the Mother again held within this Cosmic womb, reflect in the Mirror of Self, discover the Love within the Sacred Silence and shift within to prepare for the Great Day of Healing. For only within the protection of the Mother’s heart can the wings of Spirit grow, can the spiritual abilities mature. In the West as in the East, the cocoon unfolds transformation as the egg unfolds Life. Those experiences of the South are finally understood, within, without, and in relation to the Silent Universe.

And at some moment when praying, the Dawn opens again, the inner fires burst forth, the cocoon parts, and, as if walking out of your own skin, as if dropping your robe, you step into the North a new being. It’s stepping into the airs of True Reality, stepping into the Wisdom of the Grandfathers.

Patience is necessary to dry the wings before flight, to receive that healing and complete integration. Then, on a crisp, sunny morning the Spirit will call, the wings will unfold, the wheel will have been walked, Life will have evolved and flight to new service with the nectars of Life is yours.

In this place called the Spirit Door, you dwell in the Service with the Spirits of the Holy Breath. This is the promise of the Butterfly Medicine. This is the cycle of transformation that Butterfly Medicine brings.

Within the course of human unfoldment, human beings must walk this path through the Rainbow, through the Seven Mountains of Self, walking this Wheel of Transformation. This means seven lifetimes, seven realities, seven bodies or physical forms. Yet, through the gift of our Holy Mother of this Universal Law, through the gift of the Butterfly Medicine which is instantly invoked, this transformation is accelerated to great capacities. Within a Moon Cycle, a dedicated being can complete one of these Sacred Mountains of Self. Within a year, the Medicine of the Butterfly is anchored and complete, a full cycle in rhythm with Mother Earth’s seasons.

The Holy Ones through our Medicine could transform a being in a single day.

So before invoking this Medicine of personal transformation, call upon this Sacred Law, go and pray together with the Spirits that guide you, understand and choose the cycle of your unfolding, be it a day, be it a week, be it a Moon, or be it a year. For one trip around this wheel, Great Mystery Mother grants blessing to the human beings. For this change is a graceful one, an accelerated path.

Choose it, embrace it, become it, enjoy it.

Always walk this Path of the Butterfly in sincerity and Butterfly Woman will be there to watch, to protect, and to teach

(-original post by Cloe Martise, tribe.com)