Similarities of the Native American Medicine Wheel and the African Cosmogram
It’s not uncommon to find similarities between religious philosophies around the world, especially when the mother cultures of the beliefs are regionally close.
However, while studying I stumbled across a very unusual and fascinating connection of the Native American Medicine Wheel and the Native African Cosmogram.
In December of 2012 I was visiting the Hopi Nation with some friends and I first learned of the Medicine Wheel. The Medicine Wheel as Native Americans know it, is a sacred design that is used to bring healing, spiritual direction, connection with the ancestors. It represents the cycle of life that is ever moving and spinning. It is most frequently made by laying rocks on the ground in the pattern of a circle, divided into 4 sections. The cross in the center points to the 4 cardinal directions: North, South, East, West. The North quadrant represents the physical body, the west represents the heart, the south represents the spirit, and the east represents the mind. The wheel flows counter clockwise. There is almost an infinite amount of understanding that can come from studying the four parts of the soul and how they relate to each other.
Just this year while studying world religions at my community college, I came across the African Cosmogram and immediately recognized its similarity with the Native American Medicine wheel. The African Cosmogram is a design used by numerous indigenous African tribes. Its design is used to explain the purpose of life and how one goes through 4 stages of existence. It is represented by drawing a circle, divided into 4 quadrants. The upper half of the circle represents the Physical World and Specifically the North represents the human body and is called Tukula. The bottom half of the diagram represents the Spiritual World or Musoni and the south represents the spirit or the ancestors. In the East is Kala, which represents the new birth into the physical world and in the west is Luvemba, representing the transition of death into the spiritual world. The cosmogram spins counter clockwise and represents the cycle of reincarnation. The cosmogram is used to show the dependence of those in the physical world on the ancestors in order to enter the spirit world and eventually be reincarnated.
When I compared the two different designs I was rather shocked at the parallels they have with each other. Although there are some differences, they don’t contradict the philosophies of each diagram. The African cosmogram sheds more light on the medicine wheel, just as the medicine wheel provides more meaning for the cosmogram. One of the most noticeable parallels is that they both represent the harmony that must be found between the Physical World and the Spirit world. How ironic is it that two cultures far removed from each other came up with the same symbol to represent that?
Additionally, both of the symbols function as a wheel, there is symbolic movement from the Physical to the Spiritual. For both the medicine wheel and the cosmogram, they spin counterclockwise.
One difference is that the Native Americans create the medicine wheel with stones on the ground whereas in African culture the symbol is made from other objects and displayed on homes.
Yes, a circle is not all that unique, even it being divided into four directions isn’t unusual. However, I find it unusual that they came up with extremely similar meanings for the symbol. Not only were their meanings almost identical in some cases, the meanings that are not identical can at least relate to each other.
The meanings for the East and West are what differ between the two symbols the most. However, new meaning can be taken for both symbols if you overlap them. The east is the mind on the medicine wheel, but on the cosmogram it is New Birth. Just like the sun rising in the east is symbolic of new birth, it is also symbolic of a new enlightenment in the mind. In the west is the heart for the medicine wheel and for the cosmogram it is death. Just as the sun setting in the west is symbolic of death, it can also represent the light or truth resting in the heart after passing through the mind.
One cant help but ask, why are they so similar? Yet they are worlds apart. They are both of ancient origin and are associated with indigenous tribes that have passed tradition down for generations. Could both the African Cosmogram and The medicine wheel have evolved to become so alike because they were created by cultures that were not technologically advanced and had many years without contact with outside influence? Perhaps it’s just pure coincidence? If so, it’s a unique one.