medicine wheels

Making a "medicine wheel", is easy. As the earth orbits the sun, the sun appears to swing from south to north and back south again over the course of a year. The southern most position marks the beginning of winter (winter soltice). The northern most position marks the begining of summer (summer solsitce). As the sun travels north, we come out of winter, when it is halway there, that is the begining of spring (spring equinox). After the sun reaches its northern most position, it turns around and heads south again. When it reaches the halfway point on its journey back south, that is the begining of fall (fall equinox). The four seasons, then, can be marked by these three positions of the sun. To make a medicine wheel, an old way of predicting the seasons, alighn two stones to point at these key positions of the sun, when it sets. The best way is not with compass and line, but simply to place the stones over the course of a year, when the sun is in each of these positions. The medicine wheel you see, was constructed at Pine Mountain Observatory, on the hill just above the telescopes.