ABRASIVE GRINDING WHEEL

It is a Native American belief that you must offer a gift that will delight the higher spirits in order to gain their attention and blessings. Usually the more work and effort put into an item for offering, the more inclined the spirits are to bless the request put to them. This requires more focus upon the intent of the prayer by its creator, hence giving it more energy.

Prayer ties are the oldest and simplest way to pray using tobacco. Tobacco is a sacred botanical in the Native American tradition. It amplifies prayers, provides healing and purification, extracts negativity in spiritual healings, and allows communication with spirits.

Prayer ties are made by using pieces of 100% cotton cloth. Each color represents a direction on the Medicine Wheel.
1 East - Yellow – Air - New Beginnings, Rebiirth, Prosperity, Longevity
2 South - Red – Fire - Motivation, Creativity, Growth
3 West - Black - Water – Healing, Transformation, Introspecction
4 North - White – Earth - Wisdom, Spirit, Strength, Clear Vision
5 Above - Blue – Father Sky, Masculine Energy, Spiritual Healing
6 Below - Green – Mother Earth, Feminine Energy, Physical Healing
7 Center - Purple – Balance, Harmony, Self, Mental Healing
8 Parallel Universe – Orange - Soul Mate, Twin Flame

Prayer energy is offered into the tobacco by holding the tobacco in the left hand, lifting it to the heart, and saying a prayer. Then the tobacco is placed in the center of the cloth. The 4 corners are drawn up forming a small pouch which is tied to a string by using a clove hitch (2 half hitches).

Prayer ties are released into the universe through burning. This releases the prayers in the smoke and allows them to be carried to Grandfather, Grandmother, and Great Spirit. The ties should be burned within a year of being created.

I promised my neice when she got married I would make her a barn sign. The first problem was finding a wood circle. I purchased the wood and my father made the circle.
The design blends native and euopean cultures just as my neice and her husband do.
The magpies was his mothers totoem and I put that in the design twice because in celtic culture (my neice has Irish, Welsh and Scot) one magpie is bad luck. I use the medicine wheel colors to represent his Dakota ancestry.
I finally finished it 3 yrs after they got married so willl it take me 3 years to get it to them in SD? July 2008