W.o.W. THE SPIRITUAL HEART OF OZORA
By Dr. Sally and Professor Béla Torkos
Ozora Festival is unique among festivals; you won’t find anything like it anywhere else in the world! One of the reasons for its uniqueness is its living symbol: The Wheel of Wisdom (W.o.W. The idea for it was developed by Dr. Sally Torkos from her extensive research and use of the Native American Medicine Wheel. The design of the Wheel was created by Professor Béla Torkos and its construction and use began in 2010. This year, 2019, is the tenth anniversary of the Wheel of Wisdom at Ozora Festival. Not only has ten years of constructing the Wheel gone on, but also ten years of the Wheel of Wisdom Program on the Evolution of Human Consciousness. The WoW Program and the Wheel of Wisdom have both evolved in the past ten years due to research, experience, and feedback from the Initiate Program participants. There is a great need in the world for a renewal of connection between humans, the Earth, the Universe, one another and themselves. The five-day lecture program and rituals with the Wheel of Wisdom are designed specifically to accomplish that connection.
Historian Freddy Silva states: “There is the uneasy realization that we have lost our faith in the world around us and lost sight of fundamental principles. We are disconnected from some primal source with whom we once felt comfortable, which served to restore our umbilical resonance with worlds that cannot be seen or touched. While we come to terms with the ills of disconnection, lying all around us in plain view are the means through which ancient cultures once maintained themselves in balance for thousands of years. They are called temples. Pyramids. Stone circles, menhirs, dolmens, sanctuaries and mounds. . .. They act as mirrors of the heavens so that ordinary men and women may be transformed.” 1
¹Freddy Silva, The Divine Blueprint: Temples, Power Places, and The Global Plan to Shape the Human Soul; www.invisibletemple.com: Invisible Temple; 2010, 2016
Ireland stone circle (jmeyers.foreman.wordpress.com – Bing)
Freddy Silva is correct; we humans are very disconnected from many aspects of reality that were once a very big part of our lives. Not only are a majority of humans disconnected from the sacred “primal source,” many are disconnected from our Great Mother, the Earth, and increasingly, one another. Sadly, at the same time, they are suffering from the illusion that our technology is connecting us to one another more than ever. In some ways, in terms of sheer volume of cell phone calls, texts, tweets, Facebook messages, e-mails etc. we are reaching far more people farther and farther away. However delightful and entertaining that is, it interferes with our actual bodily face time with actual human beings directly without technology. It really doesn’t count as direct connection to be in the company of friends, family, and lovers when everyone is absorbed in their cell phones. What this all really indicates is simply that we have lost our balance.
Fortunately, balance can be restored. One of the prime purposes of the Wheel of Wisdom Programs is the restoration of balance. Our programs combine ancient with modern wisdom to show the possibility of such balance. We cannot go back to the old ways of the past, we can only bring forth the wisdom we have lost through our ‘modern, scientific, secular and materialistic’ cultural orientation. Our aim is not to discard technological advancements, but to harmonize them with ancient ways we have lost in order
to restore balance.
Human beings are at another evolutionary crossroad, increasingly it appears we have two choices for our future existence: evolution or extinction. We at W.o.W. are optimistic about the future of human beings and W.o.W Programs are designed not only to restore the necessary balance, but to demonstrate and teach methods of evolution.
Bighorn Medicine Wheel National Monument, located in Medicine Wheel Wyoming (sites.coloradocollege.edu. – Bing)
Though we do not refer to the Wheel of Wisdom as a Temple, we do fit right in with stone circles, which have been around all over the world for thousands of years. They were the first ‘Temples’ and power places to worship, honor and learn about the source of life and how to connect to the creative powers of the Universe. They were places where wisdom and knowledge were stored, and 3 (Photo credits below) considered temples of learning. In that way we consider the Wheel of Wisdom such a place, bringing back the use of the Stone Circle as a source of knowledge, wisdom, and connection.
We invite you to come to The Wheel of Wisdom Program; bring a rock from your home for the Wheel; absorb the Wisdom of the Wheel as we teach you through our lectures the basic meanings W.o.W. represents. Then, allow yourself, through your intuitive imagination, to participate so fully in the W.o.W. ritual that you feel its connective power with the Universe, the Earth, and yourself. This way, you can be restored, rebalanced, and perhaps transformed.
The W.o.W. program begins on the second day of the festival, Tuesday, July 30, at the Pyramid, from 2:00-4:30 and continues for a total of five consecutive days. You will receive the most information if you attend all five days, but you may come as many or as few times as you wish. You will learn something different from each day, as we move around the Wheel, teaching you about seven levels of consciousness and ways for you to become the best human being you possibly can be. Additionally, if we have inspired you to explore such transformational possibilities more deeply, you can join the W.o.W. Initiates Program, see the article in the Prophet ‘Dare the Ordeal of Initiation’ for more details.
Photo credit: Magu Sumita
I have an interesting personal relationship with the Big Horn Medicine Wheel, it was my first one that I ever saw. I was 28 and in my first Saturn Return (Saturn returns to the same place it was where we are born, every 28 years, exerting powerful influences, especially if you are not living your purpose.) Anyway I had taken myself on a vision quest where I traveled alone with my dog for two months, camping, exploring the Western USA and finding my purpose as well as my Native American Roots. I had been told that I must go to Medicine Wheel Wyoming and see the ancient Wheel. Luckily when I got there, there was no one else there except me and my dog. I decided to climb the fence surrounding the Wheel and sit in it while the sun set in the West. I had a powerful experience of connection with Great Spirit, The Great Mother and the ancient people of the Wheel. It was the seed from which all my work with Medicine Wheels has grown, I’m profoundly grateful. – Dr. Sally
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