My spirituality came to me at a very young age. Spending my youth in the rural mountains of Northern California I was able to spend many days pondering how nature works. In high school and college I was fascinated by natural science, more specifically the interrelatedness of all creatures in an eco-system. Through scientific study and questioning came an understanding and a foundation for my spirituality. In college I took an American Science course that focused on Native American Indian's. It was in this course that I found that the study of nature and the connectedness of all was a major piece of Native American philosophy. Native Americans see everything as related to another and thus everything is sacred. I found myself realizing that my years studying nature on my own gave me the same foundation as a Native American child. My study on Native American Spirituality has lasted long since that course and is my main focus of study to this day.

Fundamental to every Native American are the four directions, each having a color represented with it, East - red, South - yellow, West - black, and North - white. Each direction and color has meaning. East is the place of enlightenment and new beginnings, symbolizing birth. South is the place for growth, symbolizing adolescence. West is the direction from which the rains come nourishing mother earth and giving us wisdom, symbolizing adulthood. North is the direction the cold winds blow, cleansing mother earth, symbolizing death. Each of the four directions is integral in our existence, they form the circle of life. The meanings of the directions come to us at several points in our lives. Each has a message or teaching for us to learn.

The circle formed by the four directions is part of the Native American Medicine Wheel, which takes the circle and places a line down the center from North to South and From West to East. The medicine wheel teaches us that all life is connected and related. Each animal, plant, bacteria and rock is affected by something else. Nowhere is this more apparent than in a natural reef aquarium. In my aquarium I am constantly seeking to balance life by balancing the number of organisms in there. To have a successful reef aquarium you must study the complete biological cycle. You have to understand that the food you feed the fish comes back as toxic waste. If you do not have the right 'critters' in there you will quickly poison your fish. We aquarists have to know that there are microorganisms that take the ammonia from the fish waste and break it into smaller particles that are consumed by yet another microorganism who digests that waste. The second microorganisms waste is not toxic to the fish and is essential to the health of the aquarium. If you do not balance the number of fish with the number of microorganisms you cannot have a healthy tank because one cannot exist with out the other, and the actions of one directly affect the tank as a whole.

The Native American Culture applies this understanding to every part of their life. They have understood this for centuries. It is why they offer tobacco and prayers to anything the kill, collect, or move. It is important to the Native American mind that one ask permission of the animal, plant, rock or any other object before affecting that being. You may be asking, "How do you ask permission from a weed, or a ROCK?" It's simple, you just ask. Either out loud or in your mind. "How will I know what the answer is?" you might wonder. Well, you have to listen. If you listen, you will hear the answer. It will be in a voice that is familiar to you. Charlie Knight, a Native American Elder, Ute, was interviewed for the book Wisdom Keepers, by Steve Wall and Harvey Arden. He gives a great story about the little voice inside each of us.

"'When Charlie was a boy he went up Sleeping Ute Mountain to pray and ask God for a song. Charlie climbed a long time and got tired, went to sleep. Then God comes in to Charlie's dream. He sings Charlie's song. When Charlie wakes up, he remembers the song. Little person helps him remember. Little person stays inside Charlie. Always there. Even now' He taps his chest with his index finger. 'In here.'"(Wisdom Keepers, Beyond Words Publishing, Inc. 1990, p.16-17)

The little person in each of us is there to guide us. The little person inside is our spirit guide, the first of many for some. Spirit guides come in many forms. It can be as simple as the voice in your head (or heart). It can be your gut feeling or intuition. A spirit guide can also speak to us through our friend's advice (have you ever said something to some one and thought 'How did I come up with that?'). Spirit guides can also come from the wisdom and spirit of some one close to us that have crossed over to the spirit world. Spirit guide can also come to us by way of the animals that come in to our lives. Those that know me, know the bond between BiJae and me is very strong. He is an excellent example of a spirit guide. He has guided me in my life for the past eleven years.

In Native American Spirituality, each animal has a story, meaning, or lesson behind it. Coyote for example is the trickster. He teaches us not to get too caught up in the seriousness in this life. He walks close to us when we are tripping ourselves up. Has coyote been near you recently? Snake symbolizes transmutation and healing. Do recall the universal medical symbol? It's two snakes wound around a staff. Humming bird has the ability to fly in any direction. What does this mean to you? If an animal comes to you on your walk of life, I encourage you to find what the animal is telling you. I am writing these pages to share with you what these animals mean to me as I have learned through my studies. I hope they offer you an understanding of the message that the animal is trying to share with you.