The Native American medicine wheel symbolizes life's cycles. 

Each cycle of life is honored in a sacred way, giving us a way to see the value of each step of our path and a new understanding of our growth patterns. The medicine wheel is a circle of lessons each person must pass through life to complete their journey. Physical life begins at birth, which is the south direction of the hoop. We will all travel on the circle from the South -North path until we reach the place of the elder, which is the North.  As we grow, we change like the seasons, passing through the sections of the circle, learning from each.