Waboose  is the Spirit Keeper of the North Wind.  Renewal and purity is the Power of Waboose.  The North Wind represents new life enclosed in death or new growth protected in rest.  The Season of Waboose and the North Wind  is Winter. That season can be about the time of year, the time in a person’s life cycle, or the time or phase of an idea.
The animal totem of Waboose is the White Buffalo who gives us the  medicine or lesson of  Prayer and Abundance.

The color totem for the North Wind is White which represents purity and balance.  The time of day represented by the North Direction is Night.

The North Direction on the Medicine Wheel is represented by the element of Earth and watches over people born to the Earth Renewal Moon, the Rest and Cleansing Moon, and the Big Winds Moon.  It is symbolic of the time in our lives when we are the elders with our hair of white and also the time that we are newborns returning back into this world.

The North is the most paradoxical time of the Medicine Wheel. It is the time when things seem to be sleeping.  This apparent dormancy is a time for some of the deepest growth to occur.  It is in the winter when seeds lie frozen within the earth that they take into themselves all of the earth’s energy that allows them to grow in the seasons that follow.  It is in the north that our bodies cannot move as easily as they have in the past or will in the future.  During this time we seem forced to take into ourselves the wisdom of the Spirit that we will use as we continue our journey.

The time of Waboose is a time of slowing down, of apparent restriction, when outward activity definitely diminishes. It is a time of darkness, quiet, and dreams. It is a time when humans are fragile, when their skin is wrinkled and resembles the soil and the face of the Earth Mother herself. It is a time when people tend to reminisce and from their reminiscences share the wisdom they have gained. It is a time of assessing accomplishments and aims and of preparing for the major giveaway of death and of birth. It is a time when many people come to an understanding of their own life, and acceptance of what they have or have not achieved. It can be a time of peace, and a time of power, a time of forgiveness and compassion for all around you. It is a time to give up old patterns, to surrender to the small changes of body and mind in preparation for the major changes that will come.

Waboose is a time of both ending and beginning.  In the winter the earth appears dead, but there is much happening within. The same is true in human life.

The major lesson of Waboose is that of the giveaway. When we are elders, it is our responsibility to give away to the people all of the knowledge that we have gained.  We should tell our families  what we have learned as we have journeyed around the Medicine Wheel of life.

The white buffalo, Waboose, is an animal who gave up everything for the people: meat, hide, bones, and spirit. It is the White Buffalo Woman who gave the pipe to the people.

The power of Waboose is acceptance of life, acceptance of death, and acceptance of the necessity of sharing all that has been given you.

~Mitakuye Oyasin~ We are all related