Many different forms of medicine are currently practiced in the world. In fact, as our text states, “in all cultures, some people have become recognized as having special abilities to treat and diagnose health problems.” (Miller 107) Without argument, phytomedicinal and supernatural healers are two forms of medical treatment that have been around for longer than any other, regardless of culture. It has been estimated that shamanism has been practiced for over ten thousand years (Tyson 3). Native American and Celtic healers are often known as shamans.
Shamanism has always been an interest of mine, mainly in the Native American and Celtic Irish forms of medicine. Native Americans as well as Celtics have always held a certain mystique that is worthy of great exploration. From animal spirit guides that aide in healing to the shamans that are often the “go-to” men of the Native American and Celtic communities, the shamanistic tradition of medicine is one that has been admired and practiced by many that do not share the same ethnicity as theses traditional healers. Although the use of animal spirit guides is often ridiculed, as are the sacred spiritual journeys and conversations that these magnificent healers take, there are many unexplainable events that lend credence to the practices and abilities of the Shamans of the Native American culture.
The Irish Celtic culture also utilizes shamans, as well as many phytomedicinal methods for healing their sick. Although information on the shamans of the Irish Celtic culture is harder to find, shamans are just as prevalent in medicine of the Irish Celtic culture as they are in the Native American culture.
Regardless of the specific culture, cross-cultural evidence indicates some common c...
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...n cultures. Regardless of the differences or similarities, the focus of the shaman, of any culture, is to heal the sick and guide the lost. Regardless of stigma or other difficulty, the shamans of any culture often put their own well-being and safety aside to help others. Ironically, the very act of healing that is criticized when it presents in the form of a shaman is welcomed when presented in the form of a medical doctor.
Works Cited
Citations
Cunningham, Scott. Earth, air, fire &water. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1993. Print.
Miller, Barbara. Cultural Anthropology in a globalizing world. Prentice Hall: Boston, 2010. Print.
Roderick, Timothy. The once unknown familiar: shamanic paths. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1994. Print.
Tyson, Donald. Soul flight. Llewellyn:Woodbury, 2007. Print.
Wolfe, Amber. In the shadow of the shaman. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1993. Print.
Further, prayer and medicine interplay to paint a classical image of the Native’s creed, yet, for many obsolete or preposterous existences of the shaman. To re-install beliefs present in the world for thousands of years, but have been disappearing, writers such as Neidhardt introduce the element of the
Mathews, Holly F. "Introduction: A Regional Approach and Multidisciplinary Persepctive." Herbal and Magical Medicine: Traditional Healing Today. Ed. James Kirkland, Holly F. Mathews, C. W. Sullivan, III, and Karen Baldwin. Durham: Duke UP, 1992. 1-13. Print.
In Cherokee medicine, it is believed that councils of animals created diseases in order to avenge the loss of their families and living spaces. The plants, being sympathetic to humans, decided to each furnish a cure for these diseases. It is believed that the spirit of the plant will tell a sick person which one to use to cure his illness.
pp. 41-84. Pine Forge Press, Thousand Oaks, Calif. Pigg, Stacy Leigh. (1997) "Found in Most Traditional Societies: Traditional Medical Practitioners between Culture and Development.”
The Hmong culture is evidence that health worlds exist. Health worlds exist in which health is understood in terms of its social and religious context (SITE BOOK). Spiritual beliefs in the Hmong culture are strongly connected to their view and description of health and illness (SITE 6). Illness in the Hmong culture is believed to be caused by evil spirits, a curse from an unhappy ancestor, or a separation of the soul from the body (California Department of Health Services, 2004). Paja Thao, the shaman in “The Split Horn” emphasizes his belief that a soul can separate from its body and the failure to return back to the body is a sign that the individual will become ill. Like the Chinese concept of ‘Ying and Yang’, Hmong people believe that the balance between the body and soul determines perfect health. Paja Thao believes that a body is attached to seven souls, and when there is a loss in a soul, illness occurs. In contrast to this holistic concept that the Hmong’s believe in, the Western culture is not able to predict when illnesses will occur. Instead, the dominant biomedical model of health focuses on preventing depression through a healthy life style, such as exercise and nutrition
A spiritual ritual would be performed while the ill received medicine. A spiritual ritual would be performed to rid the ill of bad spirits and cleanse the spirit. Native Americans believed that a person became ill when a bad spirit entered the body. It is the shaman’s job to try to purify the ill’s spirit. Every tribe across the nation has a shaman. A shaman or medicine man/woman would perform this ritual. A shaman uses the spiritual world to help heal the sick. Shaman were highly regarded as chiefs and tribal spiritual leaders. Shaman were often born into a family with many generations of shaman. Shamans who were not born into, they had visons that lead them to study medicine. Being the shaman was a full-time job. In return of their services to the tribe, the tribe would provide food, shelter, and any assistance needed to the shaman.
No doubt about their effectiveness when the treatments are involved with the summoning of the other spirit to discharge the disease. Besides, traditional treatment which usually involve with the herbal usage also helps a lot in curing the disease when it is conducted by the experts. In my experience, my brother had once met with the famous shaman who conducted an effective technique to recover him from the chickenpox disease. The procedure, however, was so queer when the shaman reads something implicit before he spill my brother with the water in his mouth. Exactly, I believe that this process was involved with the tiny spirit summoned by the shaman to treat my elder brother. Eventually, the chickenpox was gradually cured by that weird traditional medical treatment. I do trust a bit in this way of treatment, but I put my entire trust to the today’s medical healing. I concur with the author’s point that present medical surrounding provides more recovering alternatives than ever for the sick person. I believe that today’s scientists have done a lot of homework to improve the effectiveness of sophisticated technologies that we possess in this era. The writer’s point about the notion of singing that can provide a person to wellness ,however, do not attract my belief at all as I really sure that the therapy practiced by the Navajo’s
Throughout time, mankind has persistently been seeking ways to maintain their health and to cure those that had not been so fortunate in that task. Just about everything has been experimented with as a cure for some type of illness whether physical, spiritual or mental. There has always been evidence of spiritual healing and it will continue to be an important part of any healing process, large or small. In particular, the roots of Native American Medicine men (often a woman in some cultures) may be traced back to ancient times referred to as Shaman. A special type of healer used by the Indians is referred to as a medicine man (comes from the French word medecin, meaning doctor).
In the US., the therapeutic group seldom has approaches to correspond with individuals of societies so drastically unique in relation to standard American society; even a great interpreter will think that it troublesome deciphering ideas between the two separate societies' reality ideas. American specialists, not at all like Hmong shamans, regularly physically touch and cut into the collections of their patients and utilize an assortment of capable medications and meds.
Ross defines and differentiates between the terms healing and curing. She recognizes the fact that healing and curing are very intertwined and it can be hard to distinguish between the two terms. There are differences between the definitions in scholarly and general settings. She references an ethnographic study of healing versus curing conducted by anthropologists Andrew Strathern and Pamela Stewart in 1999 with native groups in New Guinea. The results of the study looked at how energy used by the different types of tribal healers to either cure or heal a patient. Eastern medicine focuses on how energy interacts with the healing process in connection within the mind. Whereas Western medicine is focused on the mind and the body separately. The practice is considered a holistic approach to finding cures. According to Ross (2013), healing is more a therapeutic process targeting the whole body and specific illness including emotional, mental, and social aspects in the treatment. The act of curing is a pragmatic approach that focuses on removing the problem all together. The life experiences of a person playing into how well certain treatments will heal or cure what is ailing them. These aspects can not be defined with textbook definitions. The interaction that the healing process has with energy is a variable in the success rate. Uncontrolled emotions can have a greater impact on the inside the body than a person can realize. The exploration of energy interaction within the body can be used for greater analysis of health care systems. (21-22). Are Western healthcare facilities purposely “curing” patients just so that they return are few years later? Is Western Medicine built upon a negative feedback loop? The terminolo...
The two Hmong cultural values that were demonstrated by the Lee family are portrayed by their belief and view about the cause and method of cure for an illness. The Lee family comes from a culture that believes in holistic healing. They have an animalistic view about health and medicine. For instance an epileptic is seen as someone who has been chosen to be a healer. Most Hmong epileptic are shamans, therefore even though the Lee’s wish that their daughter’s illness will be cured, they also have a mixture of pride because “although shamanism is an arduous calling that require years of training with a master in order to learn the ritual techniques and chants, it confers an enormous amount of social status in the community and publicly marks the triv neeh as a person of high moral character since a healing spirit will never choose a no account host” (Fadiman,1997, p.21). It is not surprising that their view about health is reflected mostly in their traditional belief in the causes and the cure of an illness. For i...
Kleinman, A. 1980. Patients and Healers in the Context of Culture: An Exploration of the Borderland between Anthropology, Medicine, and Psychiatry. University of California Press.
Their convictions were not comprehended and the intricacy of their religion was not seen. This was somewhat the aftereffect of not having a composed arrangement of rules. In the place of ministers and pastors were shaman and medicine men. These men were sometimes said to speak with the divine beings. They were astute and experienced and they delighted in a larger amount of status among their groups. They had essential parts in choices, functions, and customs. "The culture, values and traditions of native people amount to more than crafts and carvings. Their respect for the wisdom of their elders, their concept of family responsibilities extending beyond the nuclear family to embrace a whole village, their respect for the environment, their willingness to share - all of these values persist within their own culture even though they have been under unremitting pressure to abandon them(Berger, paragraph
Certain religious groups reject westernized medicine, like the Amish. Yet, for the most part most religions allow their medicinal practices to work in tandem with westernized medicine. For example, First Nations people tend to have a very holistic view when it comes to their surroundings and medicine. Aboriginal traditional approaches to health and wellness include the use of sacred herbs like sage or tobacco and traditional healers/medicine (pg. 5, Singh, 2009). However, they will not reject help from professionally trained doctors and medical staff. Much like other religions, First Nations put a strong emphasis on family/community. Consensus or decision-making is fairly common for them. A practitioner or medical staff member must remember to respect ceremonial objects such as tobacco or traditional blankets, include immediate family members when making a treatment decision, and to accommodate spiritual practices. Normally, organ donation is accepted UNLESS the organ is being removed from someone who is not deceased. First Nations’ believe that their bo...
When looking at ‘The Dark Side of the Shaman” Brown talk of the Aguaruna, specifically a middle-aged Shaman named Yankush, who when kinfolk or friends fall sick, he then attempts to find the source of the affliction and then , if possible, removes the source of the ailment from the patient’s body. The Aguaruna believe, that life-threatening illness is caused by sorcerers. In “The sound of rushing water” Harner suggest that within Jivaro reality, reality state can only be achieved by the consumption of the hallucinogenic drink natema. The Jivaro believe that baseline life is “a lie” or perceptual illusion. The Jivaro says, that the true antecedent forces that dictate reality are supernatural and can only be observed or altered with the aid of hallucinogenic drugs. These above mentioned cultures embody true traditional shamanism. To compare traditional shamans to pseudo-shamans of contemporary western culture, I would say they share similarities in the mere sense that both