Honoring the Medicine by Ken Cohen

Author:Ken Cohen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2018-12-03T16:00:00+00:00

Breath is related to speech and prayer. To speak is to combine thoughts or feelings with sacred breath. In the Pawnee language, tsiksu, “throat” or “windpipe,” is the stem of the word for thinking and feeling, -atsiks-. When we think good thoughts and speak good words, we spread blessings into the wind. When the mind is clouded or confused, we exhale pollution. Healing songs sometimes blend specific breathing methods with words and vocables. Wind-honoring songs from diverse tribes include “whooshing” sounds that imitate a howling wind and evoke the wind’s power to dispel impurity. A purification song from the Pacific Northwest is punctuated with exhalations that chase away obstructions to healing. In Philippine psychic healing, a tradition with many parallels to Native American medicine, healers believe that oraciones, “prayers,” that are not puffed away with a strong exhalation will cause power to stagnate in the mouth and rot the teeth.

GRANDFATHER FIRE

The light and warmth of fire—whether from a campfire, a candle, or sunlight—are universal symbols of life energy. Smoke, the visible breath of fire, also represents this power. Methods of using fire include:

Warming the Hands

Some healers prepare for massage therapy by warming their hands over a fire, either an ordinary campfire or a sacred fire built with certain kinds of wood and a specific number of kindling pieces and “fed” with ritual offerings, commonly tobacco. Here, we see another interesting parallel with ancient Chinese medicine. Taoist priests from the Longmen sect prepare for noncontact healing by warming their hands over a ceremonial fire in which have been burned talismans, or fu, pieces of paper covered with geometric patterns and Chinese ideograms that invoke the gods.37

The benefit for the patient is obvious and immediate. Warm hands are comforting, and they enhance relaxation. When they touch the skin, blood vessels dilate, improving circulation and oxygen delivery to the cells. More important, however, warming infuses the hands with the spiritual and life-giving power of fire, enabling the healer to be more effective. Based on the Native principle of “like treats like”—things of a similar nature can influence each other—the healer uses his hands to balance the patient’s fire, his energy of life. James Mooney gives a historical example. Cherokee healers believe that toothaches are caused by an “intruder” identified as a worm that has wrapped itself around the tooth. The healer calls upon the Red Spider of the Sunland, the Blue Spider of the North, the Black Spider of the West, and the White Spider above to let down threads to trap and take up the intruder. The healer then recites a prayer to “Ancient White,” the ritual name for fire. The healer warms his hands over a fire and presses his thumb against the jaw over the aching tooth, transmitting healing power. The healer may also blow a disinfectant herbal tea on the spot.38 Equally sophisticated and beautiful hand-warming rituals are found throughout Indian Country.

Lighting Up

Native healers use their hands to wave sunlight or campfire light into the patient, or they

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