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Honoring the Medicine: The Essential Guide to Native American Healing
 
 
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Honoring the Medicine: The Essential Guide to Native American Healing [Paperback]

Ken Cohen (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Book Description

June 27, 2006
For thousands of years, Native medicine was the only medicine on the North American continent. It is America’s original holistic medicine, a powerful means of healing the body, balancing the emotions, and renewing the spirit. Medicine men and women prescribe prayers, dances, songs, herbal mixtures, counseling, and many other remedies that help not only the individual but the family and the community as well. The goal of healing is both wellness and wisdom.

Written by a master of alternative healing practices, Honoring the Medicine gathers together an unparalleled abundance of information about every aspect of Native American medicine and a healing philosophy that connects each of us with the whole web of life—people, plants, animals, the earth. Inside you will discover

• The power of the Four Winds—the psychological and spiritual qualities that contribute to harmony and health
• Native American Values—including wisdom from the Wolf and the inportance of commitment and cooperation
• The Vision Quest—searching for the Great Spirit’s guidance and life’s true purpose
• Moontime rituals—traditional practices that may be observed by women during menstruation
• Massage techniques, energy therapies, and the need for touch
• The benefits of ancient purification ceremonies, such as the Sweat Lodge
• Tips on finding and gathering healing plants—the wonders of herbs
• The purpose of smudging, fasting, and chanting—and how science confirms their effectiveness

Complete with true stories of miraculous healing, this unique book will benefit everyone who is committed to improving his or her quality of life. “If you have the courage to look within and without,” Kenneth Cohen tells us, “you may find that you also have an indigenous soul.”


From the Hardcover edition.

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Cohen wittily describes an incident in which he sang Pacific Northwest songs to a Cree medicine man--songs of Salish, Snohomish, and Suquamish peoples. "And you are--?" asked the elder. "Jewish," Cohen said, to which the medicine man replied contentedly, "Yes, our traditions are so rich." Whether the elder misunderstood or intentionally embraced the newcomer to his land, Cohen never knew. But the anecdote demonstrates Cohen's habit of drawing upon interpersonal experience as well as research to record traditional Native American healing practices as expertly as he has described, in books including the well-regarded Way of Qigong (1997), Asian traditional healing. The present thoughtful reference provides comprehensive and authoritative information on indigenous American healing traditions and addresses the important issue of how non-Indian people can respectfully learn from their historical forebears in North America. An excellent section on values and principles precedes discussion of such practices as sweat lodges, pipes, and the use of herbs, including tobacco. Extensive appendixes and resource lists supplement the wealth of information in the main text. Patricia Monaghan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“This landmark book is a stunning tour de force. Ken Cohen has crafted a comprehensive yet accessible compilation of the theory and practice of Native American medicine. Honoring the Medicine is the rarest of books.”
—JEFF LEVIN, PH.D., M.P.H.
Author of God, Faith, and Health

“Ken Cohen writes from a place of beauty, truth, and integrity. He inspires us to reconnect with traditional ways for healing the earth and ourselves. [Honoring the Medicine] is a brilliant work.”
—SANDRA INGERMAN
Author of Soul Retrieval

“Anyone wanting insight into the world of Native American healing will be wise to read this remarkable, penetrating work. This is a valuable addition to the canon of healing.”
—LARRY DOSSEY, M.D.
Author of Healing Beyond the Body



From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 464 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books (June 27, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345435133
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345435132
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 3.3 x 11.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 36 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
There are some fluffy 1-2-3 recipe books out there about Native America, and worse-how to become an instant shaman manuals. This is NOT one of those. And if you entertain angry feelings that here is another non Native American ripping off someone else's culture, well, please take a slow deep breath of purifying sage, think some loving thoughts, and set aside your politics and your doubts. Kenneth Cohen has written a beautiful book, that emerges from a place of honoring Indigenous cultures and the Native Americans he has known over his lifetime of seeking, as he says- his "roots". Respect and appreciation for the interconnectedness of life and a wholistic understanding of healing and Spirit. The fact that he associated himself with wise and beloved Elders like Rolling Thunder, Grandmother Twylah Nitsch, and Grandmother Keewaydinoquay says a lot too. He writes with love and tenderness about these Elders, and others, sharing some of their wisdom and spirit. I knew one of the abovementioned Elders very well, now watching over us from the Spirit World, and coming across Mr Cohen's words and references to them, brought a smile to me- as I could tell by the tenderness and care with which he described them, that he had been a good grandson,and had listened well.

The author goes to great detail to clarify some common stereotypes of the Native world, to teach respect and consideration for Native American traditions, Peoples, and the natural world. He furthers understanding of our role as human beings, and how to live in a way that honors and respects everything around us. The tranformative power of the natural world and its relationship to healing. Harmony. Surrrounding subtle energies. The book is something of a blueprint to live in a kinder, more compassionate way, closer to our Mother Earth and with reverence for the past(Ancestors), the present, and the future(our grandchildren who will inherit this world). The plants and animals can survive quite well without us pitiful 2 leggeds, but, we cannot survive without them.

It is a great story of Kenneth Cohen's personal journey. There is something here for everyone. I am certain he put down tobacco and prayed before and during this writing- there is a flow of the work of Spirit here.Thank you for a sensitve sharing of these teachings, and being a bridge between people.

Ahau! Migwech, (thank you)

Sincerely, The STONEGATHERER IN LELAND
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52 of 55 people found the following review helpful
"Honoring the Medicine" August 24, 2003
Format:Hardcover
I have participated in many Native-American circles organized by the author in the Colorado Mountains. These were invaluable, paradigm-expanding experiences, especially for a conventionally trained scientist such as myself. However, as such a scientist, I thirsted for written resources that could supplement the extensive, but often soon forgotten, knowledge imparted by the author in his discussions and demonstrations. This book satiated this thirst.

Given the book shares the author's knowledge accrued through several decades of study and reflects the wisdom of many of the 20th Century's most prominent Elders, it is a must read for those interested in learning about the heart and soul of Native American healing. Although much informative, thought-provoking material was provided on specific healing practices, it is this big-picture, heart-and-soul context that the specifics are place within that is the book's foremost strength. True understanding of any of the specifics would be greatly limited without this overarching mind-body-spirit context. As reflective in all superior books, the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts.

Developing this big-picture context was clearly augmented by the author's extensive in-depth, scholarly knowledge of 1) many other healing traditions, including allopathic, Eastern, and assorted indigenous healing approaches, and 2) diverse spiritual perspectives and practices. Although most alternative-medicine authors have in-depth expertise on their specific subject, relatively few have Kenneth Cohen's broad, integrative perspective that not only expands our healing spectrum, but, more importantly, unifies it. Anyone, such as myself, that is a product of mainstream biomedical thinking will very much appreciate the author's integrative, big-picture viewpoint.

In the appendix, the author discusses the many remarkable elders, such as the legendary Rolling Thunder, who have mentored him over the years, and whose thought, wisdom and influence is reflected throughout the book. You cannot develop a good appreciation of Native American, mind-body-spirit medicine without considering its spiritual components. Because many of these spiritual components were astonishingly outlawed until 1975, about when the author started his studies, in-depth awaremness of Native American healing has been obscured until relatively recently. Through this book, the author has taken this obscured knowledge - not just the superficialities - acquired through oral and experiental transmission to the few and transmuted it to a form readily assimilated into the mass consciousness. It is a considerable achievement.

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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
A truly valuable book February 3, 2004
Format:Hardcover
Once in a long time a person is privileged to read a book that contains wisdom and power on almost every page. This is such a book. The writer, who is not by birth a Native American, has not only studied but lived the philosophy and practice of Native healing. He presents the reader with a multitude of different aspects of Native healing, not least of which is the healing of the spirit and the bases for establishing a truly healthy lifestyle.

I find it presumptuous to attempt to review this book. It contains important lessons about values, spiritual qualities and our connection to the web of life and it reminds us that healing is wellness of the mind and spirit as well as of the body.

If these are important to you, you will find this book truly valuable.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A wonderful book on Native American Tradition and practice.
I sort of stumbled onto a Lakota-style Sweatlodge and was immediately taken in by their healing practices and some sacred beliefs. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Andy K
Healing the landscape too
"Honoring the Medicine" describes Native American healing practices, including hands-on healing, and the moral values Native American healers live by. Read more
Published 5 months ago by 4 Keys
Healing from the inside out
This book alone with many others that I have read from eastern Medicine, has helped to confirm that healing start from the inside out. Read more
Published on November 14, 2009 by stepaheda
Honoring a great trasure
I found this book by lucky accident, "Honoring the Medicine: The Essential Guide to Native American Healing". Read more
Published on September 11, 2009 by Melissa S. Henry
Great information; just hard to read through
Ken Cohen is full of wisdom and knowledge of Native American medicine, which is evident from reading this book. However, it seems to me that writing is not his strength. Read more
Published on July 24, 2009 by Sewing Meiser
wonderful
This book is a neccesity to learn life's truths to connect with creator and live a moral life. It heals your soul. The information is true and unscathed with subjection.
Published on May 22, 2008 by Amy Thomas
Beautifully done
Ken has done a magificent job in Honoring The Medicine. Nothing of this caliber has been done since Vogel's classic on the subject. Read more
Published on November 8, 2007 by Kurt Kaltreider
Honoring the Medicine: sweet book
Honoring the Medicine is an amazing book foro anybody who is interested in Native American healing. The author rich and in-depth experience provides a direct connection and... Read more
Published on June 26, 2007 by Jacob D. Salzer
Honoring the Medicine - by Cohen
I feel that this is one of the best books on the market on Nativer American Spirituality and teaching..Mr. Read more
Published on September 29, 2005 by Phillip A. Rice
Honoring the Medicine : The Essential Guide to Native American Healing...
Hi,

For me it is a great book, if you want to know more about your self and how native americans healed them self and others
Published on July 20, 2005 by Willi Engels
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
pipe ceremony, pipe carrier, ceremonial leader
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Native American, Kenneth Cohen, Great Spirit, Four Winds, Vision Quest, Rolling Thunder, Sweat Lodge, Paleolithic Posture, United States, Northern Plains, Sitting Bull, War Eagle, Cycles of Truth, One Child Woman, Mother Earth, Pacific Northwest, Great Mystery, Spirit World, Twylah Nitsch, West Wind, James Mooney, Way of the Pipe, East Wind, Washington State, Grandma Twylah
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
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