Shamanism or science? (1/10)

The interconnection of the three organismic levels, metabolism, morphology, and biogeography, can now be amplified into a multipart architecture, introducing plant bioactivity through ethnobotany-oriented descriptions. Only via such an integrative model, the diverse organismic levels can be connected within a more holistic, realistic scheme. Construction of qualitative and quantitative models via evolutionarily conceived implantation into dahlgrenograms and Sporne indices, allows ethnobotany to acquire predictive validity. The coherence of such systems was demonstrated by comparison of the vast ethnobotanical Brazilian database by Pio Correa with relatively very minute databases referring to three Amazonian Indian societies.  (+info)

What we can learn from shamanic healing: brief psychotherapy with Latino immigrant clients. (2/10)

The author, a medical anthropologist and licensed psychotherapist, draws on a database of 700 Latino immigrant families whom she has treated to demonstrate concepts and techniques of psychotherapeutic intervention that are derived from shamanic roots in the immigrant's original culture. Congruences may exist between the shamanic techniques of the coastal and Amazonian regions of Peru and 3 Western psychotherapy techniques-hypnosis, behavior modification, and cognitive restructuring. By using historic links with Hispanic culture and the techniques discussed in the commentary, psychotherapists can acquire cultural competence that will enable them to effectively reduce mental illness symptoms presented by US Latino immigrants in clinical practice.  (+info)

Complementary therapy for addiction: "drumming out drugs". (3/10)

OBJECTIVES: This article examines drumming activities as complementary addiction treatments and discusses their reported effects. METHODS: I observed drumming circles for substance abuse (as a participant), interviewed counselors and Internet mailing list participants, initiated a pilot program, and reviewed literature on the effects of drumming. RESULTS: Research reviews indicate that drumming enhances recovery through inducing relaxation and enhancing theta-wave production and brain-wave synchronization. Drumming produces pleasurable experiences, enhanced awareness of preconscious dynamics, release of emotional trauma, and reintegration of self. Drumming alleviates self-centeredness, isolation, and alienation, creating a sense of connectedness with self and others. Drumming provides a secular approach to accessing a higher power and applying spiritual perspectives. CONCLUSIONS: Drumming circles have applications as complementary addiction therapy, particularly for repeated relapse and when other counseling modalities have failed.  (+info)

Traditional medicinal plant use in Loja province, Southern Ecuador. (4/10)

This paper examines the traditional use of medicinal plants in Loja province, Southern Ecuador.Two hundred fifteen plant species were collected, identified and their vernacular names and traditional uses recorded. This number of species indicates that the healers, market vendors and members of the public interviewed still have a very high knowledge of plants in their surroundings, which can be seen as a reflection of the knowledge of the population in general. However, the area represents only an outlier of the larger Northern Peruvian cultural area, where more than 500 species of plants are used medicinally, indicating that in Ecuador much of the original plant knowledge has already been lost.Most plant species registered are only used medicinally, and only a few species have any other use (construction, fodder, food). The highest number of species is used for the treatment of "magical" (psychosomatic) ailments (39 species), followed by respiratory disorders (34), problems of the urinary tract (28), Fever/Malaria (25), Rheumatism (23) and nervous system problems (20).  (+info)

Substances, relationships and the omnipresence of the body: an overview of Asheninka ethnomedicine (Western Amazonia). (5/10)

Indigenous Amazonian ethnomedicine usually relies on numerous forms of healing, exercised by both specialists and non-specialists. Such is the case among the "Asheninka del Ucayali" (Arawak from the Peru-Brazil border). This paper attempts to elicit the underlying consistencies of their manifold, often contradictory practices and statements.It draws on ethnographic data gathered between 1997 and 2000, and is essentially based on my own interviews and participant observation. Concerning some specific points these data are also compared with ethnobotanical findings, to highlight significant peculiarities of the Asheninka approach.The first question is about the nature of a "good medicine". When the Asheninka borrow botanical knowledge from another ethnic group and comment the fact, the contrast between indigenous self-assessments and objective ethnobotanical measurements points out a crucial difference: While the Western approach focuses essentially on chemical effectiveness of the plants themselves, Asheninka people pay much more attention to relational aspects.The relational dimension also involves the plants themselves, as a sort of person. The point has implications in Asheninka shamanism and herbalism. A shaman does not necessarily need to be a good botanist. His main concern is managing a network of personal relationships involving all kinds of living beings. This network is supposed to be the mainspring of illness - a belief shared by both shamans and ordinary people.However, most ordinary people have detailed herbal knowledge. In fact, this everyday herbalism amounts to an alternative explanatory model. Such a coexistence of two contrasting explanatory systems is frequent in Amazonia. Among the Asheninka, nevertheless, the underlying hierarchy is clear: the herbal, apparently more materialistic, approach is embedded in the shamanic, plainly relational, model.  (+info)

Disease concepts and treatment by tribal healers of an Amazonian forest culture. (6/10)

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Medicine's missing dimension. (7/10)

In medicine we tend to restrict practice to using a purely intellectual understanding grounded in science to conceptualize patients and their illnesses. This approach is radically different from the experientially rich healing practices found throughout the world that presumably date to the beginning of humanity. Shamanistic healing is often typified as involving magical thinking and communication with beings other than human. These aspects of traditional healing are difficult to merge with science, the backbone of our medical practice. However, we can also describe traditional healing as meeting patients beyond the conventional self and beyond conceptual filters to directly face sickness and death in a larger context. There are a variety of traditions for learning to live our lives in this larger context, including contemplative religious practices and secular mindfulness practice. Although self discipline, effort and courage are likely to be required to take these paths, they can transform the practice of medicine into a richer experience. Using Zen Buddhism as an example of a contemplative spiritual approach, I will explore how it is possible to preserve a respectful relationship to science while engaging in healing as what the African Bushmen called "a life thing, a death thing".  (+info)

Healing in the Sami North. (8/10)

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