True healing is a commitment to the laws of Nature, the mystery of Spirit and the miracle of Love. 

Jewell, plant spirit medicine healer

Cynthia's Journal:

The West side of the Wheel is also known as the Goes-Within-Place, of Healers and healing, the Raven and the Bear, dusk, Autumn, the senses, the body, Earth, dreams and intuition. All these things work together. The West is also called the Place of Death and Rebirth.  Not every healing results in a cure for the body.  It is as honorable to die as it is to be born.  Healing the heart, the mind and the spirit before the death of the body is equally important. The surge in demand for more practioners who can treat the whole person, rather than an isolated part, is one of the reasons why we are offering this online Journey around the Wisdom Wheel.  

Some healers are specialists.  Here's a partial list of expert healers and their categories;

Surgeons tend to the physical aspects.

Psychologists specialize in emotional problems.

Psychiatrists treat the mentally ill.

Priests, nuns, reverends, mullahs, pastors & spiritual directors look after spiritual matters.

Some healings need to include more than one category and likewise some healers are trained to treat the whole person and work across complimentary categories of expertise.  Shamans come from this kind of tradition.  Before organized religion, the shamans of various indigenous tribes fulfilled many of these roles simultaneously; sewing wounds, setting bones, curing the heartsick, treating the ‘touched’ (mentally ill) and tending to the spiritual needs of the people. They were often artists, singers, dancers and musicians as well who used everything from the vibratory medicine of sound waves to the trance-inducing melodies of drum beats, plants and dance rituals.  Their ceremonies were appropriate to their people and drew from their particular creation stories and shared symbolism.

There has been a resurgence in shamanic practices.  Many people have gone to weekend workshops to find their power animal and do a shamanic Journey into the Underworld.  But working on the edge of psychosis like a real shaman does requires great skill and stamina, years of training and ongoing oversight by a reputable mentor to be safe.  The grounding and centering orientation of tools like the Wheel should be firmly in place before dabbling with shamanism. 

Over the course of the one thousand days, you will learn about healers whose personal Journeys are examples of how to integrate your self and your medicine.  Among the recommended readings are books by people like Louis Mehl-Madronna, M.D. who wrote Coyote Medicine.  He shares a wrenchingly honest story about his disenchantment with the modern medical establishment and his search for alternative remedies and a holistic approach. He eventually learned these things from relatives and medicine people on the reservation so he could combine the best of both worlds. 

You’re invited to get involved, in the cataloging of information about each Law, by recording any recommended new resources in the blog (web log) specific to that Law.  This will continue to add to our research regarding the results people get when they live by the Laws of the Universe.