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Example research essay topic: Harper Collins Modern Medicine - 2,132 words

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... dreams is that they were regarded as the experiential signal by which ghosts, mystical powers, and night-goers made their acts of power known to the healing Shaman. A dream was considered as agent through which it indicated the emotional engagement of the dreamer with the mythic work of religious beliefs. This was a sign that the mythical world was in struggle over the life of the individual. The individual dreaming and the Shaman were involved in the mythical world either via dreams and omens, or though the interpretation of the dreams and the application of counter spells and effective use of plants in the context of healing. The Cherokee's believed that dreams were not just imagination, but a true manifestation of reality.

Therefore, the destructive powers of the night-goers could be negated by a Shaman. By doing so, the Shaman could return the illness to its original origin or send it to a different location by invoking the power of the whirlwind or to throw it into the river to be taken elsewhere. Plants were the main source of healing in the Cherokee's healing rites. Once the cause of an illness was identified through dreams studied, it was associated with certain types of plants. These plants where only gathered fresh and in a ritualistic manner. (Drury, p. 139) The healer would approach the plant from a certain manner, circling from right to left while reciting the appropriate prayers. A red or white bead would be placed in the hole from where the plant came from.

Only roots running in an easterly direction or bark from the sun side of the plant was used; those plants struck by lightning were considered to be particularly powerful. (Goodman, p. 216) Once the plants had been gathered, they would be placed in a special sack and taken to the river. The sack would then be placed into the river, if the sack sunk then the remedy was wrong, if it floated the remedy was right. The illness was then expected to enter the sack and the Shaman either gave away or sold it to someone in order to protect himself from the illness. The medicine was then pounded and steeped in cold water, boiled or boiled down for use; sometimes a special arrowhead was placed in the kettle to cut the disease to pieces. (Goodman, p. 221) If the illness was interpreted as cause by the night-goer's invisible arrow, the Shaman would attempt to suck it out of the body.

In this ritual, the sacred tobacco was used by the Shaman during the treatment. Afterwards the tobacco would be smoked in order to keep the night-goers away. Other treatments for illness involved the use of the "sweat lodge" where the appropriate prayers were recited. (Stevens, p. 184) The final stage of the healing process involved going to the water. Here, it is thought that the river would carry away the illness. At a bend in the river, facing east and upstream, the Shaman, acting as "priest" would address the sacred powers of the water. The sick then entered the water seven times while the Shaman rehearsed a prayer to the river.

Moving the eastern hemisphere, the Japanese Shaman's are known to have the ability to enter a trance like state in order to seek advice from the spirit world. The mode of the Shaman's trance fall under three broad headings: " (1) ecstatic, in which the Shaman's spirit leaves his body, rises, flies, and finally meets gods or spirits in the highest heavens; (2) possession, in which gods or spirits enter the Shaman's body and possess it; and (3) dreamlike, in which gods or spirits meet the Shaman's spirit in the same dimension, that is, the Shaman's spirit remains in his body and has an experience with the supernatural being through visual, optical, auditory, and / or physical hallucinations. " (Roth, p. 187) The main characteristic of the Japanese Shaman is that a particular Shaman may have a variety of trance experiences depending on the kind of Shaman he is, his skill, and his age. (Oesterreich, p. 125) In a study conducted by Kho Nishimura, she studied the effects of Shamanism v. modern medicine on psychological! illnesses.

In her research, she conducted numerous case studies and discusses the results. Nishimura conducted her study in the area of Southern Aomori Prefecture, this is an area of substantial industrial growth and an abundant practicing Shamans. She studies 300 patients in the mental ward of the public general hospital, a main center for the treatment of psychological disorders, about 80 % had visited Shamans seeking celestial cures, and of these 90 % had done so before coming to the medical center for the first time. (Keeney, p. 241) It was also found that more women than men relied on Shamans. More than 85 % of men and women in their twenties and thirties relied on Shamans, whereas the figure for patients over 60 was only 60 %. (Keeney, p. 246) The first case study involved a 35 year old woman who had a forced abortion and subsequently suffered lethargy, irritation, and insomnia.

She first sought help from a Shaman, the Shaman told her that she was possessed by the fox, and an exorcism was conducted. This diagnosis frightened her and made her insomnia worse. She then sought out a medium who said she was suffering from her abortion that makes you ill and to seek help in the medical clinic. The women took the mediums advice and sought medical advice and soon recovered.

In this case, modern medicine has been incorporated into Shamanistic treatment as one of its subtypes. In another study, a forty-four year old house wife who contracted Puerperal fever was concerned, so she visited a Shaman for religious intervention. (Keeney, p. 250) The Shaman explained her condition to her as a possession of a past relative, and advised her to make offerings to the ancestral spirit and visit temples and shrines. She took the Shamans advice and began praying to the spirits; soon she began to hear the spirits talk to her. Soon the messages began to hinder her ability to sleep and function properly. The woman soon sought the advice of a doctor who treated her for hysteria.

Once admitted, she began to recover. After her release she told the Shamans of her experiences with the spirits and the conversations with them. The Shamans advised her that she had been chosen by divine powers to become a Shaman and help other. She soon started to practice and remained talking to the spirits; at times her possession takes the form of a neurotic form of a split personality.

Several times however she has not been able to regain control, and had to seek medical consultation. (Keeney, p. 261) Another case study involving a man who was suffering from Schizophrenia, he had been working for a company for years, when the two main unions came into conflict. The union which he belonged to turned out to be the weaker of the two. Soon, he was plagued by a sense of isolation at work. He then developed delusions of persecution and hearing voices of his colleagues criticizing him and his superiors aligning themselves with those who were against him. He even reported that these voices he heard talked to his wife in efforts to get her to divorce him. This caused him to developed delusions of jealousy.

His wife believed that he had been possessed by the spirit of the fox and sought out a Shaman to cure him. After consulting many Shamans with no luck, they went to an older male Shaman known as "the servant of the Inari god." (Keeney, p. 91) During the initial healing process, the man began to howl and run on all fours. Immediately the Shaman said that it was the fox making its presence known in the body. After many chants and prayers the man collapsed on the floor and regained his composure once again. At this point everyone believed he had been healed. Once he returned to work, it was soon realized that the conditions had not improved.

He began to get depressed and believed he was becoming possessed again. This time his boss had him seek the advice of a medical doctor. Soon he was institutionalized, but his state of mind began to deteriorate. The doctor in charge diagnosed him as having a paranoid type of schizophrenia with a tendency toward delusions of possession and visual hallucinations.

Treatment with drugs was prescribed. After a year and half his conditioned worsened and he would avoid contact with all people. Here it must be stated that the more he was viewed as pathological, the more tendency he showed toward alienation from society, and the more serious it became in terms of its content as a disease. (Keeney, p. 95) In this last case study, it compared the different approaches to the treatment of persons in mental crisis. The scientific approach labels the person a mental patient, and treats him in isolation from the community. The Shamanistic approach considers him a member of the community. These two different means of treatment may be the reason why Shamanism is so prevalent in Japan today. (Palmer, p. 167) There is a lot to be learned from the Shamanistic ways that modern medicine has yet to understand.

The Shamans place a lot of emphasis on the mind and the unknown aspects of it, perhaps once western medicine chooses to study why one dreams and the significance of life itself can we then understand our true potential. The Shamans may seem rudimentary at times, as they are portrayed scurrying through the scrubs of high in the mountains. But they have learned what modern medicine has chosen to ignore, that is, for every force their is an equal and opposite force. All Shamans know that if the cause of an illness found here, so is its cure. (Walsh, p. 311) Throughout the world there are many names for a spiritual healer, and many different ways for which they heal. One ancient religion in the East, Taoism, teaches us that everything on earth has a life force known to them as "chi." The Taoist believes that one can gain more "chi" by eating everything; they even believe that they can inhale "Chi" in the atmosphere. Taoist practice ways to gain "chi" as well as use it efficiently. (Temkin, p. 78) It has been known to the Taoist for centuries that in order to maintain good health, the body must maintain a state of equilibrium.

This is done by managing one's "Chi" efficiently. If a person's "Chi" is out of balance it is almost certain that he / she will become sick. Thus, to perform an act of exorcism for Taoist is to manage a persons chi, so that it becomes balanced. (Temkin, p. 90) As it is evident from the above research, Shamanism has a lot of forms, and Shamans deploy various practices in order to help people. Although this help seems to be unproven to various medical experts, Shamanism still exists today in different parts of the world. Exorcism, or spiritual healing, is one of the most common practices that Shamans use in order to help possessed people, and this practice is also performed differently across the globe. Words Count: 3, 921.

Bibliography: Bourguignon, E. Religion, Altered States of Consciousness, and Social Change. Ohio State University Press, 1993. Door, G. Shaman's Path: Healing, Personal Growth and Empowerment. Harper Collins, 1988.

Drury, N. The Elements of Shamanism, Rockport, 1993. Goodman, F. Where the Spirits Ride the Wind: Trance Journeys and other Ecstatic Experiences. Indiana University Press, 1990. Halifax, J.

Shamanic Voices: A Survey of Visionary Narratives E. P. Dutton, 1979. Harper, M. The Way of the Shaman. Harper Collins, 1990.

Keeney, B. Shaking out the Spirits: A Psychotherapists Entry into the Healing Mysteries of Global Shamanism. Station Hill Press, 1994. Less, I. M. , Ecstatic Religion: A Study of shamanism and spirit possession, 2 nd ed. , Routledge, 1995. Oesterreich, T.

K. Possession: Demoniacal and others, among primitive races, in Antiquity, the middle Ages, and Modern Times. Kegan Paul, Turner & Co. , 1990. Palmer, C. Shaman Woman, Harper Perennial, 1982. Plotkin, M.

Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice. Penguin Books, 1993. Roth, G. Maps to Ecstasy: Teachings of an Urban Shaman. Notaraj, 1989. Stevens, J.

Secrets of Shamanism. Avon Books, 1988. Stanley A. , 'Spirit Possession as Illness in a North Indian Village', J. Middleton (ed. ), Magic, Witchcraft and Curing. The Natural History Press, 1967. Temkin, O.

The Falling Sickness. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994. Walker, S. Ceremonial Spirit Possession in Africa and Afro- America.

Brill, 1972. Walsh, R. The Spirit of Shamanism. Perigee, 1990.


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Research essay sample on Harper Collins Modern Medicine

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