Andrew Weil's "On Integrative Medicine and the Nature of Reality"
excerpt from Voices of Integrative Medicine: Conversations and Encounters ed. Bonnie Horrigan
When Dr. Andrew Weil was investigating Native American Shamanism in the 1970’s, he found their word for medicine had a much larger meaning than our word for medicine:
When they talked about medicine men, medicine women, medicine place, medicine people, it was a much bigger concept that embraced magic and religion, as well as what we mean by medicine. I call it Medicine with a capital “M,” and I think that our culture desperately needs it. (252)
Dr. Weil's opinion is that our medicine and culture have disowned magic, which is regarded as antiscientific and antirational. Magic, for Weil, is about “the relationship between internal and external reality and how [anyone] can change or modify external reality with internal operations [...] Being able to instill or awaken in patients a sense that they can get better is an example of "practical magic": change on the level of consciousness that can translate into physiological reality (252)
Showing posts with label Voices of Integrative Medicine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Voices of Integrative Medicine. Show all posts
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Friday, 15 July 2011
The Blank Canvas: a Place of Revelation
Rachel Naomi Remen's "Kitchen Table Wisdom: A Conversation that Heals"
excerpt from Voices of Integrative Medicine: Conversations and Encounters ed. Bonnie J. Horrigan
As a physician, I was trained to believe that the unknown is an emergency, like a hemorrhage. It requires action. You need to convert the unknown to the known as quickly and efficiently and cost effectively as possible. But I’ve learned that the unknown does not require action—it requires our attention. Often, it is the unknown, the Mystery in life, that sustains and strengthens us. My colleague taught me to relate to the unknown as an artist does, with patience. For the artist, the unknown is a blank canvas. It’s a place of revelation. Not only can we witness Mystery; in some profound way we are Mystery. Our lives may not be bounded by our history and many go on longer than we dare dream. If life itself is not fully defined by science, perhaps we too may be more than science would have us believe. (132)
excerpt from Voices of Integrative Medicine: Conversations and Encounters ed. Bonnie J. Horrigan
As a physician, I was trained to believe that the unknown is an emergency, like a hemorrhage. It requires action. You need to convert the unknown to the known as quickly and efficiently and cost effectively as possible. But I’ve learned that the unknown does not require action—it requires our attention. Often, it is the unknown, the Mystery in life, that sustains and strengthens us. My colleague taught me to relate to the unknown as an artist does, with patience. For the artist, the unknown is a blank canvas. It’s a place of revelation. Not only can we witness Mystery; in some profound way we are Mystery. Our lives may not be bounded by our history and many go on longer than we dare dream. If life itself is not fully defined by science, perhaps we too may be more than science would have us believe. (132)
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