According to Webster’s Dictionary alternative
medicine, is defined in the modern western world as, a practice that
encompasses any healing practice “that does not fall within the realm of
conventional medicine.
Notice that this is extremely jingoistic. The definition automatically implies
that “alternative” is not “conventional”. Conventional, is defined as what is
accepted- by whom? Who decides what is conventional and what is alternative?
In China, palm reading, herbs, phrenology, and meditation, are conventional and
the west defines it as “alternative”. It is my contention that this is an
arbitrary term that has grown to be accepted by the west as truth. This article
discusses many types of medicine and healing that are useful and beneficial and
are not part of the accepted medical community.
Let us examine the definition of conventional medicine. According to the Oxford
Dictionary, conventional medicine is:
Medicine as practiced by holders of M.D. (medical doctor) or D.O. (doctor of
osteopathy) degrees and by their allied health professionals, such as physical
therapists, psychologists, and registered nurses. Other terms for conventional
medicine include allopathy and allopathic medicine; Western medicine,
mainstream medicine, orthodox medicine, and regular medicine and bio-medicine.
So, from this definition we see that a treatment is alternative, dare I say,
UN-conventional, if it is not practiced by an individual who fits the above
definition. Therefore, it is subjective, and changing. To illustrate this point
not to far in the past an Osteopathic doctor, or chiropractor, were considered
alternative, or un-conventional.
Some examples of Alternative Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) includes herbs, massage, acupuncture,
and dietary therapy. These practices are considered conventional in the eastern
world. Acupuncture, which has a moderate following, even in the west it is
considered by the World Health Organization to be:
…showing efficacy of acupuncture in adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea
and vomiting and in postoperative dental pain. There are other situations such
as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow,
fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain, carpal tunnel
syndrome, and asthma, in which acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct
treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive
management program.
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is based on the belief that a person can be healed by ingesting a
substance that produces the same symptoms in a healthy person using a process
called serial dilution. Practitioners also alternate between this and
psychological treatment to assist the patient.
Yoga
One of the goals of yoga is to improve health. This is accomplished by a
combination of breathing and physical body positions. It is also based upon the
Chakra system, which is not discussed here.
Reiki
This energy healing system that was brought to the Japanese world by Mikao Usui
in the late 19th century. This system has gone through many permutations and
has changed significantly in the last 100 years. Originally, it was a
self-healing technique that had its roots in the Japanese shamanic and martial
arts traditions. In fact, the Japanese art of Aikido, can trace some of its
elements to the practice of Reiki.
Hawayo Takata, who is considered by some western practitioners as the last
“Grand Master”, brought it to the west.
Similar to Reiki discussed above, Celtic Transformational Healing, is a
system that I developed in 2006 based on the Cauldron of Posey by
Amergin. This system helps individuals to “correct” the status of the three
cauldrons in the body of every individual. We know that Music soothes us
somehow. We tap our feet, dance, spin, or other expression that brings a smile
to our faces. Mongolian bowls, and chimes are also used for bringing about the
proper vibrational health within our bodies.
Shamanic Practices
All cultures have an indigenous Shamanic component. These individuals are/were
considered the doctor and priest of the community. In the west, we have
replaced our shamans with psychologists, physicians, and priests. This is
indicative of the specialization process western society has gone through over
the last two to three hundred years. All of them share the idea that an individual
must be treated (w) holistically in order to achieve healing. If we strip away
the modern terms, then those individuals who practice a (w) holistic approach
to helping others are indeed shamans.
There are many aspects to shamanic healing practices. Some shamans use rattles,
feathers, dance and drums. These practices are handed down or divined by
individuals and through usage they find what works on particular issues. When I
had some back trouble I did all the conventional things one does in the west, and
did energetic healing on myself and had others work on me and received SOME
relief.
One afternoon, while sitting at a pagan retreat center, one of my associates
who is a shamanic healer saw me sitting with a cane and asked if she could
help. Of course, I agreed. She had me lay on a picnic table, went into a
shamanic trance, and ran her rattle up and down my spine. After about 5 minutes
she stopped, I sat up and the back pain was gone! She had learned how to
channel additional healing energy with her rattle and it was very successful.
In my own shamanic practice, I use feathers to do channel the healing energy
into another person.
Drumming has been used by cultures from all over the globe for healing.
Drum energy and the physical and emotional health of a person are connected. In
meditation, we use the beat of the person’s own heart to facilitate the light
trance state that is necessary to achieve the stated objective.
Many practitioners use the energy of drumming to help us make the changes we
need in our body, mind and soul. Even in the scientific community, studies have
begun to acknowledge the power of vibrational energy and the Healing Drum to
transform and relieve physical and emotional maladies. Therefore, we may find
that soon, the healing drum will become “conventional” instead of alternative.
Being (W) hole
As these practices approach different aspects of a person, so to being a (w)
hole person means to approach and pay attention to many aspects of oneself. As
we develop our site, we will add more information on how one can be healthy,
happy, and lead a productive, satisfactory life
Copyright: Article
may be re-published in its entirety with the following
Alfred Willowhawk
http://alfredwillowhawk.us
http://witerayvn.org