Honoring the Medicine

An early version of this essay appeared in News From Indian Country XII:5, Mid-March 1998 I use the word witchcraft as a synonym for what in Mexico is called brujeria, sorcery, meaning the abuse of spiritual power: attempting to disempower, coerce, harm, or control others or to influence events using means that are unethical or socially disapproved. (Readers should note, however, that in European culture, the term witchcraft may have a positive connotation, referring to ancie

Adapted from Kenneth Cohen's Honoring the Medicine: The Essential Guide to Native American Healing (New York: Ballantine Books, 2003) Healing The Healers Is there a cure for western medical witchcraft? The cure consists of three principles that are easy to name but, unfortunately, because of the inertia of both people and institutions, will be challenging to put into practice. First, self-healing is the foundation for healing others. Doctors need to cultivate inner acceptance