Author: Mary BeithPublisher:
ISBN: 9781912476084
Category : Highlands (Scotland)
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
A rich and informative source of Gaelic folk medicine.
Author: Mary Beith
Author: Mary BeithWeaving the Threads of Life
Author: Renaat DevischPublisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226143620
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
For the Yaka of Southwestern Zaire, infertility is a tear in the fabric of life, and the Khita fertility ritual is a trusted way of reweaving the damaged strands. In Weaving the Threads of Life Rene Devisch offers an extended analysis of the Khita cult, which leads to an original account of the workings of ritual healing. Drawing on many years among urban and rural Yaka, Devisch analyzes their understanding of existence as a fabric of firmly but delicately interwoven threads of nature, body, and society. The fertility healing ritual calls forth forces, feelings, and meanings that allow women to rejoin themselves to the complex pattern of social and cosmic life. These elaborate rites—whether simulating mortal agony and rebirth, gestation and delivery, or flowering and decay; using music and dance, steambath or massage, dream messages or scarification—are not based on symbols of traditional beliefs. Rather, Devisch shows, the rites themselves generate forces and meaning, creating and shaping the cosmic, physical, and social world of their participants. In contrast to current theoretical methods such as postmodern or symbolical interpretation, Devisch's praxiological approach is unique in also using phenomenological insights into the intent and results of anthropological fieldwork. This innovative work will have ramifications beyond African studies, reaching into the anthropology of medicine and the body, comparative religious history, and women's studies.
Author: University of Washington Bothell
Author: Jennifer Atlee-LoudonThe Infinite Thread
Author: Alexandra KennedyPublisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451643667
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
The loss we feel when a loved one dies is profound, often accompanied by regret for all that we didn’t say or do. Such regret can hinder emotional growth and create wounds that affect all other aspects of our lives. But loss doesn’t necessarily mean the end of a connection with a loved one. In fact, it can open the doors to a unique relationship that offers intimacy, healing, and renewal. In The Infinite Thread, author Alexandra Kennedy helps us deal with loss in a powerful new way: by using active imagination, letters, and inner dialogue to re-create and heal past relationships. In doing so, we also amend the often-strained ties with those still living. The Infinite Thread strips away the veils of mystery surrounding death and transcends preconceptions about death and dying. Rich with opportunities for reflection, it brings enormous comfort to anyone who has ever lost a loved one or been faced with their own mortality.
Author: Seung Heun LeeSpirit Threads
Author: Judith a. CosbyPublisher:
ISBN: 9781734115307
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
Do Spirit Animals really exist?Bundled up for a walk on a wintery New England morning, husband and dogs in tow, Judith Cosby crosses paths with an extraordinary creature - a wild red fox. In an instant, a mystical connection is formed that will soothe her soul in ways she could never have imagined.That same winter, Judith's youngest daughter, Cate, begins a yearlong battle toward remission of a debilitating illness. Feelings of helplessness, despair, and loneliness plague the Cosby household. Difficult treatments and multiple hospitalizations test their resolve and their relationships. But along the way, Judith discovers that humor, love, and faith are the only ways to reach her heart's desire... the simplicity of ordinary days and the pleasures encompassed in a happy and healthy home.With a story that spans four seasons, Spirit Threads is the follow-on to Judith's debut novel, Threads. In this new memoir, she chronicles a personal journey of love and spirituality, and how the challenges of illness and hope have added their threads to the tapestry of her life. As the seasons change, she discovers how her relationship with the wild red fox named Reddy Girl teaches her that inner strength is just as formidable as outer strength, that hope and faith are required to survive the darkest days, and most importantly, that we are never truly alone.Spirit Threads shares the message that regardless of the struggle, we all need the support and love of one another to walk the difficult roads. And the friendships needed to survive the journey don't necessarily have to be human.For some, spirit animals do exist.....
Healing Traditions
Author: Bonnie Blair O'ConnorPublisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812200535
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 316
Book Description
The popularity and practice of alternative medicine continues to expand at astonishing rates. In Healing Traditions, Bonnie Blair O'Connor considers the conflicts that arise between the values and assumptions of Western, scientific medicine and those of unconventional health systems. Providing in-depth examples of the importance and benefits of alternative health practices—including the extraordinarily extensive and sophisticated HIV/AIDS alternative therapies movement—O'Connor identifies ways to integrate alternative strategies with orthodox medical treatments in order to ensure the best possible care for patients. In spite of the long-standing prediction that, as science and medicine progressed—and education became more generally available—unconventional systems would die out, they have persisted with undiminished vitality. They have, in fact, experienced a reinvigoration and expansion during the last fifteen to twenty years. In the United States, this renewal is fueled by people representing a wide cross-section of American society, and most of them also use conventional medicine. This eclecticism can result in conflicts between the values and assumptions of Western, scientific medicine and those of unconventional health systems. O'Connor demonstrates the importance of understanding how various belief systems interact and how this interaction affects health care. She argues that through neutral observation and thorough description of health belief systems it is possible to gain an understanding of those systems, to identify likely points of conflict among systems—especially conflicts that may occur in conventional care settings—and to intervene in ways that ensure the best possible care for patients.
