Page 18 - final working of the ultimate healer

American traditions, the wicasa wakan, but within the tribes of all
indigenous peoples. Each tribe has its own title for it's holy man or
woman, be it medicine man or witch doctor or shaman. Unfortunately
in these times there are those who study shamanistic practices so that
they may assume greater power, so that they may call themselves
shamans. They bring the value of this beautiful service to the repute of
being a sham.
In the tribal system there is a greater sense of natural ability.
There is a greater need to use every ability to its greatest advantage.
There is no room for waste. Everybody has their job, their speciality.
Some are the hunters and some are the communicators with God.
The holy man or woman is maintained by the rest of the tribe
so that they can devote their time to this speciality. There is a
tendency that this particular speciality is kept to a strict descendancy
with the holy one selecting their successor at an early age and training
them for the time when they will assume their role. They are trained to
have great respect for their function and to carefully guide others into
the same respect for the individuality they have. Hence, these people
are not only seen as holy but also wise. These holy people carry no
props except prayer and great understanding of the ways of creation.
There are also those who understand the use of herbs, the use
of invocation of nature spirits, the use of magic. For this time we will
only consider the healer, the one who communicates with the Great
Spirit in a special way and channels His love.
The role of healer is not confined to men, there have probably
been more noteworthy women healers than men healers. As God has
no gender then God must also have no sexual prejudice. I refer to God
as he, only out of custom, as I refer to medicine men similarly.
To be a medicine man is a serious commitment and cannot be
considered as being just another therapy. A study of American Indian
holy men allows us to see that the ability to commune with the Great