O CHAPTER FIFTEEN Blessing Way Great One, I come before you in a humble manner, giving thanks for all living beings in Creation. I offer the clarity of my mind, body, spirit, and natural space in prayer to you, O Great One, for the spirit of all Creation. I offer great thanks and what gifts I have to the Four Sacred Directions and powers of the universe and I pray: To the spirit of Fire in the East, To the spirit of Earth in the South, To the spirit of Water in the West, To the spirit of Wind in the North. I pray and give thanks to you, O Great One. I pray and give thanks to Mother Earth, Father Sky, Grandfather Sun, Grandmother Moon, and all our relations in the Greater Circle of Life. I thank you for your power, energy, wisdom, and sacred gifts, because without you and the guidance of all my relations, I would not be able to live, and love, and grow, and feel, and learn. I ask that I be shown another way if I have ever harmed or hurt other living things. I pray, offering what gifts I have, that you may guide us, heal us, purify us, and protect us. I pray for all our relations that we may exist together in harmony and balance. “Wah Doh.”
Bibliography Bradley, R. K. Weavers of Tales. Cherokee, NC: Betty Dupree, 1967. Brendtro, L. K., Brokenleg, M., & Van Bockern, S. Reclaiming Youth at Risk: Our Hope for the Future. Bloomington, IN: National Education Service, 1990. Brown, V., & Johnson, P. Return of the Indian Spirit. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1981. Chief Seattle. How Can One Sell the Air?: A Manifesto for the earth. Summertown, TN: Book Publishing Company, 1988. DuBray, W. H. “American Indian Values: Critical Factor in Casework.” Social Casework, 66, pp. 30–37, 1985. Four Worlds Development Project. The Sacred Tree: Reflections on Native American Spirituality. Wilmot, WI: Lotus Light, 1984. Garrett, J. T. “Where the Medicine Wheel Meets Medical Science.” In S. McFadden (ed.), Profiles in Wisdom: Native Elders Speak about the Earth (pp. 167–179). Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Company, 1991. Good Tracks, J. G. “Native American Noninterference.” Social Casework, 18 (6), pp. 30–34, 1973. Lake, M. G. Native Healer: Initiation into an Ancient Art. Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 1991. Locust, C. American Indian Beliefs Concerning Health and Unwellness. Native American Research and Training Center Monograph, University of Arizona, 1985. Loftin, J. D. “The ‘Harmony Ethic’ of the Conservative Eastern Cherokees: A Religious Interpretation.” Journal of Cherokee Studies, Spring, 1983.
Mooney, J. Myths of the Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. Nashville, TN: Charles Elder, 1972. Red Horse, J. G. “Indian Elders: Unifiers of Families.” Social Casework, 61(8), pp. 490–493, 1980. Sams, J. & Carson, D. Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals. Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Company, 1988. Spencer, P. U. “A Native American Worldview.” Noetic Sciences Review, Summer, 1990, pp. 14–20. Ywahoo, D. Voices of Our Ancestors: Cherokee Teachings from the Wisdom Fire. Boston: Shambhala, 1987.
About the Authors J. T. (Jasper Thomas) Garrett, Ed.D., a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians from North Carolina, has been a student and teacher of Indian Medicine for over thirty-five years. He and Michael teach a weekend gathering, entitled “Full Circle,” utilizing Native American teachings and wisdom of the Elders to guide participants in seeking a path to harmony and balance. His career includes thirty years in hospital administration, environmental/occupational safety, and public health administration. Michael Tlanusta Garrett, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Counselor Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has authored numerous articles with a unique perspective, professionally and personally, on Native American concerns. Michael has worked with children and adolescents in schools; has been a group therapist in community agency settings; and has taught several courses and seminars on cultural diversity. Michael grew up on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in western North Carolina.
About Inner Traditions • Bear & Company Founded in 1975, Inner Traditions is a leading publisher of books on indigenous cultures, perennial philosophy, visionary art, spiritual traditions of the East and West, sexuality, holistic health and healing, self-development, as well as recordings of ethnic music and accompaniments for meditation. In July 2000, Bear & Company joined with Inner Traditions and moved from Santa Fe, New Mexico, where it was founded in 1980, to Rochester, Vermont. Together Inner Traditions • Bear & Company have eleven imprints: Inner Traditions, Bear & Company, Healing Arts Press, Destiny Books, Park Street Press, Bindu Books, Bear Cub Books, Destiny Recordings, Destiny Audio Editions, Inner Traditions en Español, and Inner Traditions India. For more information or to browse through our more than one thousand titles in print, visit www.InnerTraditions.com.
BOOKS OF RELATED INTEREST THE CHEROKEE HERBAL Native Plant Medicine from the Four Directions by J. T. Garrett WALKING ON THE WIND Cherokee Teachings for Harmony and Balance by Michael Garrett MEDITATIONS WITH THE CHEROKEE Prayers, Songs, and Stories of Healing and Harmony by J. T. Garrett THE CHEROKEE FULL CIRCLE A Practical Guide to Ceremonies and Traditions by J. T. Garrett and Michael Tlanusta Garrett SACRED PLANT MEDICINE The Wisdom in Native American Herbalism by Stephen Harrod Buhner COYOTE HEALING Miracles in Native Medicine by Lewis Mehl-Madrona, M.D., Ph.D. ORIGINAL WISDOM Stories of an Ancient Way of Knowing by Robert Wolff
CHEROKEE ASTROLOGY Animal Medicine in the Stars by Raven Hail Inner Traditions • Bear & Company P.O. Box 388 Rochester, VT 05767 1-800-246-8648 www.InnerTraditions.com Or contact your local bookseller
Bear & Company, Inc. Rochester, Vermont www.innertraditions.com Bear & Company is a division of Inner Tradition International Copyright © 1996 by J. T. Garrett and Michael T. Garrett All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means or in any form whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations embodied in literary articles or reviews. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Garrett, J. T., 1942 Medicine of the Cherokee : the way of right relationship / J. T. Garrett and Michael T. Garrett. p. ; cm. eISBN-13: 978-1-59143-933-2 1. Cherokee Indians—Medicine. 2. Cherokee Indians—Religion. 3. Indians of North America—Medicine. I. Garrett, Michael T., 1970- . II. Title E99. C5G237 1996 615. 8’ 82’ 089975—dc20 96-16156 CIP Cover and interior design: Melinda Belter Cover illustration: Francene Hart Text illustrations: Debi Duke Editing: Gerry Clow and Sonya Moore
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