Medicine, Stories, Travel, Uncategorized

Silent Healers

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It was interesting that, after I mentioned the traditional Lakota healer/medicine man who I know in the Bad Dream post on Tuesday, I heard from him early Wednesday afternoon.  Ed, as I will refer to him, phoned me to say he was in Sturgis and would be going through my town in a few hours and could I buy him a tank of gas?

Ed is a disabled veteran from one of the Iraq wars, and is on a very limited income.  He was on the way to a town on the reservation where husband works, so that he could do a smudging ceremony at one of the schools. “They are having trouble at the school. I am only staying long enough to smudge, and then I am heading right back because I have another smudging to do in Spearfish tomorrow”.

Ed travels all over the Great Plains doing ceremonies for different tribes and native citizens. If your brother is in the University of Minnesota Hospital and is dying, he will go there and sing and pray and do what he can to restore health. I have heard from people that he is pretty successful, and that individuals who weren’t expected to survive rally after he comes to them. He is called in when there is trouble or tragedy, and helps native families with funerals and grieving rituals.  He has an old suitcase full of his paraphernalia and he zips all over in his little white Ford,  healing and being a spiritual presence for his people.

I usually have no time in the afternoon to leave work, but I had a sudden problem with a toothache and had a dentist appointment Wednesday at 2:45 pm. Because I had no idea how long the dentist would take, I cancelled all my afternoon appointments. I was free, then, to meet up with Ed at the Holiday station and buy the gas. I suppose I could think about it as a happy coincidence, or perhaps it was the universe giving me a nudge to further Ed’s healing in this world.  It gives me great comfort to think of Ed and all the other people in our lives and communities who work under the radar, bringing hope and healing in ways most of us never hear about.

Who are the healers and helpers in your lives who fly under the radar?

40 thoughts on “Silent Healers”

  1. My healers and helpers,are not under the radar but simply an alternate universe to the norm and it is getting les that way. My healers used to be all naturopaths and when I had to stick my head in to real medicine a couple years ago they were all surprised I had flown under the radar until age 60, they are nice enough but it is interesting to see how good doctors blow off the insurance side of the equation and let the mission be the driving force.
    My chiropractor who was my primary doctor for years had a catostrophic stroke he tried to work back from and was not able to pull off soma mission to find another chirp was a 4 year search through 20 offices and finally landing at a spot where they do what I appreciate. MY daughters have been plugged into the bandaids I have found and are happy to have a real doctor to go to now. I know I am old she in addition to my regular maintance doctor (chiro) I als have a heart doc, a cancer doc, a hand surgery doc, a back issue doc and a primary doc to pivot me around to these other guys. Thank goodness for Obama care. I didn’t have medical insurance for a long time but got plugged in just as I hit the medical maze described above. I’m doing good for an elder.
    On the helper front I am sorry to report. MY sister who has been teaching for 30+ years is quitting for mental health reasons. The school,district she works in really sucks and buried her this year with 8 severe special needs kids who need to be dealt with I. Addition to the 30 others in her class room. She has asked for help and has been thrown under the bus by her principle the assistant superintendent who sides with his buddy the principle and the teachers union who leaked private convdrsations to the school district resulting in making it very difficult for her to continue. She has decided to throw in the towel rather than have total breakdown. It’s hard to see a gentle teacher of 2nd graders be beaten up by admin types and told she is wrong. I’ll bet the replacement they plug in will leave the kids with an even less satisfactory situation.
    I had some friends who taught school in Honduras years ago and hey said it was so different because teachers were so valued. On a level with doctors. People thaoght it was godlike to mold the youth of Honduras to become better people. Teachers were honored everywhere hey went. I for one think a realignment t of values should be considered. If we could get great teachers what a difference it would make. I loved my good ones and pitied my bad ones.
    I go to meetups with spiritual healers and it is a good experience. A little out there sometimes but a good overall experience

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      1. im really sad for her.
        its all she ever wanted to do and now she needs to rethink her closing years. instead of retirement as apension she has to think about a different plan. i hope it works out well for her but it is a shame

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  4. We have started meeting with a woman who does energy healing. She’s done some really wonderful things with all of us. It sounds a little weird to bring it up with some people who may not be into all of that. But she really does some good stuff.

    I think the universe was putting you and Ed together.
    Sometimes the universe just does that; I’ve had it happen too. Call it whatever you want, it’s still cool and something that we still appreciate.

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  5. The nurses and aides at my mom’s nursing home come to mind. I can’t get over the dedication, love, and caring she gets from almost all of them, even the newbies. Don’t know if it’s the values they use when hiring, or the training they get, or we just got lucky…

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      2. Hire for attitude, skills can be taught. If you hire someone with a bad attitude, it really doesn’t matter what their skill set is if they can’t get along with others. I think this is true, especially for positions where there’s a lot of interaction with the “customers.”

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  7. OT – When I woke up this morning it was 2º F. Who would have thought that 2º F could feel downright balmy? Now at 9º F, Ive taken my socks off, but I’m holding off putting on my sandals until we reach 32º. 🙂

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  9. A healer who doesn’t attract attention for her good work is Linda, specifically for her voter and tax filing volunteerism.

    Two others who come to mind are former roommates from my college days. Jack and Ralph, both 76, walk house to house doing canvassing and encouraging folks to get out to vote. Ralph also is a volunteer friend for a young man navigating the complexities of the Virginia foster care system.

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  10. I am in New Town today helping husband move from one tribal housing unit to another. He’s moving into what was going to be a women’s sobet house that they never had enough staff for.

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  11. Yesterday I got an email from a friend. The subject line was “Just to say hello.” He told me he thinks of me a lot and then just had some chatty things to say. He was my healer for this week (and has been other times too, like when he told me I could say anything I want to him).

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  12. silent is an interesting choice. i am a input kind of guy, music ted talks on being and other podcasts, movies, tv series, documentaries. i am interested in so many things that when i find myself in silence i am sometimes surprised at the sounds and thoughts that come to me. an occasional earworm ( just walk away renee ) but the thoughts that get to develop when the noise from other input is not there is a wonderful thing.
    the new guy i have working at the warehouse is a interesting guy. he is a minimalist and is a selp proclaimed ocd guy and while he doesnt mind the radio and my public radio tendancies i think he prefers the sound of silence. i dont want to slow him down because he is a slow prodding mule who starts at 11:00 and is done at 3:00 and if i dont mess with him he gets it done. if i side track him he gets 1/2 that amount done so i keep my chatty tendencies to a minimum.

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  13. I will try to write a blog article on a healer and helper who is attracting attention for her work. For now I just want to say she works with a spirituality that is uncommon in this culture. She reminds me of Renee’s friend Ed. He couldn’t help anyone without dealing with tradition and spirituality. We often neglect them.

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  14. Mary Johnson is a former oncology nurse who is associated with the Center for Spirituality and Wellness at the U of M, and is on the board of Pathways in Minneapolis. I’ve heard her speak about her evolution in medicine. She worked as a nurse in a military setting during the Vietnam war, and developed a strong belief in the power of touch in healing. She promoted massage, but discovered that massage was nearly impossible for many of the patients that came back from the war with terrible burns. The one part of their bodies that was most likely to escape being burned by explosions or napalm was the feet, since they were protected by heavy army boots. So she became a master at giving foot massages, along with more traditional western medicine. She is still an active healing touch practitioner today, and I can attest that she still gives a mean foot massage.

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  15. Pathways is a wonderful resource for anyone with life threatening illness. I used it extensively following my various cancer treatments 23 years ago. Healing touch, Reiki, various types of massage, Craniosacral therapy, Tai chi and Qi gong, all available on a sign up basis, free. They had, and I’m sure continue to have, some wonderful volunteer practitioners in all of these modalities, who would come to their beautiful facility on Hennepin Ave. just south of Lake Street.

    If you haven’t already, ljb, I encourage you to check them out. They also have a small library with all kinds of material that you might find helpful and informative. Their tiny kitchen is well stocked with an assortment of teas, bottled water, and other treats – all free. They have a newsletter you can sign up for. Check them out: https://pathwaysminneapolis.org/

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