The Wind Is My Mother: The Life and Teachings of a Native American Shaman

by Bear Heart

Overview

With eloquent simplicity, Native American medicine man Bear Heart demonstrates how traditional tribal wisdom can help us maintain spiritual and physical health in today's world.

“As a child I was taught, ‘Chebon, the way to attain the beauty in life is through harmony. Be in harmony with all things, but most important, be in harmony with yourself first. A lot will go on in your life, some good, some bad—people may argue and some will try to take control of your life—but that one word, harmony, will neutralize any problems and help your life to become beautiful.’”—from The Wind is My Mother

“A compelling and important work…Bear Heart is a gifted storyteller—readers of all backgrounds will be inspired by his lessons of how to apply traditional Native American wisdom to maintain balance in today’s world…Bear Heart’s is a truthful, honest voice which has let us into his world, and our world is better for it.”—Body, Mind, Spirit

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425161609
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/01/1998
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	121,715
Product dimensions:	5.26(w) x 8.28(h) x 0.78(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Marcellus “Bear Heart” Williams [1918-2008], born in Okemah, Oklahoma, was a full-blood spiritual leader of the Muskogee-Creek Nation trained in the traditional ways of his tribe. Highly regarded as a healer and counselor, he was also a respected leader of the Native American Church, Sun Danced with both the Northern and Southern Cheyenne people, and was an ordained minister in the American Baptist Church. He was asked to be one of the spiritual counselors for the fireman and their families after the Oklahoma City tragedy and put down prayers with the Fire Department at Ground Zero in November, 2001. Bear Heart helped thousands of people over the course of his life and his book, “The Wind Is My Mother,” continues his life work of sharing wisdom and inspiration. For more information, visit www.TheWindIsMyMother.com

Molly Larkin is a writer whose in-depth tutelage and spiritual practice under Native American elders have given her unique access to Native American perspectives and teachings. Molly lives in Los Angeles, California.

Table of Contents

Introduction by Molly Larkin

Book I: Initiation
1. To Walk in Beauty
2. A Well-rounded Education
3. You Don't Ask to Be a Medicine Man
4. Wrapped Around a Tree

Book II: The Cure Lies Within You
5. Whose Power Is It?
6. Doctoring
7. Another Kind of Healing
8. Walking in Balance
9. Coping with Suffering

Book III: Learning How to Live
10. The Power of Love
11. Talking with the Earth
12. A Different Kind of Church
13. The Peyote Way
14. The Sacred Pipe
15. Becoming a Vessel - The Vision Quest
16. We All Have Something to Offer

Prayers

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Wind Is My Mother: The Life and Teachings of a Native American Shaman

“This fascinating book is a rare combination of universal truths and practical applications. It is an excellent manual for living a healthy life in a complex world.”—John Gray, author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

“Bear Heart, a full-blooded Muskogee Creek Indian and one of the last ‘trained’ medicine men, shares this knowledge, combining it with his more formal, graduate [studies] in psychology to build a bridge between Native American and modern spirituality.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“At once mystical and utterly practical, Bear Heart’s message is not a call to conversion, but the testimony of a life so fully lived that it can heal others. To read it is to be inspired to live one’s own life with more attention, harmony and hope.”—Lorene Cary, author of If Sons, Then Heirs: A Novel

“Bear Heart, a Muskogee Creek Indian medicine man, tells his story, including his insights about receiving the power of the Great Spirit through fasting, chanting, and vision quests.”—St. Petersburg Times

“Inspiring...Bear Heart weaves together anecdotes and philosophy demonstrating that traditional Native American wisdom can be applied in today’s world to live a peaceful, balanced life. A charismatic storyteller, Bear Heart’s autobiography is rich not only with the amazing accomplishments and wisdom of his life as a medicine man but also with the ages-old legends of his people.”—Evolving Woman

From the Publisher

Bear Heart, a full-blooded Muskogee Creek Indian and one of the last "trained" Medicine Men, shares this knowledge, combining it with his more formal, graduate degree in psychology to build a bridge between Native American and modern spirituality. Categorized as an autobiography, the book is nevertheless constructed episodically rather than chronologically, resulting in a lack of fluidity that may distract some readers. The first section describes Bear Heart's family, their beliefs and the calling and training he received to be a medicine man. In the second section, great truths of Native American beliefs and Christianity find parallels. Section three further describes the relationship of human beings to each other, to nature and to the Great Being; the importance of the Sacred Pipe; and the purposes of vision quests. It concludes with this question: "The word `memorial' does not indicate that someone has died. It symbolizes that someone has lived. What is going to be the living memorial that you're going to leave behind?" (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The life and healing practices of a Muskogee Creek medicine man who seems never to have met a disease he couldn't cure.

A general reader must suspend disbelief and patiently endure grandfatherly lectures throughout this book, coauthored by Larkin, a white woman who experienced a spiritual rebirth under Bear Heart's tutelage. As a young disciple, Bear Heart underwent training rituals that included trooping through a nest of rattlesnakes and lying on an anthill. He also became adept in using traditional healing tools, including a wide repertoire of chants, an eagle feather upon which he blows when ministering to sick patients, the Sacred Pipe, and peyote, which only recently was legally permitted for use by practitioners of the Native American Church. In his long tenure as medicine man, Bear Heart claims to have cured earaches, tubercular-like illnesses, poisonings, and paralysis, often after Western medicine had failed. In addition, he was able to produce snow for a Colorado ski resort and cause choking fits from a distance in those with evil intentions. In the main, however, one can read this as a homily-filled discourse on leading a healthy and happy existence. Among his admonitions are to remain humble, have respect for elders, laugh frequently, be respectful of the natural environment, avoid blaming others for one's situation, and other tried-and-true strategies. The book is forever in danger of meandering into areas best left untouched, such as bear psychology ("Mostly they use telepathy to communicate") and anthropology ("It's possible that the Hebrews were here in North America first and then traveled to Israel"), but the writers maintain such a consistently sincere tone that the uncritical reader readily forgives Bear Heart's leaps into the unknown.

In sum, one can read this in lieu of spending an evening with a well-meaning but long-winded relative or use it, sparingly, as a resouce for insight into traditional Native American practices.

Kirkus Reviews