Book Review – The Science of the Sacred: Bridging Global Indigenous Medicine Systems and Modern Scientific Principles by Nicole Redvers, N.D., Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2019.
Dr. Nicole Redvers is Dene, a member of the Deninu K’ue Band of Canada and a doctor of naturopathy. She resides in Yellowknife in the Northwest Territory and is a cofounder and chair of the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation whose purpose is to revitalize traditional wellness services and to focus on the preservation of Traditional Medicines. It was her story that attracted me to review her book, The Science of the Sacred.
Redvers opens the book with a description of how we are composed of no more than vibrating energy. This is seen from the relatively recent discoveries of modern physics that everything when broken down to its source, i.e. broken down from the cell to the atom and then to the subatomic particles that when examined turn out to be only electromagnetic vibrations. Though this is a recent discovery in our world of contemporary medicine, it is something that most all indigenous societies from India, the orient, and other indigenous cultures have known since ancient times. These energy vibrations have been called by many names, e.g. in India the vibrating sound of Aum and in the orient the flowing energy Qi. These vibrations bring about healing as do the vibrations of drumming that exists in many indigenous cultures, drumming that has become important to me in my practice of ecstatic trance with its vibratory connection with all that is of the Earth.
Redvers carries this bridging journey from the physicist next to the geneticist, before carrying it on to other sciences the biochemistry, physiology, dietetics, microbiology, psychology, nature and astronomy. Beginning with Darwin and on to now with completion of the massive Human Genome Project along with the new understanding of epigenetics, modern genetics is catching up with the ancient understand of the indigenous medical traditions. The human genome is no longer considered stable or fixed but a genetic structure that is constantly changing within the individual, changes caused by the many environmental and chemical stimuli to the human body. Redvers uses as an example how trauma changes a person’s genes, changes that are then passed down from generation to generation, creating genetic predispositions that can resist the drugs used to treat the anxiety and depression caused by the original trauma, drugs that can make the treated problem even worse. Much genetic information is now available regarding an individual’s predispositions that when considered can be used to tailor make what the person needs. Again, the ancient medical systems that recognize and assess individual differences or characteristics have throughout the ages been more effective in offering what an individual needs than the global approach that is used now. Modern research has only recently found that these individual differences can be seen in the genetic patterns of the individual.
What is lacking in our contemporary medical system is a concern for the cause and purpose of a disease, aspects of the disease that are central in traditional medicine. Contemporary medicine focuses on the symptom, e.g. the cancer and its removal, but in doing so the purpose or cause is ignored with the likely return of the cancer as it calls out for remediation of the cause. The biochemistry involved in this process is very complex, yet in recognizing cancer as a metabolic disease there are metabolic/biochemical markers that can point to the cause. Traditional medicine systems have ways to diagnosis these diseases with sensitivity to purpose and cause before the symptoms develop by using such biochemical indicators as breath, body or urine odor, skin and tongue color, and breathing and pulse rate. My continued journey with prostate cancer might have been diagnosed by the odor of my urine more reliably or sooner than the PSA test. Though our current medical practitioners have lost the olfactory sensitivity to such odors there is considerable evidence that this sensitivity can be relearned as it is learned by the indigenous shamans and is now used by those involved in the wine and perfume industries.
Learning to control different physiological processes of the body that are believed to be out of conscious control is one way of traditional healing, whether through sweat baths, meditation, or breath control. Traditional medical ways have been developed over thousands of years through observation and experimentation without the double-blind placebo controlled research of modern western medicine. The traditional healer has ways of sensitively feeling variations in a person’s pulse/heart rate, assessing the pulse on 26 different dimensions. Observing respiratory and kidney functioning as well as digestive functioning enhances their skill in diagnosing illnesses in the individual. The sacred sweat lodge and sauna provide the cleansing of the many chemical toxins that have invaded the body and the rituals of these sweats increase spiritual and emotional wellness. Such sweats have been demonstrated to retard the proliferation of certain cancer cells, enhance other cells that can kill cancer cells, and enhance resistance to viral, bacterial and parasitic infections. Redvers presents much evidence for a person’s ability to learn to control heart rate, breathing rate, and brain waves through various forms of meditation. I can personally attest to this ability to control these physiological functions with my own 40 years experience with using hypnosis, biofeedback and more recently ecstatic/shamanic trance, i.e. trance induced by the vibrations of drumming.
People in our modern culture suffer with much more back, joint and muscle pain than do the people of traditional societies even though these traditional people typically carry heavy load on their back or head and walk much longer distances in a day’s time. Our hunched-over sedentary lifestyle is the culprit, and the medications prescribed for symptom relief again do not go to the cause. Traditional medicine practitioners advise to keep your joints moving and may place special smooth heated stones on the painful areas to sooth and relax. Some rocks like magnetite are mildly magnetic which may add to their effectiveness by aligning with the body’s natural magnetite, but more research is necessary to understand this. The most important factor is moving and working with a strong core and straight spine, a natural posture that in our modern culture has been unlearned. Traditional people did not sleep in soft beds with pillows, but slept on firm flat surfaces. Regarding foot pain our highly supportive shoes do not do us a favor. The traditional societies typically wore moccasins which are next to going barefoot as is becoming popular in some sporting events.
For generations the foods available from the land of a specific indigenous group have produced or caused genetic mutations such that their acceptable diet is different from that of other groups. Their diet also changes from season to season when they eat what is available during the season. But since the middle of last century with the infiltration of invading and migrating people and the marketing of processed and packaged “synthetic” foods that are easily available, the availability of their natural diet has diminished causing decreasing health and promoting new illnesses. Such governmental laws as the banning of hunting Caribou have added to this problem when replaced by fattier beef. With the detrimental effect of such changes in diet and health, the traditional elders and grandmothers are trying to find the right balance for a healthy diet between the new ways and returning to the old ways, many of which have been forgotten or are no longer possible because of the changes in the environment.
The stomach microbes or flora, both beneficial and pathogenic, are much more numerous in traditional people than for the people of non-traditional societies that eat primarily sterile process packaged foods. Also, when the stomach flora is destroyed by antibiotics the flora may not grow back as it should. Many infectious and autoimmune diseases are caused by an imbalance in stomach flora. Alterations of the gut microbe composition have also been shown to be related to such psychological disorders as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia. One science commentator put it, “Americans’ digestive tracts look like barren deserts compared with the lush, tropical rainforests found inside Indigenous people.” The lack of beneficial stomach flora weakens the immune system. Fermented foods, probiotics and organically produced foods promote the growth of beneficial flora and aid in maintaining the healthy microbe balance.
Depression, anxiety and other mental health problems caused by the frequency of severe trauma occurring around the world is on the increase. But thinking that we can help by sending counselors creates problems when the counseling methods do not fit with the traditional culture. Opening up to a stranger in expressing emotional pain does not make sense when to them dancing, singing, spending time outdoors and giving comfort likely makes much more healing sense. In most traditional cultures hallucinations are seen as a sign of being gifted and likely lead the individual to becoming a shaman. For traditional society the elders used to have greater authority than now, but there is a movement to again place them in this place of higher authority. Traditional healing includes valuing and providing greater strength, showing love, praying, sharing, crying and laughter. In some societies psychedelic drugs have been used ceremonially but now should be used only with supervision and with great caution.
Another important source for healing a myriad of disorders is nature. Forest bathing is becoming popular in Japan. Walking among trees has been shown to increase the killer white blood cells that help fight infections and cancer, and decreased cortisol levels decreasing stress and blood pressure. Time in nature increases cognition, creativity, and empathy, and decreases hostility. Our ancestors spent 99.9% of their time in nature. Our airtight buildings with high levels of volatile organic compounds and without indoor plants or even windows to look out into trees have proven to be very unhealthy. Current deforestation by large scale cutting and forest fires has become a serious problem, whereas the indigenous fire-keeper knew how to use controlled fires to keep the forests healthy and productive for all life. The smoke of burning plants for smudging is also another source of healing to reduce aerial bacteria. We must work to recreate a relationship with nature to counter the great power that electronics and urban development currently has over our lives.
“The spirits of the universe placed Earth where it with respect to the sun that brings us night and day and the seasons of the year, and the moon that brings us the tides of the oceans. The stars have provided us with the atoms of which we are composed.” This is part of the litany I use in calling the spirits from the six directions in our ritual of inducing ecstatic trance, a shamanic form of trace that I practice, teach and write about. These spirits are appreciated by Nicole Redvers in her description of the influence of the cosmos on the human body and traditional societies, a spirit world or universal consciousness found in the belief of panpsychism. Research in quantum physics has shown that when attempting to measure characteristics of subatomic particles the particle becomes what is observed, i.e. what is observed is not independent of the observer, or the observer affects what is observed. The link of our mind with the cosmos can be observed when in a trance state. Trance transports us on our journeys through the universal consciousness or the world of the spirits. The Elders of Earth’s Traditional Societies have known how to access the thousands of years of collective knowledge, knowledge that is often passed down through myths or experienced when in the altered state of ecstatic trance. This collective knowledge is on the verge of extinction unless we relearn how to access it through altered states of consciousness.
The traditional medicine ways have existed for thousands of years, much longer than our western medical establishment, yet this western way of medicine puts itself above all others and devaluates them. What is dearly needed is open communication and open mindedness between all. Many traditional medicine elders acknowledge the advances made in modern medicine and recognize the benefits of an integration of the ancient and modern, and though some that practice the modern ways are starting to show some appreciation for what the ancient ways have to offer, there is a long ways to go. The elders that are familiar with the traditional ways are far and few between and time is running out for the ancient ways to be remembered.
The Science of the Sacred well provides the bridge between the ancient and modern, laying the groundwork for a healthy integration of both ways of medicine, a book that provides hope for the future.