Medicine Woman: Reclaiming the Soul of Healing

by Lucy H. Pearce

NAUTILUS SILVER AWARD 2018 Medicine Woman is the sister book to Burning Woman and Creatrix from Amazon bestselling author, Lucy H. Pearce. This audacious questioning of the current medical system’s ability to deal with the modern epidemic of chronic illness, combines a raw personal memoir of sickness and healing, woven through with voices of dozens of other long-term sick women of the world and a feminine cultural critique that digs deep into the roots of patriarchal medicine. Pearce takes us from its ancient Greek roots, through the influences of the Enlightenment and Christianity, the wholesale destruction of the wise woman tradition and Western colonial destruction of native medicines to the current technocratic, capitalist model of medicine.Medicine Woman asks the uncomfortable questions that our culture refuses to •Why chronic illness, mental health issues, medical prescriptions and costs are rising exponentially.•Why women are the major sufferers of the modern epidemic of auto-immune conditions.•Why women are twice as likely to be medicated for depression.•Why women tend to be taken less seriously by medical professionals.Medicine Woman voices a deep yearning for a broader vision of what it means to be human than our current paradigm allows for, calling on an ancient archetype of healing, Medicine Woman, to re-vision how we can navigate sickness and harness its transformational powers in order to heal.Packed with dozens of healing arts exercises and hundreds of medicine questions to help integrate body and mind in the healing process. Like Burning Woman, this book promises initiation by transmission, reconnecting us directly with the soul of healing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Spirituality, Health, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Self Help, Goddess

396 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2018

About the author

Lucy H. Pearce is the author of multiple life-changing non-fiction books, including Nautilus Award silver winners Medicine Woman, Burning Woman, and Creatrix.

Her newest books are Crow Moon: reclaiming the wisdom of the dark woods and The Kitchen Witch Companion, which she illustrated and co-authored with Sarah Robinson.

Her writing weaves women’s archetypal psychology, feminist historical awareness and the healing power of creativity and nature.

An award-winning graduate in History of Ideas with English Literature from Kingston University, and a PGCE from Cambridge University,
http://www.lucyhpearce.com/

Lucy founded Womancraft Publishing, creating paradigm-shifting books by women for women, in 2014. http://www.womancraftpublishing.com/

She is the host of the Creative Magic podcast, where she interviews contemporary creative women. https://open.spotify.com/show/5tipcBA...

Support her work on Patreon http:/www.Patreon.com/lucyhpearce/


Burning Woman - an incendiary initiation to feminine power is her most recent and is blazing trails with its powerful words, a #1 Amazon bestseller in Women and History.

The Rainbow Way: Cultivating Creativity in the Midst of Motherhood was a #1 Amazon bestseller in Creativity and motherhood in the US and UK. it has been credited with kickstarting the creativity of women - and men - around the world, being the inspiration behind numerous creative businesses and even saving lives.

Moon Time - a book that hundreds of women around the world have labelled “life-changing”. The perennial #1 Amazon.com bestseller in its field.

Reaching for the Moon, a soulful guide to the menstrual cycle for girls aged 9-14, trusted and recommended by thousands of parents and their daughters as a nurturing way to approach a key rite of passage.

Reviews

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone suffering with chronic illness should read this book. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[Granny Swithins · Rating 3 out of 5]

It feels like I'm betraying the sisterhood to say it, but I'm just not that enamoured with Pearce's work. Burning Woman didn't do anything for me, and initially I thought that Medicine Woman was going the same way, with constant reminders of how "brave" the writer is in writing it. Like she's writing it in North Korea rather than modern day Ireland. And I'm writing this as someone who has had their own writing used against them in court, so no, these books don't seem brave, or even that original in terms of their ideology.

However, Medicine Woman picked up the pace about two thirds of the way in and became much more readable. The writing improved as it became more about specifics, rather than vaguely hinting at nefarious threats. Yes, women have been and often still are poorly served or actively mistreated by the Western medical system, as are ethnic and poorer communities. Too many of us are still left struggling to get a diagnosis or appropriate treatment in a system that remains shockingly patriarchal and often dehumanising. I'm not sure I'm convinced by the lengthy journalling questions and suggested "healing" activities, but much of the book will ring true for any woman struggling with health difficulties.

[Christine Blythe · Rating 5 out of 5]

How many times when asked" How are you today?"...You force yourself to smile and say " Fine, thank you"... Meanwhile, inside you are hurting, suffering,feel sick and tired,...You work with an abusive boss,live with an abusive partner, have financial problems...yet you go on...you put on your mask every day... and inside, perhaps ultimately on the outside you are getting sicker and sicker... Until you are forced to be flat on your back,go through cancer treatment,etc.... Now you go into the Darkness...this is where you will find her... Medicine Woman...she is you...You are in the cocoon ... waiting to emerge, when it is time...Time to rebuild,shed the old,be who you really are, speak your truth.... Who cares what ," THEY" think... Finally,no need for a mask...no need for approval,no need to be accepted, finally you are free... Now,you can help others.. you will know who they are.. behind the mask that you have worn,and now discarded...

[Laetitia Devic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over several years, partly because it is so rich, partly because I cried every time I resumed reading it. It is so raw, so real, so upsetting, so true. Reading it scared me because I knew I would FEEL every word in my bones and blood, as The Truth, and would wonder how to make things better and IF we could make things better, especially for women.

The state of the medical system, the loss of Medicine Woman over the last few millennia, the lack of trust in the Feminine and her mysterious ways may make you angry too.

An ESSENTIAL read, in my opinion, along with Burning Woman, which I still haven't finished for the very same reasons...

[An · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reflective questions and encouragements to express your soul explorations in creative ways alone make this book worth the read, even more so with the wonderful list of resources. But in addition to that there's plenty through which to explore how the current approach to healthcare seems to have some serious gaps in it and there is value in rediscovering our inner Medicine Woman. At times the author gets a bit full on and repetitive in her frustrations at the dysfunctional system - much like the tone of Burning Woman it can be quite fierce. Even so, this book earns a place with every woman who's her own doing healing work and more.

[Memm Buday · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is misleading and offers no hope I stopped reading around page 70 and I’m flicking through, it’s too much based on “my opinion” and google searches and disregards whole institutions.
I do however understand where the writer is coming from, believe me I do get it - it’s just not open to discussion with other fields of thought

[Geeske · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book is about me and my healing journey. Women and their bodies have not been taken seriously in a long time. Now, it's time for us to start healing and find bew ways of caring for ourselves, our bodies and others.

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most impactful books I have ever read, helping me on my healing journey and my wider life.

[Amber Wheatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was challening but it a good way. It really helps reframe the way I think about illness, chronic illness, and feminism in medicine.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars