Product Description

With eloquent simplicity, Bear Heart, a full-blooded and traditionally trained healer of the Muskogee Creek tribe, shares a lifetime of training. In sections titled "The Cure Lies Within You" and "Learning How To Live," Bear Heart weaves together anecdotes and philosophy to show how traditional tribal wisdom can help us maintain mental, spiritual and physical health in today's world. We journey with him from his initiation into the Muskogee Creek's "medicine ways" in 1938 (when he walked unharmed through a den of rattlesnakes) to his role as a respected elder and counselor whose gentle words spring from a lifetime of service. He describes the lessons learned in ceremonies conducted in the sweat lodge and the Native American Church; he explains why Native people pray with peyote and smoke the Sacred Pipe and how vision quests can bring clarity and personal revelation. Throughout, Bear Heart's teachings stress the importance of self-knowledge, integrity, and being open to the guidance of the Great Spirit. Through inspiring stories and examples, he teaches us how to live.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #297103 in Books
• Published on: 1998-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780425161609
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
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?"
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
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. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
Captivating . . . it is as entertaining as the best novel, replete with stories both humorous and heartwarming, along with some fascinating revelations about Native American child-rearing, history and the world of the shaman. . . This is a compelling and important work -- it offers a rare glimpse into the training of a true shaman and a Native American view of their history with the Europeans. The Wind Is My Mother is practical, genuine and uplifting. -- HEALTH, Body-Mind-Spirit, April/May 1997

Inspiring. . . 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. . . This book feels so good to read, to reflect upon, to practice. Simple advice for a more simplified life. -- Evolving Woman, May 1996

Customer Reviews

POWERFUL,SPIRITUAL, SACRED !
This book is beautiful! It is an honor to have done my Vison Quest with Bear Heart, to have visited with him, to have an ongoing relationship of student/teacher. The Kirkus review reflects that individual's skepticism. I have studied and practiced shamanism for 25 years. Bear Heart is the real deal, both as a human being and medicine man. You will find his life story extremely inspiring. I hope you get the chance to meet him too. Your heart and spirit will know who he is! Sakanta Running Wolf, Th'e Chupe ke ya ka Pah, Muscogee Creek name, means Walks in Freedom

"The Wind is My Mother"
"The Wind is My Mother: Teachings of a Native american Shaman" is an extremely inspirational book filled with wisdom that has been passed down for centuries. It is a combination of Universal Truths and every-day living. Grandfather Bear Heart sits right up there with Fools Crow as one of the True Holy Men of our time. He has studied a multitude of subjects ranging from psychology to Anthropology, yet has learned that all we ever truly know is that which we have experienced.....

Though you will not become a Holy Person just by reading this book, it will inspire you to achieve your full potential as a human being, it will teach you the importance of truly living. One of Bear Heart's Elders was quoted in the book, saying-"You've been given the gift of life, don't just become an old man, learn something." An he has defintely learned many things....but the most important aspect of this wonderful man perhaps, is the fact that he practices true love and through that love, the wisdom he carries with him will penitrate the deepest part of your being.

I do hope that you have the honor of reading this book, and may you be moved to carry on his medicine, wisdom and love to all those arround you.....whether the ones arround you are two-leggeds, four-leggeds, the flying ones, the planted ones or those who are in the spirit world.

It's amazing how subtle messages slam into you
I agree with a previous reviewer that this book is not a how-to on becoming a shaman. For anyone exposed to, and travelling on what could be considered a shaman-like path, this book offers insights not only in a man who would become a healer, but insights that can apply to almost anyone. I am not a shaman, nor do I claim to be, but Bear Heart's book brought a number of things to the forefront of my life, and cleared my mind as to the path I should take.

Will this be the case for everyone? I doubt it. Otherwise, it is a quick and very entertaining read. For those on their own path, it won't show you the way, but will point the way within yourself so you may search for and find the answers you seek.