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Lewis Mehl-Madrona
Lewis Mehl-Madrona graduated from Stanford University School of Medicine and completed residencies in family medicine and in psychiatry at the University of Vermont. He is the author of Coyote Medicine, Coyote Healing, Coyote Wisdom, and the upcoming Narrative Medicine. |
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Plenary #20): Aboriginal models for integration of Brain, mind, spirit, and body
European civilization has evolved multiple models to explain mind. We will look at theories as stories about the world with prescriptive functions and maintain social relationships. We will look at stories about mind that arise from aboriginal communities with more ways of knowing than just observational and empirical. These stories about mind and mental health produce different social relationships and meanings than conventional Western stories. We will review what stories brain physiology can tell and the ways that story can interface with European and aboriginal stories. We will conclude with the questions of what stories are transformational and which are sustainable.
Workshop #37): PET Scans and Spirits
What do PET scan results say about metaphor? In this workshop, we will explore the craft of dialogue, shamanic and other. How do we use language, music, dance, and other modalities to switch worlds? Once those blinders are removed, how to we proceed? How do we invite a spirit to present itself? Are there rules for encounter and engagement? What are the results of these conversations and how do we develop them further for our own benefit and the benefit of others?
Workshop #23): Shaman’s Mind, Shaman’s Work, Shaman’s Dialogue
In this workshop, we will explore the shamans (indigenous or aboriginal healers) take on mind, consciousness, health, and illness. We will compare this aboriginal way of gaining knowledge with European-derived cultures’ insistence upon external expertise that is codified in categories and algorithms of practice. Many Western mindsets would view this story about mind as preposterous, invalid, or even psychotic, yet shamans quietly go about their work in communities where there reputation and livelihood is based upon sufficient success as to be noticed. We will close by discussing what we can learn from shamanic practice to enrich our own practices.
Plenary #30): Stories and Transformation
No guidelines, algorithms, or principles exist for sudden, dramatic transformations in the lives of individuals, communities, or cultures. We may be able to predict when transformation is about to occur, but its directions are outside of our grasp. In this presentation, we will consider stories as a source of wisdom for how to transform. Aboriginal culture is replete with stories of spiritual and other transformations, the repetition of which, installs in the listener an intuitive sense for how to proceed and the belief that sudden transformation, even against all odds, is possible.
Details:
Plenary #20): Aboriginal models for integration of Brain, mind, spirit, and body
Western European civilization has evolved multiple models to explain mind and its functioning. There are cognitive models, information processing models, biological models, and more. The only certainty is the lack of agreement among proponents of these models. Rarely do neuroscientists agree on what mind is. In this presentation, we will look at the various theories as stories about the world that hold prescriptive functions, maintain social relationships, order power relationships, and require audiences for their performance. We will look at stories about mind that arise from indigenous and aboriginal communities -- these stories have different ways of knowing (dialogue with spirits, intuition, divine inspiration) as well as ways of knowing that are more observational and empirical. These stories about mind and mental health produce different social relationships and meanings than conventional Western stories. They emphasize relational selves and are less concerned with individual selves. The problem of mental health is also radically different with an aboriginal model than a conventional Western model. Different approaches emerge which are more relational. These include ceremonial approaches and resolution of relationship conflict. We will review what stories brain physiology can tell and the ways that story can interface with European and aboriginal stories. We will conclude with the questions of what stories do we prefer and why? Which are transformational, which are sustainable, and which are life-affirming. We will relate this to other fields such as aboriginal agriculture, aboriginal forestry, and management of sustainable resources.
Workshop #37): PET Scans and Spirits
What do PET scan results say about metaphor? How can we relate the results of recent PET scan studies to the shamanic phenomena of spirits, to the activities of shamans, and to healing? Once a spirit has appeared in our vision, how do we communicate? Is this real or metaphor?
In this workshop, we will explore the craft of dialogue -- shamanic and other. We will explore the role of trance in healing. How do we use language, music, dance, and other modalities to switch worlds? How do we alter consciousness to remove the cultural blinders that prevent dialogue with ancestors, nature, and spirits? What is the training necessary to become a shaman and what brain changes might this training bring about?
Once blinders are removed to spirit communication, how to we proceed? How do we invite a spirit to present itself? Are there rules for encounter and engagement? And where is this apparition? In what reality does it dwell? What are the results of these conversations and how do we develop them further for our own benefit and the benefit of others?
We will conclude with the possibilities for further dialogue between science and shamanism, PET scans and spirits. How can this dialogue engender healing and expansion of consciousness. We will explore the convergence of concepts of quantum physics and concepts of shamanism and their potential future integration in theory and practice.
Workshop #23): Shaman’s Mind, Shaman’s Work, Shaman’s Dialogue
In this workshop, we will explore the perspective shamans (indigenous or aboriginal healers) take on mind, consciousness, health, and illness. We will compare these perspectives to those of European derived conventional medicine. We will discus the dialogical process in which the healer engages the spirit of the illness, ancestral spirits, the person’s spirit, the healer’s own helper spirits, and the spirits of place and Nature, to gain information and to enroll them in the healing process. We will review how shamans know when they are communicating with spirits and what Western culture would consider as alternative explanations. We will compare this aboriginal way of gaining knowledge with European-derived cultures’ insistence upon external expertise that is codified in categories and algorithms of practice. We will visit the training of the shaman and how mind is developed within traditional cultures to be able to interact with spiritual and spirit realms. Shamanic practice requires an open, flexible mind, attuned to several dimensions, in ongoing dialogue with residents of these dimensions, and aimed at finding help for the client – whether a person, community, or ecosystem. Many Western mindsets would view this story about mind as preposterous, invalid, or even psychotic, yet shamans quietly go about their work in communities where there reputation and livelihood is based upon sufficient success as to be noticed. We will close by discussing what we can learn from shamanic practice to enrich our own practices.
Plenary #30): Stories and Transformation
No guidelines, algorithms, or principles exist for sudden, dramatic transformations in the lives of individuals, communities, or cultures. The Western experimental methods have no clues about how to precipitate transformations, which are discontinuous, sudden, radically altering events. The outcomes are unpredictable. Rules do not govern their emergence. We may be able to predict when transformation is about to occur, but its directions are outside of our grasp. A literature exists in physics and chemistry for the emergence of unexpected events from far-from-equilibrium conditions and through communication of parts of systems that usually do not interact. Hardy studied 3000 stories of spiritual transformation in the UK, cataloging the preceding event, but came no closer to understanding the nature of transformation. In this presentation, we will consider stories as a source of wisdom for how to transform. Aboriginal culture is replete with stories of spiritual and other transformations, the repetition of which, installs in the listener an intuitive sense for how to proceed and the belief that sudden transformation, even against all odds, is possible. The presenter will tell some stories, both from aboriginal culture and from modern European culture, about transformations in which amazing cures and healings occurred. We will ask if there are any similarities about these stories, and will wonder if the similarity is the ability of the story to replicate itself by inspiring further transformation in listeners. We will explore the role of stories as a way that people communicate with each other about transformation.
Contact Info:
Lewis Mehl-Madrona M.D.
Dept. of Family Medicine
Royal University Hospital, 103 Hospital Dr.
Saskatoon, Other S7N 0W8 Canada
phone: 306-655-6357
cell: 306-260-6876
fax: 306-655-6822
Lewis.Mehl-Madrona@usask.ca
