Medicine men/ doctors in diffent cultures. how does some one get the status of dr. or shaman or medicine man

MEDICINE MEN IN DIFFERENT CULTURES
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Medicine men in different cultures
Introduction
Generally speaking, a medicine man/woman is a term used to refer to a spiritual healer or a traditional healer on various cultures. The medicine man, of course, is the channel through which God works. In specific terms, Native American tribes use the term for the same reference. The medicine man was believed to be powerful and had control over the physical nature and act as a rapport between his community and the spiritual world. The society followed instructions given by the healers as a remedy, through various traditional activities incorporated in their different cultures. Such activities could range from a variety of ceremonies that guide the administration of offered solutions, following specific rituals and belief patterns. The role played by the spiritual leader was to transform to a state in which he/she can intercede and probe the spiritual world to provide solutions to the community during difficult times. This paper sets out to explore the medicine man in three different cultures represented by the Native American culture, the Cherokee culture, and the Traditional African culture, outlining the requirements that one needs to fulfill before they can qualify to become one.
Medicine Men in Native America
Key concepts in the Native American culture are that they were a diverse group of people, speaking a variety of languages in different cultural groups.

Some tribes practiced the nomadic kind of life, mainly depending on hunting and gathering while other tribes relied for the most part on agriculture and thus lived in relatively permanent settlements. The people engaged in different practices such as dances including ghost dance and sun dance, medicine, and various rituals and ceremonies. Rituals and ceremonies included: the healing rituals, death ceremonies, the green corn festivals among others. Communities used different materials for some purposes. They made their clothing using hides from animals that they hunted for food built t and built their houses using wood, bark, and animal hide.
In the Native America, “medicine” is synonymous to a mystery. The society believes that spirits exist, and among them, there are good and also bad ones. Good spirits help people while the evil ones are responsible for problems that befall the society collectively and individual persons alike. The people believe that the protective powers which medicine men possess can control these evil spirits. Having such protective powers which are not universally known by other people, is the reason why the society consider it a mystery and thus “medicine.” This uniqueness of the healers provided the capabilities that enabled them to establish and maintain communication with natural elements including the physical and spiritual beings.
Medicine Men in Traditional Africa
The Traditional African culture is shaped by different concepts as it is made up of very many tribes with different cultures. Some of the key concepts include religion, death, afterlife, divinities, and spirits. They had different religious and cultural practices such as sacrificing to the ancestors, medicine, and circumcision. Skin & Hide formed an important material that was used both for clothing and bedding materials. Houses were built using twigs, mud, grass and cow dung. Their rituals included birth rites, Female Genital Mutilation, marriage, burial, and wedding among other rituals. Traditional African communities live in extended families of different generations. Some are pastoralist, keeping livestock; others are nomadic, moving from one area to another in search of pasture for animals while others are hunters and gatherers.
In Africa, medicine men play an integral part in the society, and traditional healing is in perfect tandem with religion, co-existing with one another in harmony. Medicine play the vital role of healers, and they often occupy positions of importance within their society as priests and priestesses. A medicine man may also be a diviner or a rainmaker or even a priest, or these specializations may be divided among different persons. They go by a variety of names depending on their cultural as well as geographical backgrounds. Every person is believed to be made up of physical, spiritual, social as well as moral elements which ought to be in the balance with one another.
Medicine Men in Cherokee
The clan is Cherokee’s central organization, and their practices may vary from one group to another or even locations as well as individuals. They are organized into clans with distinct names, language history, and traditions. Individuals belonged to their mothers’ family. The Cherokee nation believed in the concept of religion, spirits, taboos, one God and the afterlife to mention but a few. Among their important practices included marriage customs and dances. They practiced various ceremonies including the festival of the first new moon of spring, the great new moon festival, and the new fire ceremony.
In Cherokee, a person is said to be healthy and in a state of peace when his body and spiritual beings are in their perfect condition. An individual attains peace when there is harmony between the mind, body, and soul. In the absence of this state, the person falls sick. The Cherokee medicine man functions to restore the state of harmony in an individual. To remedy issues, the healer focuses on the whole person regarding both the spiritual and physical state. This holistic approach is opted for because harmony eliminates the existence of problems.
Medicine men and women specialize in the ailments they treat, and there are both good and evil medicine men. The people believe in witchcraft from both ordinary and killer witches, and the medicine man/woman administers the proper cure on people affected by witchcraft. Remedies used by medicine men/women include herbal and physical medicine, speaking through figurative language considered to be of medicinal value, interpretation of dreams, use of natural laws, the performance of ceremonies, and conjuring. Magic, prayers, songs, exhortation, suggestion, fetishes, and certain specifics and mechanical processes were employed only by the medicine-men or medicine-women.
How one acquires the status of Dr. or Shaman or Medicine man:
Native America
In the Native American society, a person becomes a medicine man through two main ways; by birth or through receiving a related vision. The first case was the most common whereby; a person is born to a family who has a long history of medicine. The person will be naturally selected to become a medicine man and operate as one throughout his lifetime. In the second case, the person receives a vision requiring him to pursue traditional medicine. In both cases, one is required to undergo several years of apprenticeship under a practicing medicine man before they can qualify to become medicine men themselves.
Traditional Africa
In the African culture, a person could become a medicine man by inheriting the practice from his father or other relatives that came before him, or even get the skills from a close relative who is a medicine man/woman. However, in most cases, one needs to be recruited into a secret society as a prerequisite to becoming one. The reason for this requirement is that traditional African medicine man is only allowed to communicate his knowledge to a fellow medicine man that is already initiated into the exclusive group through special rituals so that they can be able to operate through the invisible realm. Healers attain knowledge on the Traditional African medicine through oral education with no written knowledge. This knowledge may either be scientific or subjective and since most applications involve the spiritual world, the medicine man is required to be in touch with the supernatural realm to gain an understanding of the issue that needs their attention.
Cherokee
To become a Cherokee medicine man, it takes several years of rigorous training into the field. Learning through mentors takes many years of study to know different types of treatments for specific ailments which are in preserved written form. To some communities, medicine was viewed as a miracle. The reason for this perspective was because the knowledge that the medicine man acquired was not readily available for everyone. The apprentice is expected to master all the teachings perfectly so as to avoid any errors during practice since any mistakes could bring about greater harm to the concerned party.
The secrets in Cherokee medicine are fiercely guarded to prevent other people from outside from deciphering what it entails. For this reason, the book that contains the knowledge that medicine men require is not written in plain language but in codes which only those individuals from the inner cycles can understand. The part of teaching that is highly sensitive can only pass from one generation to the next through oral means without referring to the book since there is are no records. In some communities, medicine men were very influential and highly respected because they served as both healers and priests.
Conclusion
Traditional medicine helps in the prevention, eradication, or cure of both physical as well as spiritual conditions. Different cultures have medicine men/women that use different modes in diagnosing and remedying the conditions that require their attention. These old ways are still in use in some parts of the world since they cannot be easily done away with, because of the strong spiritual connections associated with them as pertains to a particular society.
Bibliography
Cichoke, Anthony J. 2001. Secrets of Native American Herbal Remedies: A Comprehensive
Guide to the Native American tradition of using herbs and the mind/body/spirit connection for improving health and well-being; [more than 250 herbal formulas, including tinctures, teas, salves, and poultices, tailored to your individual needs]. New York: Avery.
Gehman, Richard J. 2005. African Traditional Religion in Biblical Perspective. Nairobi: East
African Educational Publishers.
Hodge, Frederic W .2003. Native American Legends: Medicine Men & Healing Practices.
Arizona. Legends of America.