Week 2 Natalie Lortz

Spiritual health been a budding personal interest of mine lately. As I've stated before in class, I'm majoring in Psychology and Asian American studies as a result of my long-time interest in being a therapist. Personally, for the last couple of years, I've been consistently needing to go to the doctor to treat a torn abdominal muscle but consistently find a lack of answers. It is because of this that I felt a calling to understand other types of healing, which lead me to spiritual healing rituals and this class.
My main question is if shamanic healing isn't a form of medicine then what is medicine? It seems so clear to me that shamanism or shamanic healing is most definitely a type of healing. Yes, it requires calling upon spirits amongst other things but the overall intention has always been to heal and create a healthy spirit. The separation from shamanism and medicine leads me to wonder, "Is medicine still made to heal or has Big Pharma turned it into an entirely different kind of beast?" I don't condemn anyone going into medicine. I'm sure their intentions are pure, in fact they all seem to have the same intention: "to help people". So, if the traditional understanding of medicine is to help others, then how come shamanism doesn't fall into that same category? I understand there is a stigma to spirits, however, what other people believe about something they've never experienced isn't a good enough reason to condemn an entire world of potential healing. Especially since the resources for "healing" we do have at our disposal currently (meaning medications, hospitals, etc.) are not well-rounded or all-knowing. They can not have all the answers and their tests are not and have never been 100% accurate. Shamanism, spiritual healing techniques, and spirits needed to be included. They will be a part of it whether or not society accepts it mentally.