Honoring the Medicine

Honoring the Medicine is an essential guide to Native American Healing and philosophy. Learn in depth techniques of the original holistic medicine of this continent and bask in the indigenous wisdom of Kenneth Cohen.

Note: Audio may take several seconds to start

Kenneth Cohen Text Excerpt

Kenneth Cohen
I’ve been involved in traditional healing systems for about the last 35 years. So when I have to look for a general category for what I do, I say it’s traditional medicine, traditional healing. Some people might call it medical anthropology. But my interest is much more practical to find out how it works, and if it works, and to practice it, rather than specifically academic.

So I began training in Chinese medicine and Chinese language, which I speak quite fluently. I’ve done quite a bit of writing on alternative and complimentary medicine and on spirituality. I’ve had about 250 journal articles published over the years.

Tom Park
250?

Kenneth Cohen
Yes, and then when I was in my early 20’s, I met a wonderful Cherokee elder and medicine man named Katua, who took me on as his apprentice. For the next five years I was at his home three times a week, and for five years beyond that, we continued to visit.

And then as in any field, one thing leads to another, and you meet other colleagues , other people with similar interests. And I ended up training with Native American elders, spiritual leaders, medicine people form many different native nations in the northeast, here in the northwest, and the northern plains region. That also eventually lead me to a study of the similarity between indigenous traditions worldwide. So I spent five years training in the Zulu medicine form South Africa. I’m also trained in Ebo medicine Nigeria.

Tom Park
Dear Lord, Ken! How did you managed this? So you’re a man in your fifties perhaps?

Kenneth Cohen
That’s correct

Tom Park
So you’ve spent most of your life….

Kenneth Cohen
Most of my life. Not exactly a traditional education in the conventional sense, to the consternation of my parents. But certainly the kind of education that was calling to me.

You know I really feel that we need to be a little bit kinder to ourselves and willing to follow our dreams, what Joseph Campbell called “follow your bliss.” So often we succumb to the conditioning influences ……