Walking on the wind

by Michael Tlanusta Garrett

Publisher: Bear Published: 1998-05-01 Category: Health & Healing

Journey into the rich spiritual heritage of Cherokee wisdom and discover timeless teachings that offer profound pathways to healing, wholeness, and harmonious living. This groundbreaking work bridges ancient Native American understanding with contemporary needs for personal transformation, presenting the Medicine Way as a living practice accessible to all who seek deeper meaning and connection in their lives.

At the heart of these teachings lies a fundamental truth: we are all connected to everything around us, and true healing comes from recognizing and honoring these sacred relationships. Drawing from Cherokee tradition and broader indigenous wisdom, readers are guided through the concept of the Medicine Wheel, a powerful framework for understanding the cycles of life, the seasons of our personal journey, and the balance necessary for optimal health and wellbeing. This circular path represents not just a philosophy but a practical approach to living that integrates mind, body, spirit, and natural world.

The Medicine Way presented here emphasizes harmony and balance as foundations for healing. Rather than viewing health narrowly as the absence of disease, this perspective embraces wellness as a dynamic state of alignment with natural rhythms, ancestral wisdom, and our authentic selves. Readers discover how disconnection from these essential elements creates dis-ease in our lives, manifesting as physical ailments, emotional distress, mental confusion, and spiritual emptiness. The remedy lies in rekindling our relationship with the natural world and the wisdom traditions that have sustained indigenous peoples for countless generations.

Central to this teaching is the understanding that we each carry medicine—unique gifts and purposes that contribute to the healing of ourselves, our communities, and the Earth itself. Through stories, practices, and reflective exercises, readers learn to identify their own medicine and develop it as a source of personal power and service. This journey of self-discovery is framed not as self-centered individualism but as a necessary step toward becoming a beneficial presence in the web of life.

The work explores the Four Directions and their associated teachings, revealing how each direction offers specific wisdom and energy essential to complete wellness. East brings illumination and new beginnings; South offers growth, trust, and innocence; West provides introspection and inner knowing; North delivers wisdom, gratitude, and completion. Understanding these directions and their qualities allows readers to navigate their own healing journey with greater awareness and intention, recognizing which energies they need to cultivate for balance.

Practical guidance is woven throughout, making these teachings accessible for daily application. Readers discover ceremony and ritual not as empty formality but as intentional practices that create sacred space for transformation. Whether through simple acts of gratitude, connecting with nature, or more structured ceremonial practices, these tools provide concrete ways to embody the Medicine Way in modern life.

The emphasis on storytelling as a healing art runs throughout, honoring the traditional Native American understanding that stories carry medicine. Through narrative, complex truths become accessible, healing insights emerge, and we remember who we are. Readers are encouraged to reflect on their own life stories and the larger stories they are part of, recognizing how narrative shapes identity, meaning, and possibility.

Particularly valuable is the integration of Cherokee concepts like Gadugi (working together for the good of all) and the importance of living in right relationship with all our relations—not just human family but plants, animals, elements, and spirit. This relational understanding offers antidote to the isolation and fragmentation characteristic of modern life, providing a framework for authentic connection and community.

For those experiencing physical health challenges, emotional wounds, or spiritual disconnection, this work offers more than theory. It presents a holistic path to wellness rooted in time-tested wisdom, inviting readers to remember ancient truths and apply them to contemporary struggles. The journey beckons all who yearn for deeper healing and more meaningful existence.