Navaho Symbols of Healing A Jungian Exploration of Ritual, Image, and Medicine

In this original and superbly researched work, a Jungian-trained psychiatrist explores ancient Navaho methods of healing--methods that use ritual and vibrant imagery to bring the psyche into harmony with the natural forces that surround it. Through his interactions with Navaho medicine men, Sandner conveys the rigors of their training and the complexities of their purification and evocation rites, including the use of sand paintings as healing mandalas and the esoteric meaning of the pollen path. Presents the basic principles of Navaho healing: Return to the origins Confrontation and manipulation of evil Death and rebirth Restoration of the universe Challenges Western medicine in its search for a more holistic and humane healing art. Cloth edition of this title was published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.