________________
xvi
FIVE GREAT HEALERS SPEAK HERE
through the ". . . two-leggeds. The Water Spirits and the Tree Brothers require only that one be in need of healing and approach them. . . . The healer couples energies with the forces of nature and spirit." She tells of a very tall Indian man, Mithra, who consistently came to her when she was ill as a child. "To me it has always been natural to call upon the spirits for various reasons," she says. "No one ever told me it was special or different."
This presence is perceived by Edwards in the form of spirit Guides. He states: "It is not the healer who administers the healing treatment, but the healing intelligence or Guide. The healer himself does not heal." However, he clearly states that the healer should cooperate intelligently with the healing process which is based on.. ... law-governed healing forces that induce change." The healer accepts the flow of thought without question, and is receptive to intuition, but keeps the information in reserve until there is "substantial" proof.
66
Mama Mona also listens to spirit Guides: "Guidance comes in messages when I tend my flowers." These messages are "precise and clear." Color is of great importance in Mama Mona's healing, as is timing.
THE PLACE OF KARMA
Within the context of Mama Mona's cultural heritage, reincarnation is an accepted basic assumption. Such a belief logically includes a concept of karma, and it is possibly because of this frame of reference that healing is thought to occur when the next of kin, who can be looked upon as the living representatives of one's inherited consequences of past lives, comes and creates the power to heal the one who is ill. This is done through a ritual cleansing before seeking the ancestor's forgiveness on behalf of the sick.