The Straight Path of the Spirit: Ancestral Wisdom and Healing Traditions in Fiji
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The inspiring story of one man's exploration of indigenous healing in a culture fighting to preserve its spiritual health.• A firsthand account of a little-known healing tradition.• A dramatic story of self-transformation by a well-respected Harvard-educated anthropologist.In the late 1970s Richard Katz, a clinical psychologist trained in anthropology, spent two years living in a remote island community in Fiji, hoping to record the practices of its healers. At the foundation of their healing, he discovered, was the concept of the straight path, a journey through life whose truth is revealed only to the extent that it is searched for with honesty and faith. It is a way of healing that in its very essence is a way of living, a path that emphasizes the spiritual dimensions of health and the relevance of these to the community. But while interviewing healers at work, Katz was drawn into an increasingly suspenseful drama. Unexplained deaths, rumors and suspicions, and the intrusion of a zealous evangelist rocked the village and soon revealed to the author the dangerous alternative to the straight path: the misuse of power that some call witchcraft. The Straight Path is an engrossing story of indigenous healers and a dramatic account of cultures in collision. Through the story of his own self-transformation, Katz reveals not only those aspects of life essential for the Fijians as they struggle to hold onto their identity, but also what is of importance to all of us who seek to retain our humanity. Dedicated to the respectful exchange of healing wisdom, Richard Katz has worked with traditional healers and community healing systems throughout the world. After receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard University and teaching there for nearly twenty years, Katz is now a professor at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College in Saskatoon, Canada. He is the author of Healing Makes Our Hearts Happy, Boiling Energy, and Community and Healing among the Kalahari Kung. American Herb Association His presentation is in the academic style of the psychologist and anthroplogist that he is, yet he makes the book readable and engaging.
Acknowledgments Coming In: Exchange and Responsibility Part One: Healing in Fijian Culture 1. Vanua: The Land, the People, the Culture 2. Ceremonies and the Work of Healing Part Two: The Story 3. Healing in the City 4.Conversations with Ratu Noa 5. First Visit to Tovu 6. Conversations with Ratu Noa 7. Moving to the Village 8. Tevita's Healing Work 9. Converstaions with Ratu Noa 10. A Death 11. A Second Death 12. "Lots of Dreams, Lots of Problems" 13. Conversations with Ratu Noa 14. Monday Night Healing 15. Telephone to the Vu 16. Conversations with Ratu Noa 17. A Third Death 18. The Dance of the Moon 19. "Everything Is Hard to Explain" 20. Conversations with Ratu Noa 21. Reverend Jemesa Comes to Tovu 22. The Weight of Suspicion 23. "There Is Sickness in the Land" 24. Joeli's Sickness 25. Conversations with Ratu Noa 26. Ratu Noa's Message to Tevita 27. Tevita Is No Longer Retired 28. Conversations with Ratu Noa 30. Return to Fuji Part Three: The Straight Path 31. A Way of Living 32. A Transformational Approach to Healing, Development, and Social Change Going Out: Responsibility and Exchange Appendix A: Respect and Vulnerability in Research Appendix B: Research Structure Names That Make the Story Glossary Bibliography Index
