Have you ever watched a movie that got off to a slow start, but about halfway through, you're rewarded with a fascinating plot and great characters? The Spirit of Healing: Venture into the Wilderness to Rediscover the Healing Force by David Cumes, M.D. is like that, except the good part never really comes.
To start with, the cover reminds this reader of an infomercial. Cheesy graphics, a cheesy photo of the author and immature typography remind me way too strongly of those late-night television offerings that could only seem like quality entertainment at 3 a.m. Not that this book is meant to entertain; copious footnotes and an extensive bibliography make it obvious that the author has done at least some research. In fact, the overall impression of the book is not that the author doesn't know what he's talking about, but that his editors need to stop watching the aforementioned infomercials, get some sleep and come to work refreshed and ready to work.
Cumes, trained in the Western allopathic tradition, spends the first half of the book complaining how the Western system leaves its healers wounded, because it's so physically/emotionally/financially demanding. He tries to validate this complaint by explaining that the tradition of the wounded healer is universal, but that non-Western systems celebrate and support healing of the healer, whereas the Western system perpetuates continued wounding. In effect, everybody sticks their foot in the fire but "we" force doctors to leave it there and pretend it doesn't hurt while "they" pull the foot out and celebrate the healer for enduring the pain. He makes his point well the first time… and the second… but by the twelfth or thirteenth iteration, it has become old news. This theme consumes the first five chapters of the book.
In Chapter 6, "Kundalini, Num, and the Tree of Life" the book finally offers some new and interesting information. In the first five chapters, the author frequently refers to various non-Western healing systems as already "doing it right." In this chapter, he finally explains what they do as opposed to what "we" do. Cumes holds that if Western physicians were to wake the primal feminine energy of the cosmos (Kundalini in the Yogi tradition, Num to the San Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert) within themselves, then truly holistic healing would begin. The advantage of this energy is that it enables the shamans of these traditions to heal by bringing opposing forces into balance, thereby bringing about healing. Illness, in these traditions, is less an issue of cells out of whack or viruses run rampant than it is a lack of equilibrium in the energy force within the individual. The Judaic Tree of Life is presented as another energy model based on the same principle of achieving health through achieving equilibrium. The system of chakras and the Kabalistic Tree of Life, and how they affect a person's well-being, may not be news to the well-read pagan, but they were new to me. Cumes' explanations help shed a little bit of light on what he was trying to get at in the first 80 pages.
The remainder of the book goes on to explain how these principles ought to be included into Western allopathic medicine. While this could have been interesting, repeated references to God (the capital "G" Christian variety) as the source of all healing wisdom were condescending and annoying. Statements like "to a true believer, it seems logical… since God knows exactly what is required" and "it was God's word that called matter into existence" lead me to question exactly how much value this healer truly puts on the belief systems he is touting, when he doesn't even acknowledge that their higher powers are not of the same ilk as his own. One truly sage thing Cumes says, on page 158 of 172, is, "If doctors are to be more successful in treating their patients, they should not discount intuitive information in favor of hard objective facts, but use both to good effect. They should be both shaman and allopathic physician at the same time." This is, in fact, the whole point of the book. It's a shame that it takes him that long to say it, and that it gets buried in so many pages of reiterated rhetoric and personal anecdotes.
Assembly line medicine benefits neither the patient nor the doctor — this should not be a shocking revelation to anyone. If it is, you might gain some valuable insight by reading this book. However, for the reader who hasn't promised to do a book review and has already accepted the value of alternative healing, this book has little to offer.
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