“Part Mark Twain, part Carlos Castenada . . . a rich broth of enchantment, wisdom, and holy mischief” (Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way).
As a child of Choctaw descent growing up in Oklahoma Indian country, David Carson knew that his mother and aunts took part in native women’s circles devoted to preserving the unwritten traditions of their ancestors. But it was only later that Carson realized his desire to learn and understand the ancient ways of his people.
With “lively style, quiet wit, and sharp perceptions,” he describes how he first encountered and studied under his greatest teacher, Choctaw medicine woman Mary Gardener (Paula Gunn Allen, author of The Sacred Hoop). Over the course of three years, Carson immersed himself in a world of alternative medicine and alternate realities, of plants and animals, and methods of influencing the energy that surrounds all human beings. Only then was he able to be fully initiated as a ceremonial healer.
In Crossing into Medicine Country, Carson recounts Gardener’s teachings as he learned them, offering a glimpse into his own mind-awakening experiences and the potential for healing within, without, and with all things.
