Medicine Dance: One Woman's Healing Journey into the World of Native American Sweatlodges, Drumming Meditations and Dance Fasts
Medicine Dance is just fabulous. I couldn't put it down. Rarely have I read anything that gets as close to the whole truth about health, disease and relationships. Christiane Northrup, author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, The Wisdom of Menopause  Medicine Dance is a compelling teaching story of healing and transformation.  Brooke Medicine Eagle, author of Buffalo Woman Comes Singing and The Last Ghost Dance  Marsha Scarbrough has transcended the usual female cancer survivor story to write a tale of people trying to put their houses in order, trying to move past the mistakes they've made, trying to make sense of the lives they find themselves one day living.  It's really a beautiful, candid piece about friendship, independence, loneliness, and above all, forgiveness. Glen Mazzara, Executive Producer, The Shield  Marsha Scarbrough's Medicine Dance is beautifully told, breathtakingly honest, clear as a diamond and potentially transformative. By the time I reached the end (in one sitting) I wanted to sit at her feet. It is a moving and superbly told story of an ordinary woman learning to understand herself and the dynamics of her relationships with others. At another level, it is the story of an apprenticeship in ancient and sacred ways of healing and transformation. As with all good teaching stories, while you are listening to the narrative, deep soul lessons tend to sneak right through the gates of your unconscious. So this is a spiritual health warning: after you read this book you might find yourself taking risks you never had the courage to take before. Marian Van Eyk McCain, author of Transformation Through Menopause, Elderwoman  A wonderfully written book of one woman's healing journey. it is full of rich stories and surprise, and will inspire and amuse the reader. Joan Halifax Roshi, author of Shaman: The Wounded Healer, The Fruitful Darkness, On Death and Dying  Compelling and disarmingly straightforward story, in a crisp and matter-of-fact, but utterly engaging style.  The most remarkable element in this book is Scarbrough's talent for writing about her vital experiences in sweatlodges, at drum dances, about her dreams and visions, in a register and style so lucid and unobtrusive that the events described  become as real and believable to her readers as those of her day-to-day life. This merging of the mystical and the mundane weaves through the whole narrative, making the story coherent, engaging, and bright with hope. This book should find the wide audience that it so fully deserves. Neil Besner, Dean of Humanities, University of Winnipeg, Professor of Canadian literature, author  A provocative and stirring narrative of one woman's inner journey. A deeply moving account of triumph over illness and the sacred connection between body and mind. Margaret Leslie Davis, author of Rivers in the Desert  The threat of cancer drives many to despair and denial. But it drove Marsha Scarbrough to undertake a shamanic quest for healing of the heart as well as the body. She shares her remarkable story of a middle-aged white woman apprenticed to a Native American healer with candor and a delicious sense of humor. She steps boldly into the unknown, and learns to dance to a different drum! I loved every page. Tim Ward, author of Savage Breast: One Man's Search for the Goddess