Perhaps by now you’ve shared with a few of your friends, colleagues, acquaintances or partner that you’re taking part in a study on Dreams and Chronic Illness and that you’ll be using a technique called Dream Incubation Healing (DIH). How have they responded? Maybe some of them looked a bit puzzled and responded along the lines of, “What the heck is that?” or “Why would you want to do something like that?” Suppose now instead of being born in this modern era you were born in the classical Greek period, circa 300 BCE, a citizen of Athens, In that period, their response might have been quite different. It might have been, “What took you so long? Safe journeys, my friend!”
How times have changed in a couple of thousand years. In the modern era there are only two facilities where you can engage in this practice, both located in southern California. But at one time in the ancient world over 400 dream healing temples dotted the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. From present day Tunisia all the way to Rome, Italy, dream healing was a well-known and established form of medical practice. But to partake of dream healing, one had to first make a pilgrimage to one of these dream temples or Aesclepia as they were known after the Greek demi-god of dream healing, Aesclepius. The arduous journey was often made on foot, on horseback if one was wealthier or in an ox-driven cart if one was too infirm to walk. It might have taken you many days or weeks of travel to reach one of these healing sanctuaries as most were not located in cities but in far off natural settings of great physical splendor (can vouch for their beauty as I have personally visited three of these sites). Along the way you most likely would have encountered other pilgrims. Some heading in the same direction; others on the return journey home. Stories of healing and meals might have been shared with strangers; Sufferings commiserated. As you got closer to the Aesclepia you might have come across one of the numerous stone tablets lining the paths that led up to them, carved with stories of prior pilgrims, detailing their symptoms and cures (nowadays one sees billboards advertising coca cola).
Upon arrival, your first task would be to soak in the baths (as most were located by hot springs), cleanse and put on fresh clothes. At long last your weary limbs would receive some much needed rest. After partaking of a hearty meal, you might lie down in one of the beautiful gardens and take in the physical splendor of your surroundings as well as bask in its healing vibes. Perhaps, a priest or priestess would visit you, and impart instruction on how to incubate dreams as well as inquire about your condition. In the evening, along with the other pilgrims, most likely you would make your way over to the amphitheater to watch a Greek tragedy, designed to stir the emotions, and facilitate a cathartic response (all three that I visited had well designed amphitheaters). In the morning you would most likely share any recalled dreams with the priestesses. They would help you interpret them and be on the lookout for certain dream signs to see if you were ready for a direct encounter with Asclepius. If you qualified, the following night, you would be directed to sleep and dream in a special underground chamber known as the abaton. Otherwise, you would wait another day, continue to engage in more supplications (a form of prayer) and additional cleansing activities. It was in this room below the Earth’s surface, crawling with non-poisonous snakes and sealed off from light that the real dream incubation would commence. It is here that the healing dream would be granted by the god. Sometimes that dream took the form of a prescription, other times a diagnosis, but most often a direct cure in the dream state itself, interceded by none other than Aesclepius himself.
Although the practice of temple dream healing most likely originated in Egypt and was passed on to the Greeks who in turn passed it on to the Romans, we are made aware of its practice thanks to the Greek scholarly practice of keeping extensive written records. Artemedorous’ Oneirocritica, was the most extensive dream book of the classical Greek world compromising five volumes, a veritable encyclopedia of dreaming. From it we know how the Greeks went about interpreting dreams. Incubated dreams were known as “aitematica” which translates approximately to “dreams sent by the Gods upon the request of the dreamer.” We also know that not only were patients encouraged to incubate healing dreams, but the physicians themselves relied on dreams for guidance. There’s was a world where the dreaming life was no less significant than the waking one. Dreaming and waking were on a more equal par. Imagine what it would be like if today’s physicians were to resort to their own dreams for guidance whenever they were stumped for a diagnosis regarding a patient’s illness?
Aside from temple dream healing, most indigenous societies practiced and still practice some form or another of dream healing. According to professor Stanley Krippner, one of the leading authorities on shamanism, from Siberian shamans all the way to the shamans of the Amazon rain forest in South America, reliance on dreams and dream incubation for information about health and disease was commonplace. And unlike the Greek tradition which died out, modern day indigenous shamans have kept alive the practice in many parts of the world.
Finally, it is important to realize that the demise of dream incubation healing in the ancient classical Greek and Roman period was not due to any new evidence refuting its efficacy or a sudden decline in interest. On the contrary, its demise was in direct relation to the rise of the Roman Catholic Church. For Asclepius bore an uncanny resemblance to Christ of Nazareth. Both were born as humans, from the union of a mortal mother with a divine father. Unlike the other gods of the Greco-Roman pantheons, many of whom had wrathful personalities and were quick to temper, Asclepius, like Jesus was associated with the qualities of love, forgiveness and compassion and was thus highly favored by the people. And like Jesus of Nazareth, Asclepius too healed with the laying on of hands. Many historians acknowledge that the resemblance to Christ was too great for the papal authorities to tolerate and thus began a systematic purging of the old Asclepian legacy so that the emerging legacy of Christ would stand no competition.
Additional Reading:
Reclaiming Shamanic Dreaming from the Roots of Western Culture by Ryan Hurd:
http://realitysandwich.com/156159/reclaiming_shamanic_dreaming_western_culture/
References:
Achterberg, J. (2002). Imagery in healing: Shamanism and modern medicine. Boston, MA: Shambala Publications.
Aizenstat, S. & Bosnak, R. (2009). Imagination and medicine: The future of healing in an age of neuroscience. New Orleans, LA : Spring Journal.
Garfield, P. (1992). The healing power of dreams. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.
Krippner, S., Bogzaran, F., & de Carvalho, A.P. (2002). Extraordinary dreams and how to work with them. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Meier, C.A. (2003). Healing dream and ritual: Ancient incubation and modern psychotherapy. Einsiedeln, Switzerland: Daimon.
Pappamichael E., Theochari, A. (2008). Artemidorus’ Oneirocritica. Dream analsyis in second century A.D. Helenic Psychiatry, 5, 83-85.
Tick, E. (2001). The practice of dream healing: Bringing ancient Greek mysteries into modern medicine. Wheaton, IL Quest Books.
How times have changed in a couple of thousand years. In the modern era there are only two facilities where you can engage in this practice, both located in southern California. But at one time in the ancient world over 400 dream healing temples dotted the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. From present day Tunisia all the way to Rome, Italy, dream healing was a well-known and established form of medical practice. But to partake of dream healing, one had to first make a pilgrimage to one of these dream temples or Aesclepia as they were known after the Greek demi-god of dream healing, Aesclepius. The arduous journey was often made on foot, on horseback if one was wealthier or in an ox-driven cart if one was too infirm to walk. It might have taken you many days or weeks of travel to reach one of these healing sanctuaries as most were not located in cities but in far off natural settings of great physical splendor (can vouch for their beauty as I have personally visited three of these sites). Along the way you most likely would have encountered other pilgrims. Some heading in the same direction; others on the return journey home. Stories of healing and meals might have been shared with strangers; Sufferings commiserated. As you got closer to the Aesclepia you might have come across one of the numerous stone tablets lining the paths that led up to them, carved with stories of prior pilgrims, detailing their symptoms and cures (nowadays one sees billboards advertising coca cola).
Upon arrival, your first task would be to soak in the baths (as most were located by hot springs), cleanse and put on fresh clothes. At long last your weary limbs would receive some much needed rest. After partaking of a hearty meal, you might lie down in one of the beautiful gardens and take in the physical splendor of your surroundings as well as bask in its healing vibes. Perhaps, a priest or priestess would visit you, and impart instruction on how to incubate dreams as well as inquire about your condition. In the evening, along with the other pilgrims, most likely you would make your way over to the amphitheater to watch a Greek tragedy, designed to stir the emotions, and facilitate a cathartic response (all three that I visited had well designed amphitheaters). In the morning you would most likely share any recalled dreams with the priestesses. They would help you interpret them and be on the lookout for certain dream signs to see if you were ready for a direct encounter with Asclepius. If you qualified, the following night, you would be directed to sleep and dream in a special underground chamber known as the abaton. Otherwise, you would wait another day, continue to engage in more supplications (a form of prayer) and additional cleansing activities. It was in this room below the Earth’s surface, crawling with non-poisonous snakes and sealed off from light that the real dream incubation would commence. It is here that the healing dream would be granted by the god. Sometimes that dream took the form of a prescription, other times a diagnosis, but most often a direct cure in the dream state itself, interceded by none other than Aesclepius himself.
Although the practice of temple dream healing most likely originated in Egypt and was passed on to the Greeks who in turn passed it on to the Romans, we are made aware of its practice thanks to the Greek scholarly practice of keeping extensive written records. Artemedorous’ Oneirocritica, was the most extensive dream book of the classical Greek world compromising five volumes, a veritable encyclopedia of dreaming. From it we know how the Greeks went about interpreting dreams. Incubated dreams were known as “aitematica” which translates approximately to “dreams sent by the Gods upon the request of the dreamer.” We also know that not only were patients encouraged to incubate healing dreams, but the physicians themselves relied on dreams for guidance. There’s was a world where the dreaming life was no less significant than the waking one. Dreaming and waking were on a more equal par. Imagine what it would be like if today’s physicians were to resort to their own dreams for guidance whenever they were stumped for a diagnosis regarding a patient’s illness?
Aside from temple dream healing, most indigenous societies practiced and still practice some form or another of dream healing. According to professor Stanley Krippner, one of the leading authorities on shamanism, from Siberian shamans all the way to the shamans of the Amazon rain forest in South America, reliance on dreams and dream incubation for information about health and disease was commonplace. And unlike the Greek tradition which died out, modern day indigenous shamans have kept alive the practice in many parts of the world.
Finally, it is important to realize that the demise of dream incubation healing in the ancient classical Greek and Roman period was not due to any new evidence refuting its efficacy or a sudden decline in interest. On the contrary, its demise was in direct relation to the rise of the Roman Catholic Church. For Asclepius bore an uncanny resemblance to Christ of Nazareth. Both were born as humans, from the union of a mortal mother with a divine father. Unlike the other gods of the Greco-Roman pantheons, many of whom had wrathful personalities and were quick to temper, Asclepius, like Jesus was associated with the qualities of love, forgiveness and compassion and was thus highly favored by the people. And like Jesus of Nazareth, Asclepius too healed with the laying on of hands. Many historians acknowledge that the resemblance to Christ was too great for the papal authorities to tolerate and thus began a systematic purging of the old Asclepian legacy so that the emerging legacy of Christ would stand no competition.
Additional Reading:
Reclaiming Shamanic Dreaming from the Roots of Western Culture by Ryan Hurd:
http://realitysandwich.com/156159/reclaiming_shamanic_dreaming_western_culture/
References:
Achterberg, J. (2002). Imagery in healing: Shamanism and modern medicine. Boston, MA: Shambala Publications.
Aizenstat, S. & Bosnak, R. (2009). Imagination and medicine: The future of healing in an age of neuroscience. New Orleans, LA : Spring Journal.
Garfield, P. (1992). The healing power of dreams. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.
Krippner, S., Bogzaran, F., & de Carvalho, A.P. (2002). Extraordinary dreams and how to work with them. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Meier, C.A. (2003). Healing dream and ritual: Ancient incubation and modern psychotherapy. Einsiedeln, Switzerland: Daimon.
Pappamichael E., Theochari, A. (2008). Artemidorus’ Oneirocritica. Dream analsyis in second century A.D. Helenic Psychiatry, 5, 83-85.
Tick, E. (2001). The practice of dream healing: Bringing ancient Greek mysteries into modern medicine. Wheaton, IL Quest Books.