An interest in dreams as instruments of healing bridges the ancient and modern worlds. In the twentieth century the interpretation of dreams became central to therapy, first through Freud, with his theory of a ‘dynamic unconscious’[i], then through Jung and his ideas of an universal collective unconscious. But in the ancient world dreams had an even closer connection with healing. The physician Galen (129-210 CE) stated ‘I have saved many people by applying a cure prescribed in a dream.’ [ii]
However, patients could appeal to a god for a healing dream without the intervention of a medical professional. Asclepius, god of healing, and his daughter Hygeia had temples throughout Greece and the Mediterranean. The most famous of these was at Epidauros. This had already been in existence for around six hundred years when it was visited by the historian Pausanias in the second century CE.
‘The statue of Asclepius is half the size of Olympian Zeus at Athens, and made of ivory and gold. He sits enthroned holding a staff, with one hand over the serpent’s head, and a dog lying beside him…. Over from the temple is where the ritual suppliants of the god go to sleep.’ [iii]
Those seeking a cure directly from the god completed an ‘incubation’, a ritual of sleeping in the temple to receive a prescription or an actual healing via a dream. This involved cleansing, sacrifice, prayer and the lighting of a candle prior to sleep. While this might seem preferable to some modern medical interventions, the temple was home to both snakes and dogs, living representatives of the god whose help was being sought. These wandered freely through the ‘abaton’, the building where the suppliants slept.
In his ‘Sacred Tales’ the writer and orator Aelius Aristides[iv]records his own encounter with Asclepius who prescribed a regimen of cold baths to cure his catarrhs and stomach troubles. He described the after effects of the treatment as ‘a certain inexplicable contentment’.[v] The Sacred Tales also recount some of the conversations that occurred the following morning. If a dream had been given, a thanksgiving ritual was required, with prayers and offerings, often in the form of votives of the part of the body affected.
The god could make a medical intervention in a number of ways. He might supply a prescription, telling the dreamer to eat ‘pine seeds mixed with honey’ or to apply a poultice of ‘ashes and wine’ from Asclepius’ altar[vi], or he might prescribe a regimen such as that given to Aristides, or fasts, enemas, changes in diet or climate.
Stelae recording cures were placed around the sacred precinct. When Pausanias visited, six of these remained, though only two, plus some fragments, have survived. They describe seventy cures, mainly oneiric.
‘Euphanes, a boy of Epidaurus. Suffering from stones, he slept here. It seemed to him the god stood by him and said, “What will you give me if I should make you healthy? ” The boy replied, “Ten dice.” The god, laughing, said that he would make it stop. When day came he left healthy.[vii]’
Some lucky suppliants received a miracle cure, presaging those recorded by contemporary pilgrims at Lourdes or Fatima. Aristides tells of reading accounts of people who received surgery in their dream, stating these had occurred two generations earlier. Archaeologists have found some surgical instruments within the precincts of the temple, so it seems that the priests were able to provide a supplementary service to those that needed it.[viii]
To those accustomed to the Western biomedical model, the idea of conversing with a god can feel quite alien, but in many cultures direct contact with gods , spirits and supernatural beings is an accepted part of life. However none of these encounters have the intimacy of some of the conversations with Asclepius. Even in the Ancient World, the priestess or priest was usually the intermediary between goddess, god and the worshipper, who was forbidden to enter the areas of the temple where the gods dwelt. Few can say, as Aristides did, that they felt ‘wholly with the god’.
[i]https://www.freud.org.uk/learn/discover-psychoanalysis/what-is-the-unconscious/
[ii]cited in Cox Miller p46 He wrote De Usu Partium, a treatise on the parts of the body, ‘on the basis of a dream from a god’.
[iii]Guide to Greece 2.27. 1-3 trans
[iv]cited in Cox Miller p111trans Charles A Behr; Aelius Aristides, 117-180CE, orator and author, lived Smyrna
[v]ibid 2.23
[vi]T438 in Edelstein Asclepius A collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies.
[vii]Stele A.8 (Text and translation in Lidonnici Tale and Dream p54)
[viii]https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/students/modules/greekreligion/database/clumcc
However, patients could appeal to a god for a healing dream without the intervention of a medical professional. Asclepius, god of healing, and his daughter Hygeia had temples throughout Greece and the Mediterranean. The most famous of these was at Epidauros. This had already been in existence for around six hundred years when it was visited by the historian Pausanias in the second century CE.
‘The statue of Asclepius is half the size of Olympian Zeus at Athens, and made of ivory and gold. He sits enthroned holding a staff, with one hand over the serpent’s head, and a dog lying beside him…. Over from the temple is where the ritual suppliants of the god go to sleep.’ [iii]
Those seeking a cure directly from the god completed an ‘incubation’, a ritual of sleeping in the temple to receive a prescription or an actual healing via a dream. This involved cleansing, sacrifice, prayer and the lighting of a candle prior to sleep. While this might seem preferable to some modern medical interventions, the temple was home to both snakes and dogs, living representatives of the god whose help was being sought. These wandered freely through the ‘abaton’, the building where the suppliants slept.
In his ‘Sacred Tales’ the writer and orator Aelius Aristides[iv]records his own encounter with Asclepius who prescribed a regimen of cold baths to cure his catarrhs and stomach troubles. He described the after effects of the treatment as ‘a certain inexplicable contentment’.[v] The Sacred Tales also recount some of the conversations that occurred the following morning. If a dream had been given, a thanksgiving ritual was required, with prayers and offerings, often in the form of votives of the part of the body affected.
The god could make a medical intervention in a number of ways. He might supply a prescription, telling the dreamer to eat ‘pine seeds mixed with honey’ or to apply a poultice of ‘ashes and wine’ from Asclepius’ altar[vi], or he might prescribe a regimen such as that given to Aristides, or fasts, enemas, changes in diet or climate.
Stelae recording cures were placed around the sacred precinct. When Pausanias visited, six of these remained, though only two, plus some fragments, have survived. They describe seventy cures, mainly oneiric.
‘Euphanes, a boy of Epidaurus. Suffering from stones, he slept here. It seemed to him the god stood by him and said, “What will you give me if I should make you healthy? ” The boy replied, “Ten dice.” The god, laughing, said that he would make it stop. When day came he left healthy.[vii]’
Some lucky suppliants received a miracle cure, presaging those recorded by contemporary pilgrims at Lourdes or Fatima. Aristides tells of reading accounts of people who received surgery in their dream, stating these had occurred two generations earlier. Archaeologists have found some surgical instruments within the precincts of the temple, so it seems that the priests were able to provide a supplementary service to those that needed it.[viii]
To those accustomed to the Western biomedical model, the idea of conversing with a god can feel quite alien, but in many cultures direct contact with gods , spirits and supernatural beings is an accepted part of life. However none of these encounters have the intimacy of some of the conversations with Asclepius. Even in the Ancient World, the priestess or priest was usually the intermediary between goddess, god and the worshipper, who was forbidden to enter the areas of the temple where the gods dwelt. Few can say, as Aristides did, that they felt ‘wholly with the god’.
[i]https://www.freud.org.uk/learn/discover-psychoanalysis/what-is-the-unconscious/
[ii]cited in Cox Miller p46 He wrote De Usu Partium, a treatise on the parts of the body, ‘on the basis of a dream from a god’.
[iii]Guide to Greece 2.27. 1-3 trans
[iv]cited in Cox Miller p111trans Charles A Behr; Aelius Aristides, 117-180CE, orator and author, lived Smyrna
[v]ibid 2.23
[vi]T438 in Edelstein Asclepius A collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies.
[vii]Stele A.8 (Text and translation in Lidonnici Tale and Dream p54)
[viii]https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/students/modules/greekreligion/database/clumcc