Tag: Panacea

Curative Dreams

The hypogeum is an underground temple or tomb where one could be immersed in dreaming with the curative powers of the land and the numinous powers of the divine, often as part of a dream healing temple or entrance to the underworld. One of the most ancient is the Hal Saflieni hypogeum in Malta which dates to the Neolithic period, where the “Sleeping Lady” was recovered in 3200-2500 B.C. The reclining nature and sleeping position of the statue invokes a dreaming pose, and also evokes the popular dream temples that would later populate the Roman Greco world. Is the sleeping lady dreaming us, or is she seeking healing from an ancient creator Goddess? Cristina Biaggi writes the Sleeping Lady is a priestess engaged in Dream incubation or an Adept in giving oracles, interpreting dreams, or suggesting cures for illness. C. Biaggi (1986) p131-13. “The significance of the nudity, obesity and sexuality of the Maltese Goddess figures.”

“The Sleeping Lady” from
Hal Saflieni hypogeum in Malta, 3200-2500 B.C.

The dream temples of the ancient Greco Roman world were wide spread and wildly popular. Pilgrimages to dream temples became a place to go and stay overnight as a place for healing, from which the idea for modern hospitals may stem. A symbol for western medicine is the snake wrapped staff of Asclepius. The chthonic powers of the serpent brought transformation, and changing poison into medicine. His daughters Panacea brought healing of the mind, and the powers of the mind to heal. Hygieia brings cleansing powers of healing with spiritual cleansing, mental and energetic cleansing, emotional cleansing, and physical cleansing in order to bring back health and balance. Although both of these principals are part of western medicine today, dreaming seems to be missing.

“Patriarchy associates dreaming with fiction. Dreaming can’t be quantified or measured with an apparatus. But Dream incubation was considered a cutting edge technology even well into the Roman Empire. Invalids looking for a cure, would go to sleep in the temples of Asclepius, god of healing, in order to receive curative dreams. “ – Sophie Strand, author of The Flowering Wand; Rewilding the Sacred Masculine.

The Dream Healing practices of the ancient world included making clay offerings of the body which required healing, such as an eye, a leg, or a heart, and placing them into a wall. This practice of sympathetic magic, engages the healing powers of the mind through Panacea. There was also a cleansing ritual and perhaps fasting, presided over by Hygieia, where pilgrims were disrobed and washed, and clothed in white, in preparation for entering the dream temple, where snakes were guardians of the healing temple. The word hygiene is derived from Hygieia, and her wisdom includes cleanliness, prevention, and health.

Once inside the dream temple, pilgrims would be invited to incubate their healing request into a dream, and stay overnight in the dream temple, invoking direct healing powers from the divine, or a prescription of cure for their ailments. This may include dreaming with plant wisdom, or energetic dreaming with divine intervention from the God of Healing, Asclepius. Council from Dream temple priests or priestesses would be offered upon waking to help clarify and integrate their experience.

Dream healing includes the capacity to incubate a healing dream on behalf of another. Here is a dream report from a pilgrim at the abaton. “Arata, a Spartan, suffering from dropsy. On her behalf her mother slept in the sanctuary while she stayed in Sparta. It seemed to her that the god cut off her daughter’s head and hung her body with the neck downwards. After a considerable amount of water had flowed out, he released the body and put the head back on her neck. After she saw this dream, she returned to Sparta and found that her daughter had recovered and had seen the same dream.”

The most well known dream healing sanctuary was found in Epidaurus, considered the birthplace of Asclepius, who was part mortal and part God. He was raised and taught by Chiron, the great teacher. As word of the healing powers of Asclepius spread far and wide, so did Dream Healing Temples located at places such as Corinth, Sicyon, Tegea, Megalopolis, Argos, Sparta and Messene; on the islands of Paros, Aegina and Crete (Leben); and at Alexandria (Egypt) and Cyrene (Libya).

Asclepius was such a profound healer that he was able to resurrect supplicants from death. Hades became furious because he realized such practices would decrease his powers as God of the Underworld. He demanded his brother Zeus intervene on his behalf. Zeus then struck down the God of Healing with a thunder bolt. Asclepius still resides among the stars as the constellation of the serpent bearer.

Dream Healing and the Sacred Imagination

In the Pandemic we are facing collectively, it is so important for each of us to be able to support and strengthen our health responses, and not Panic. One of the means we each have within us to seek healing, is the power of dreams and imagination. The path has been laid before us by Aesculapius, the God of Healing, invoked in the Ancient Dream Healing Temples of  the Greco-Roman World.

I recently lead a retreat on Healing Dreams in Hot Spring, Arkansas in February. Part of our exploration included forest bathing, hiking along trails and rivers, soaking in the Hot Springs Mineral Waters, and creating sacred space to Dream together. One dream that came through for me, was seeing beautiful, clear, large quartz crystal points, growing within my second chakra and into a crystal temple within. I had the feeling at the time, it was a protective restructuring of my energy, in case of a viral outbreak. I did not have a conscious understanding of the coming pandemic at the time, and thought it a strange idea to need protection in that way at the time of the dream. I later read results of a research team lead by Dr. Hyo-Jick Choi, where they are developing salt covered masks, as a preventative and protective measure against Corona Viruses. Tests revealed that Corona viruses are punctured and weakened by the sharp crystalline structure of salt or sugar (Secon, Business Insider Feb. 8, 2020 ).

Incubating healing dreams overnight, as was done in Ancient Dream Healing Temples, was a powerful way to connect each with our inner healer. Sharing dreams together over breakfast opens up our dreams, and the energies held inside. Our insights and actions, create a space for dreams to to take root and healing to happen. Journeying together on conscious shamanic group dream journeys, guided by the drum, with our group healing intention, was a way for each to have a direct experience with divine healing energies. 

Direct experience through dreams and conscious shamanic dream journeys, are one way to engage with these healing potentials, another is to dream on behalf of another, and share a healing dream with them to make it their own. This is known as Dream Transfer, one of the core practices of Active Dreaming. It is a powerful mode of transferring healing energies and potentials held inside a dream. Dreams hold collective energy, and can be shared with others for the purpose of healing with great effect. Robert Moss pioneered Active Dreaming, and he likes to say, “Dreams are a place we can go, not something we have.” When we enter inside another person’s dream, it is a place we are experiencing, and the wisdom of the body also translates this as a real experience.

The Goddess Panacea is a daughter of Aesculapius, and as a Dream Temple Priestess, a potent embodiment of the powers of the mind, and the imagination. Scientific research reflects the Panacea effect often is more promising than the actual medicine. Science has also shown that what we imagine or dream, is translated by the body as a real experience, and the body does not differentiate between if it is a waking embodiment or a imaginal embodiment. The ancients knew one of the secrets to healing, is the dream world is the real world, a place where direct experience with Gods and Goddesses are possible, and primordial healing energies are available. 

 

The Goddess Iaso is known as having the wisdom of Remedy, and another daughter of Aesculapius. She holds a mirror in her hands, reflecting the principle often found in medicine of “like reflects like” in finding the remedy or cure. During this time of disruption and social distancing, self reflection can be a potent healing ally. Invoking Iaso can help restore the natural order of balance and health. It also means to put things right. This can refer to the collective health system, financial markets and political policies, which support the recovery and well being of the country and the globe.

The Goddess Hygeia from where we get the word hygiene, is another daughter of Aesculapius. She has been invoked repeatedly in this Corona Virus pandemic, with the mantra “wash your hands. She holds the healing powers of the serpent, known as sacred by the cult of Aesculapius. The temple priestesses cared for the serpents residing in the Abaton. The transformative energies and wisdom of snake, are known in ancient cultures throughout the world. The venom of serpent, brings forth the medical principle of “changing poison into medicine.” The symbol for the World Health Organization, reveals the staff of Aesculapius.

The God Aesculapius was the Greek God of Healing, and Temples of Dream Healing devoted to him were widespread throughout the ancient Greco-Roman World. He was the son of the God Apollo and Coronis. His mother Coronis, was in the Hyades family (the rainy ones), a sisterhood of nymphs that bring rain. The hyades were daughters of atlas and sisters to the Pleiades and the Hesperides. She fled from Poseidon and was changed into a crow by Athena. 

 

The Cult of Aesculapius made pilgrimage to the Asclepieia, for the purpose of seeking healing remedies and direct visitation from the Gods.  The Abaton was a place one could sleep overnight for the purpose of incubating a healing dream, or a visit from the God Aesculapius or Goddesses of Healing, for direct experience to their healing energies. The animal powers were also present in the form of the Snake, Dog or even Rooster, in connection with the God Aesculapius (Moss, p. 90-93).

 

 

It can be said that perhaps the idea for hospitals, a place one can stay overnight for the purpose of healing, is rooted in the Dream Temples of ancient Greece. The Hippocratic oath comes from Hippocrates, who studied at the Asclepieia at Kos. Across the Western World, the snake wrapped staff of Aesculapius, can still be seen as the symbol for western modern medicine. Perhaps we need to bring back the healing potentials of dream incubation into hospitals in collaboration with healing professionals once again. Aesculapius was very popular, because his approach to healing was available to anyone from anywhere. It was not based on how much money you had, or from what level of society you came. Dreams are also like this, available to all. We all dream each and every night.  

I invite you to enter the Temple of Dream Healing and tap into the healing potentials of a conscious shamanic group dream journey,  guided by the sound of the drum, lead by Active Dream Teacher, Valley Reed.  Become a subscriber to hear future podcasts, and shamanic journeys guided by the drum. https://www.patreon.com/chrysalishealingarts

Sources:

Moss, Robert; The Secret History of Dreaming, (New World Library, 2009)

Secon, Holly; “A biomedical engineer created a mask coated in salt that he says could neutralize viruses like the coronavirus in 5 minutes” Business Insider Magazine, Feb. 8, 2020, Web.

https://www.businessinsider.com/mask-coated-in-salt-neutralizes-viruses-like-coronavirus-2020-2

© Valley Reed 2020

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