Holistic Healing Centers in Ancient Greece

Holistic Healing Centers

Did you know that centers devoted to holistic healing were built and operated in Ancient Greece between 500 BC and 500 AC? Among these are the Epidaurus in the Peloponnese, the island of Kos, Agrigento in present-day Italy, and Pergamon in present-day Turkey. In Epidaurus, three large marble boards from 350 BC include the names, case histories, and cures of about 70 patients. Temples dedicated to holistic treatment were also built in places like Athens and Rome.

Those centers functioned as temples, hospitals, centers of medical advice, prognosis, and spiritual and holistic healing, as well as medical research facilities. The temples were mostly built in nature, and were used for relaxation, providing a peaceful retreat for solace and spiritual connection. Water played a significant role in the construction of the sanctuaries, which were centered on sacred springs. The centers included baths, accommodations, hospital, theater, library, and places for exercise. In the temples, dogs served as messengers between the gods and people as well as healers and protectors.

In order to foster mental and emotional stability and positivism, the patient was seen in carefully chosen areas, utilizing the natural setting. After that, there were two phases to the therapeutic processes: the Katharsis, also known as the Purification stage, and the Dream Therapy stage in the Abatons. The patients would take a bath, fast, detox with a healthy diet and herbs, and make flower and food offerings. In dreams, they received guidance from the deity, and based on those dreams would be prescribed cures by the priests and doctors. The patients then went to the temple, which had a circular shape so that they could walk in procession and pray. Treatments included psychotherapy, massage, herbal remedies, mud and bathing treatments, surgeries, the drinking of sacred water among others.

Healings centers dedicated to Asclepius and his father Apollo, shown by red dots

Asklepios, also spelled Asclepius

The Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus built around the fourth century BC in the Peloponnese region of Greece, was the main site for holy pilgrimage from the ancient world. Askelpios was the principal deity of the center. Asklepios was regarded in the tales as the son of mortal woman and God. His mother was Koronis, and his father was Apollo, the Greek deity of healing, light, prophecy, and art. Children of Asklepios were committed to the therapeutic side of medicine. His daughters were: Iaso, which means recovery and recuperation; Aceso, which means the healing process; Aegle, which means lively health; Panacea, which means universal remedy; and Hygieia, which means prevention through cleanliness and balanced living. Both of his sons became active physicians, with Machaon specializing in surgery and Podalirius in internal medicine. Although Homer merely describes Asklepios as a talented physician and the father of two Greek physicians at Troy, Machaon, and Podalirius in the Iliad, published c. 800 BC, he was later hailed as a hero and finally came to be seen as a god of healing. It is said that Askelpois used to collect healing herbs like wild rose, wild thyme, and wild oregano on the “Asclepius Path” along the Mount Kerketion, near Meteora. In Plato’s Republic, Asklepios is cited by Socrates (c. 470 -399 BC)  as an example of the ideal physician- one who treats the soul as well as the body.

Asklepios was an outstanding healer, capable of healing miracles, but he went beyond his divine bounds by resurrecting the dead because of his compassion for humanity. Although it demonstrated his generosity, this deed was viewed as a sign of weakness since it called into question Zeus’ authority, which ultimately resulted in his demise. The milkweed plant is scientifically named Asclepias in honour of Asklepios, reflecting his association with healing and medicine. Milkweed is the only plant that Monarch caterpillars eat.

The temple of Askelpois had a theater, which was used for the healing of the soul

Greek Physicians

The Greek physician Hippocrates of Kos (c. 460 – 370 BC) practiced at the Asklepios temple in Kos. The renowned Hippocratic Oath, which is currently in use in a modified form, began with: “I swear by Apollo the physician, and Asclepius, and Hygieia and Panacea and all the gods and goddesses as my witnesses, that, according to my ability and judgement, I will keep this Oath and this contract:…” The Greek physician Galen (129 – 216 AC) practiced in the Askelpios temple in Pergamon.

Pythagoras (c. 571 to c. 497 BC) established the first community-based science and spirituality school in ancient Greece in Croton c. 530 BC, today Crotona in Italy. His student Alcmaeon (c. 520 BC) is credited with advanced medical knowledge. Aristotle (c. 384 – 322 BC) wrote in the Metaphysics “For Alcmaeon was a young man in Pythagoras’ old age, and his system was pretty much like theirs”. In addition to his well-known mathematical theorem, Pythagoras developed a way of life that included simple communal living and clothing, vegetarianism, meditation, sound healing, walks in nature, exercise, the idea of the immortality of the soul, reincarnation, past-life regression therapy, and school of science, and spirituality for women and men. Pythagoreans believed that eating animals undermines our divine nature. By failing to show justice to the animal, humans diminish themselves. Pythagoras liked to be referred to as a philosopher rather than a sage, and he created the term from the words philos, which means love, and sophia, which means wisdom. It’s said that Plato (c. 424 to 348 BC) established the Academy in Athens based on the Pythagorean teachings that he collected on his travels.

Doctor Hippocrates practiced at the Asklepios healing temple on the island of Kos

The birth of Pythagoras and his enormous contributions to humanity were said to be foretold by the Oracle of Delphi. Pythia, also known as the Oracle of Delphi, was a priestess who presided over the Delphinian temple of Pytho, which was devoted to the Greek god Apollo. Because Pythia was said to be in a dreamy trance and channeled Apollo’s prophecies, she was highly respected. The women of Pythias were probably well-educated, well-read, and from higher social classes. In order to predict the future, the Oracle would sometimes enter a divine trance. Soldiers, generals, and kings from various nations journeyed great distances to see the Delphic prophetess. In Greek mythology, Zeus sent two eagles to search for the earth’s center from the summit of Mount Olympus. The eagles finally met in Delphi after a lengthy flight. The Greeks used an omphalos, or navel, to designate the space. About 650 BC the first temple of Apollo was built at Delphi. During the Mycenaean period (1600–1100 BC), the temple at Delphi was believed to be devoted to the Goddess Gaia or Mother Earth.

Physician Aetius writes: “Alcmaeon holds that what preserves health is the equality [isonomia] of the powers — moist and dry, cold and hot, bitter and sweet and the rest — and the supremacy [monarchia] of any one of them causes disease; for the supremacy of either is destructive. The cause of disease is an excess of heat or cold; the occasion of it surfeit or deficiency of nourishment; the location of it blood, marrow or the brain. Disease may come about from external causes, from the quality of water, local environment or toil or torture. Health, on the other hand, is a harmonious blending of the qualities.”

Those principles were applied in the theories of Hippocrates representing the excess of elements- earth, water, fire and air. Hippocratic Humors:

• Blood: air whose properties were warmth and humidity.
• Yellow bile: fire whose qualities were warmth and dryness.
• Phlegm: water whose properties are cold and humidity.
• Black bile: earth whose properties were cold and dryness.

Galen described the following types of temperaments:

• Sanguine, air: social butterflies, creative and optimistic. Could be hysterical and pleasure seeking.
• Choleric, fire: ambitious and bold leaders. Could be obsessive and overly competitive.
• Phlegmatic, water: calm and friendly. Could be insensitive and revengeful.
• Melancholic, earth: thoughtful and reserved. Could be depressed and unstable.

Galen benefited from Dioscorides (40 – 90 AC) De Materia Medica, describing over 600 plants, and their uses. Doctors maintained gardens with plants associated with a specific humor throughout Europe. They thought that by ingesting carefully prepared herbal cures made of stems, leaves, fruits, and nuts, patients might entirely recover their bodies.

Closure of the Ancient Mediterranean Holistic Centers c. 500 AC

The ancient Greeks’ teachings are the source of Christianity’s belief in an everlasting soul

It is believed that in the first century AC, the apostle Paul wrote his first and second letters to the Corinthians from Corinth, Greece and that at the cave on the Greek island of Patmos, the apostle John saw visions that he documented in the Book of Revelation. Since Christians were viewed as a sect of Judaism, the Roman Emperor Nero put the apostle Peter and other Christians to death at the foot of Vatican Hill in the first century AC. Having embraced Christianity with the Edict of Milan in 313, Roman Emperor Constantine I began constructing a basilica over St. Peter’s tomb in 324, which marks the start of the Vatican as the seat of the Catholic Church. In the Christian scripture, Jesus is the son of God and a mortal woman, who performed healing miracles, raised people from the dead, and posed a threat to the authorities, leading to his demise. There is no reference to Asklepios, Pythagoras, or Jesus’s contemporary Apollonius of Tyana, who used a hand placement to heal people. Although Pythagoras’ concept of an immortal soul was adopted into Christian doctrine, reincarnation was only alluded to in passing in concepts of resurrection and the Second Coming.

In 428 BC, Roman Emperor Theodosius II ordered closure of Epidaurus sanctuary. The centers of holistic healing in ancient Greece and Asklepios were forgotten, but an idea of holistic mind-body therapy, with baths, detox, massages, herbs, diet, exercises, nature, and spiritual practices was carried over to Asia under Ayurveda and later Tibetan medicine.

With extraordinary powers, the serpent sprang from the earth in the sixth century BC and shielded the Shakyamuni Buddha from the storm by enveloping him in a large umbrella. The serpent preserved teachings on enlightenment, which is the liberation from rebirths. Asklepois received access to sacred information from a serpent centuries before the Buddha. Pythagoras, a contemporary of the Buddha taught his students how to break the cycle of reincarnations by practicing meditation and developing oneself via disciplined spiritual lifestyle. The trident, which was first used to represent the Greek god Poseidon in Ancient Greece around 1500 BC, later came to represent Shiva in Hinduism. According to Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, Guru Padmasambhava, also called Guru Rinpoche, held a trident in the eighth century AC. Yeshe Tsogyal, Padmasambhava’s consort and perhaps the first enlightened Tibetan Buddhist, was credited with reviving the dead, like Askelpios over 1,500 years before her. Yuthok the Elder, who is credited with founding Tibetan medicine in the eighth century, benefited from the teachings of the Greek physician Galen, whose students visited Tibet, and transferred the ancient Greek medicine knowledge. Herbal cures, circular stupas, dream interpretation, and purification are all aspects of Tibetan medicine that are similar to those at the Asklepios healing centers.

During the Mycenaean era, two lions gate was built in ancient Greece. Later on, two white lions came to symbolize the Buddha Vairocana, who turns the wheel of dharma. The thunderbolt was a particular weapon of the Greek god Zeus. In Tibetan dorje, vajra, a symbol of Buddha Akshobhya, known as thunderbolt was used to represent the Oracle of Delphi stone that marked the center of the world. The lifestyle of Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns is similar to that of the Pythagoreans and ancient Greeks, right down to the way they dress, which consists of a scarf slung over the left shoulder. To advance in Tibetan meditation, one needs to have faith in its teachings and advantages, and eliminate any doubt that stands in the way. The Tibetan Lamas require their students to make a vow of refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sanga, along with occasionally other vows, in order to acquire specific empowerments. A pledge and refuge in Babaji, are additional prerequisites for the Babaji Kriya yoga path. Those vows and pledges are quite similar in principle to Asklepius oath. Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism place a strong emphasis on the rebirth of mind consciousness or soul reincarnation, in contrast to Christianity, which has eliminated the concept of reincarnation that dates back to Pythagoras and Plato. For instance, Pythagoras and Asklepios mind consciousness might have been reborn as Padmasambhava and Yuthok, respectively, according to those traditions.

The belief in the divinity of dogs as a mediator between the divine and human is the foundation of the dog celebration at Nepal’s Kukur Tihar festival. According to the Mahabharata, a dog allowed Yudhistira from the Pandavas to enter into heaven. Dog is also thought to be associated with Dattatreya and Bhairava. Bhairava is the embodiment of the Supreme Reality in Kashmir Shaivism. Bhairava is seen in Vajrayana Buddhism as a wrathful manifestation of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of wisdom. Dattatreya is regarded as simultaneously embodying the qualities of Shiva (transformation), Vishnu (preservation), and Brahma (creation). Dogs had similar functions at the Askelpios centers.

Numerous medical societies use the Rod of Asclepius as their emblem, and the World Health Organization uses it as their logo. It features a single serpent wound around a rod, representing transformation and unity, and is based on a myth that Asklepios received the sacred knowledge of healing and immortality from a serpent. According to biblical legend, a bronze serpent was entwined around Moses’ bronze staff. The Rod of Asclepius is sometimes mistaken for the Caduceus emblem, which has two snakes and wings on top, and which is tied to the Greek god Hermes, connected with the underworld and the souls of the dead.

One can’t help but wonder if Socrates would have concluded that the way our present society thinks and functions is completely absurd after he asked his direct, insightful, and logical questions. In Athens, Socrates engaged in discussion with everyone who wanted to talk to him. Because he made his conversation partners face their ignorance on a topic they claimed to grasp, he frequently left them feeling agitated. Despite his perceived lack of wisdom, the Oracle of Delphi declared Socrates the wisest person in Athens. Following the criminal trial, in which he was defending himself with a famous phrase “the unexamined life is not worth living”, Socrates was put to death by hemlock poison for corrupting Athens’ young and disrespecting polytheistic Greek gods by citing the concept of a monotheistic God. There are numerous applications of Socrates conversational analytical meditation questions in today’s world.

Death of Socrates in Athens