Practice of Dream Healing

Asklepios was the gentle Greek god of healing. Like Christ, he was said to have walked the earth performing miracle cures. His medicine was practiced by priests known as therapeutes (the first "therapists") who interpreted patients' dreams in which the god gave advice. The results, as documented in literature and in thousands of ancient testimonies, reveal the root of modern medical science and psychotherapy. In this classic work, psychotherapist and Greek scholar Dr. Edward Tick explores the god as an archetype of the divine physician symbolizing the Self. What he discovers restores the foundation for a truly holistic medicine. First he transports us through myth and history on an imaginal pilgrimage based on his journeys with patients to ancient Greek healing sites, where they recreate the dream incubation ceremonies once held in Asklepian temples. Then from case studies he crafts practical methods that today's healing professionals and lay readers can use anywhere, with or without the help of specialists. His radical model shows how consulting rooms, hospitals, and any place of rest can become sanctuaries for the recovery of the whole person.