Man is a fragile and vulnerable creature. Viruses and bacteria, injuries and their consequences - danger awaits everywhere, and at any moment life can be in jeopardy. That is why there has always been a special attitude towards people who are able to alleviate other people's suffering, drive away an illness, heal from wounds. They were respected, worshiped, and sometimes even deified.
SON OF APOLLO
So, for example, it happened with the legendary Asclepius - the king of Thessaly, a famous healer who lived in the XII century BC. Asclepius and his sons - Machaon and Podalirius - are mentioned in Homer's Iliad. However, according to legend, all the children of Asclepius were engaged in healing. Panakey's daughter - with medicinal treatment, Machaon was an outstanding military surgeon, Podalirius specialized in internal medicine, and, in addition, it was he who correctly diagnosed the distraught Ajax.
The son of Asclepius Telesphorus healed people with the help of magic, the daughter of Hygieia was engaged in the prevention of diseases. They all took over the healing gift of their father, who, as the legends say, was the son of Apollo himself! Which, in principle, is understandable: how could a mere mortal possess such incredible abilities? Apollo, the god of wisdom, music and beauty, brought his son to a connoisseur of medicinal herbs, the centaur Chiron.
Asclepius learned to prepare medicinal ointments and drinks. With the help of suggestion and sacred melodies, he introduced patients into a trance, so that the treatment was painless. People considered it a miracle: they plunged into sleep, tormented by terrible ailments, and woke up vigorous and healthy. Asclepius managed to heal warriors from wounds, relieve people from pain in muscles and joints, heal diseases of the heart, liver, stomach, conquer infertility and male impotence.
The Greeks were so shocked by his success in the art of healing that they began to attribute to the healer truly fantastic opportunities, for example, the resurrection of the dead. Myths tell that Athena presented a special medicine as a gift to Asclepius - the blood of the Gorgon Medusa: the blood from the veins on the left side had a revitalizing effect, from the right side - a destructive one.
And then Asclepius began to kidnap the dead from the kingdom of Hades and revive them to life. The god of the underworld complained about the impudent doctor to Zeus, and he, in anger, struck Asclepius with lightning. But then, listening to the regrets of people and gods, he resurrected the son of Apollo, taking from him an oath never to revive the dead again. So Asclepius returned to life, achieved incredible success in his business and became the god of healing.
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In the VI-V centuries BC in Greece, temples were erected in his honor - the Asclepion. These were not just sanctuaries, but whole health complexes with saunas, pools with mineral water, stadiums, groves. And the largest even had libraries and theaters!
The treatment was accompanied by ritual ceremonies and animal sacrifices. The priests-healers attached particular importance to sleep. In the temples of Asclepius, no one doubted that this is the best medicine. The patients fell asleep right on the floor, on the skins of sacrificial animals. In a dream, Asclepius was supposed to appear to them to tell them how to overcome the disease.
Researchers believe that the priests put patients to sleep using hypnosis and special infusions, and then performed operations and medical procedures. During the excavations, a huge number of tablets were found with a brief description of the "case histories". One of them read: “Ambrosia from Athens, blind in one eye, came seeking help from God; walking through the sanctuary, she scoffed at the stories of healings.
It seemed to her untrue, incredible and impossible that the lame and the blind could be healed by dreams alone. However, she also had a dream. It seemed to her that God had come to her and promised to heal her, but on the condition that she donates a gift to the temple by vow; while she should bring a silver pig as a gift as a memory of her stupidity. After such a speech, the god took out her sore eye and poured balm. When day came, the blind woman woke up healthy."
In the sanctuaries of Asclepius, archaeologists have found many images of human organs and body parts made of marble, ivory, wood, gold and silver. They were probably brought to the temples in gratitude for their healing. A similar tradition existed among other peoples. In Russia, for example, until the 19th century in Orthodox churches one could find silver teeth suspended from the icon of St. Antipius: people believed that this great martyr helped to get rid of a toothache.
CROSS AND SWORD
Another church-recognized healer, Saint Panteleimon, is considered the patron saint of soldiers and doctors. He was born in Nicomedia in the family of a noble pagan and Christian. The mother dreamed of converting her son to Christianity, but she died when he was still very young. The father sent the boy to a pagan school, and then sent him to study the medical business to the well-known doctor Euphrosin in those years.
However, after a few years Pantoleon (this name, meaning "lion in everything," he received at birth) himself came to God. This happened after the young man saw a dead child on the street, bitten by a viper. Pantoleon began to pray to Christ for the resurrection of the innocent and the killing of the poisonous animal, deciding to himself: if the Lord hears his prayers, he will be baptized. And a moment later the child came to life, and the echidna shattered into pieces in front of Pantoleon's eyes!
The young man was baptized with the name Panteleimon ("all-merciful") and soon began to heal people. The news of a talented young man who can heal almost all ailments quickly spread throughout the country. Stories about how Panteleimon gives people strength and health were passed from mouth to mouth. He raised even hopeless patients to their feet, conquered viral and chronic diseases, healed ulcers and even restored vision.
Naturally, the pagan doctors did not need such a competitor, and they reported to Emperor Maximilian that Panteleimon was treating Christian prisoners for free. The emperor persuaded the talented healer to renounce the faith, refute the denunciation and bow to idols, but Panteleimon did not agree. He invited Maximilian to arrange a test: to bring a terminally ill person and see who would heal him - he or the pagan priests.
The imperial doctors could do nothing to help the dying man, but Panteleimon brought him back to life. Then Maximilian got angry and ordered to betray the Christian healer to cruel torments. They burned Panteleimon with candles, wheeled, doused with hot tin, thrown into the sea with a stone around his neck - but he remained unharmed and did not give up his faith. The emperor gave orders to throw him to be torn apart by wild animals, but they did not touch the saint and began to lick his feet.
As a final argument, Maximilian ordered to behead Panteleimon. He was taken to the place of execution and tied to an olive tree. According to legend, when the martyr's head was cut off, milk flowed from the wound, and the tree was immediately covered with fruits. The body of Panteleimon, thrown into the fire, was not touched by the fire, and the believers were able to bury him according to Christian tradition.
THE GIFT OF THE MOTHER OF GOD
By the grace of God, the Monk Seraphim of Sarov explained his healing gift, who himself more than once found himself on the verge of life and death. As a child, little Prokhor Moshnin (that was the name of the future ascetic in the world) fell from the bell tower, but by some miracle survived. When the boy was ten, he became seriously ill. Relatives almost lost hope, but the mother, continuing to believe in a miracle, put her son to the icon of the Mother of God "The Sign" - and soon, to everyone's surprise, he fully recovered!
As an adult, Prokhor decided to devote himself to serving God and entered a monastery. Two years later, he again fell seriously ill. Doctors diagnosed dropsy: the whole body of the future saint was swollen, he could not move without assistance, day by day he was getting worse. And so, when his condition reached a critical point, Prokhor unexpectedly refused treatment and any help, saying that he relied entirely on the mercy of God.
Many years later, he explained why he made this decision. On that day, he had a vision of the Mother of God, accompanied by the apostles John and Peter. "This is our kind!" - ordered the Mother of God and touched the right thigh of the sick young man with her rod. The next morning he opened a wound (in the same place!), From which a lot of fluid flowed out. A trace of her remained for life, but this saved the young man from a serious illness. Soon he finally recovered, and after a while he got so strong that he could become a hermit, live in the forest, observing austerity and doing hard physical labor.
Once, when Seraphim was chopping wood, robbers attacked him. They demanded money, which he did not have. They did not believe it and began to beat him. Seraphim could fight them back, but only folded his arms on his chest and said: "Do what you need."
… After seven days the ascetic got out of the forest. Doctors considered that his chances of recovery were negligible: "The head is broken, the ribs are broken, the chest is trampled, the whole body is covered with mortal wounds, his face and hands are beaten, and several teeth are knocked out."
And yet they tried to help the elder, but this time he refused. The Mother of God appeared to him again. First, she turned to the doctors with the words: "Why are you working?" And then, looking at Seraphim, she said the already familiar: "This is our kind!" By evening, Seraphim felt much better.
In 1823, ten years before his death, the monk began to heal the sick. "Not by their own will, but by the grace of the Mother of God, after many years of deed of living in the wilderness, seclusion, spiritual perfection and the acquisition of humility." No one could understand how the elder manages to heal the hopelessly sick with just a touch and prayer. Once a girl was brought to him, who had not been able to walk for two years. The elder read a prayer over her, anointed her legs with oil - and the girl got up and walked away, as if nothing had happened!
Hernias and fibroids disappeared in people who turned to the elder, diseases of the legs and internal organs, ulcers and nervous ailments disappeared. Infertile women gave birth to healthy children, epilepsy patients got rid of seizures forever. But Seraphim was not surprised at anything, because he was sure: the gift of healing was given to him by the Mother of God. And he also said: "Take away sin - and diseases will go away, for they are given to us for sins." In other words, it is not the body that needs to be healed, but the soul.
Margarita IONOVA
COMMENTS BIOENERGOTHERAPIST ALEXANDER MOROZ:
At all times there were people who had a special connection with the Cosmos. In a completely incomprehensible way, they healed the sick, returned people strength and health, gave happiness and harmony. Many tried to unravel the mystery of their gift, but nothing came of it. No wonder: after all, a miracle cannot be explained, and it is not necessary.
Seraphim of Sarov, as noted in the article, healed not the body, but the soul - and people were healed of the most serious ailments! Other great healers of the past have done the same. And it doesn't matter what methods they used in doing this: hypnosis, magical rituals, the power of words or energy correction. All these methods help to mobilize the internal reserves of the body and start the processes of self-regulation.
As a result, a person transforms, begins to literally radiate positive and attract the energies of good, health, well-being and success. From the outside, it seems like a miracle, but such miracles happen not only in myths and legends, but also in real life. And much more often than you might imagine.