Dream Yourself Awake Part 2

After writing Dream Yourself Awake Part 1, I decided to dedicate some blog space to Asklepios, a Greek physician who lived around 1200 BC. In spite of having a tricky name to pronounce, Asklepios eventually became deified as the god of healing and medicine. He's often depicted as a kindly bearded man holding a serpent-entwined staff. This staff is still used today as a symbol for medicine, often confused with the caduceus--a rod etwined by two snakes and topped with wings. The caduceus is an ancient symbol for Hermes, the god of commerce and theft (I'll leave that interesting screw-up to your imagination, lest I get distracted!).

We know of over 320 Asklepian Medical Sanctuaries in Ancient Greece that housed dream alcoves, wherein ill people would enter with intentions of finding cures for whatever ailed them. Thousands of testimonies report cures delivered in the dream realm over the span of 2,000 years, with people repeatedly saying they were visited by the deceased Asklepios. I like the idea of dream healing for a number of reasons--first is the idea that entering one's internal universe brings remedy. Our Inner Constellation is that universe, but it's not limited only to this waking, tangible world. Second, help is not limited to living, breathing people but includes beings who have passed from physical form. I see no better physician than energy itself, working on one's Inner Constellation when we grant permission to do so. Next time you go to sleep, consider dreaming a cure for whatever ails you.