The Rod of Asclepius

What the Ancient Greeks Teach Us About Holistic Healthcare

 Medicine Needs a Heart; Psychology Needs a Soul; and Alternative Medicine Sometimes Needs a Brain…

 “The greatest mistake in the treatment of disease is that there are physicians for the body and physicians for the soul, although the two cannot be separated.”  ~Plato

When I say “Psychology needs a soul” and “Medicine needs a heart,” this is what I mean: The word psychology actually means the study of the psyche. The Greek word psyche means soul. So modern psychology ideally is the Study of the Soul. 

Psychology and Medicine should take into consideration that our minds and bodies are not separate entities but are intimately connected and mutually dependent upon each other for overall health and well-being. 

Continual stress or emotional trauma tells the body to create stress chemicals that can break down vital tissues like our brain, nerves, muscles, organs, glands and even bone. A chronic over-production of stress chemicals like cortisol, adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine have a catabolic effect on cells and tissues that break them down and render them dysfunctional. The saying that “stress can eat you up” is certainly true on a cellular level.

 Human beings and their suffering cannot be reduced to quickly ascertained diagnostic codes for the sake of insurance billing. Physiological health issues also affect our emotional and mental states. Physical trauma and pain can over-produce the aforementioned catabolic chemicals which can easily overpower beneficial brain neurotransmitter chemicals like serotonin, GABA, and the human bonding hormone oxytocin that help us relax, trust, feel contentment, and help us feel grateful, happy and generous toward ourselves and other human beings. 

An overabundance of these catabolic chemicals can reduce the production of anabolic chemicals that help repair, restore and build up vital body tissues and initiate good mood chemicals in our brains. These two fundamental parts of our human makeup, the physiological and psychological, should not and cannot be separated as the wholeness of the two is fully integrated into our overall human makeup. 

People usually seek psychological counseling because they are going through universally common human challenges inherent in the human condition. This is the function of the soul, to learn life lessons which will inform growth and evolution. Similarly, modern medicine and medical school education, now largely controlled by profit-driven Big Pharma and huge health insurance companies, are mostly hyper-focused on insurance diagnostic codes and relieving symptoms; but most often don’t address the root cause of our health issues. This is akin to turning off the loud, annoying red fire alarm on the wall but failing to see if there is a fire burning that requires calling the fire department and evacuating the building. While it is helpful and compassionate to relieve symptoms (as long as we are not creating an opioid epidemic!), the underlying cause that goes unaddressed, continues to lurk beneath the surface, potentially bringing the symptoms back or creating other more serious health conditions. 

Of course, financial reimbursement is necessary in order for the psychologist, psychiatrist, counselor or physician to have an income flow, but there are those who see dollar signs before they see the soul who just walked through the door into their office. I’m reminded of the neuropsychologist I once referred a patient to -- he shared with me that he assessed how much the financial worth of the case was to him based upon the seriousness of the person's head injury before he could agree to see them. 

While I have deep respect for psychological counselors, in my personal experience Jungian psychologists are ones who are more likely to take into consideration the psyche or Soul of the person. Within their training is the study of age-old myths which depict the challenges and lessons we humans go through at one time or another. I use the word myth here as stories that represent the universal, common passages we all go through during various stages of life, not as something that used to be true but has been proven false.  

We can read about these myths that represent archetypal aspects of ourselves and the challenges we all face; identify with them, and get a sense of where we are in the progression of our own journey. We’ve all experienced being Sisyphus trying to roll that boulder up the hill during a particularly difficult life stage, only to deal with the frustration and hopelessness of the boulder continually rolling down the hill once again. Most of us have experienced being Icarus flying too close to the sun in our youthful hubris only to have our wings melt as we fall back down to earth with egg on our face…or worse. We all go through the Labors of Hercules on some level.

The Greek myth that has influenced my personal and professional life the most is the Myth of Asklepios. (Asklepios is the Greek spelling. Aesculapius or Asclepius is the Roman spelling.)

As the story goes, Asklepios was originally a mortal prince and physician who learned the healing arts from Chiron. In other versions he was the son of the god Apollo, the god of light, medicine and music. Nonetheless, he started out as a mortal with high level healing skills and became very famous. He set up healing centers throughout Greece, Asia Minor, and Rome. The pioneering ancient physician Galen called Asklepios the "first psychiatrist." Pindar declared that Asklepios carried out healing with “words which can alleviate men’s tormented souls.”

Asklepios was, among other healing skills, an advanced practitioner of snake healing, particularly the inner transformation of poisons and indentity transformations symbolized by shedding of one’s old skin and entering a stage of renewal and rebirth; perhaps with clearer communication between personality and soul and better values to live by. Asklepios’ healing ability became legendary and his story spread to such a degree that he was eventually adopted as the healing god of the Greeks and Romans.

The symbol of Asklepios is represented by a staff around which a single, great snake winds.  The single snake wrapped around the staff is called the Rod of Asclepius (Roman spelling). Most physicians consider the Rod of Asclepius to be the correct and authentic symbol of medicine. Some confusion arose when in the early 1900s the U.S. Army erroneously used the Rod of Hermes (two snake wrapped around a rod with wings) to represent their medical unit.

The healing symbol seen in most modern hospitals and medical offices today, is the Rod of Asclepius. His spirit still resonates and vibrates through that symbol, calling for us to wake up and treat the whole person, body and soul with reverence and respect. Even though his symbol is seen almost everywhere, we haven’t fully recognized Asklepios and the holistic approach to healing he stands for in a very long time.

Many physicians do not know that holistic medicine, integrative healing, or functional medicine are not new ideas or occurrences. For 900 years (from about 600 BC to 300 AD) there were about 320 holistic healing sanctuaries all throughout Greece, Asia Minor all the way to Rome. These healing centers were called Asklepions. A patient would come for mind-body-soul healing. They were taught integrative self-care that included eating nutritious foods, proper exercise, adequate rest and sleep, and proper thinking. They were given healing waters, most likely lithium or sulfur water that flowed at the locations the Asklepions were located.

The main Asklepion in Epidaurus, Greece had a great 14,000 seat amphitheater where people could witness the Greek Tragedy plays. This amphitheater was built in 400 BC. The remains of that amphitheater still stand today. Beginning in 400 BC, the followers of Asklepios’ healing ways could experience communal catharsis by releasing grief, anger and other emotions that were stuck in their bodies causing dis-ease, while they witnessed these epic tragedy plays. 

But perhaps the most unusual and important offerings in these Asklepions that addressed the psyche were the dream incubations in which the person went through purification and fasting and then were put into a crypt-like container where they waited for powerful dreams to give them healing and soul guidance. Once their dream incubation experience was complete, the person was removed from their dream sarcophagus and they consulted with one of the Asklepion physician-priests to help interpret their dreams and shed the remaining skins of their worn-out identity. 

Hence integrative/holistic healing was created and initiated thousands of years ago, but in our hurried, profit-driven modern age, we seem to have largely lost the vision and implementation of  treating the whole person that Askelepios brought forth almost three thousand years ago.

 I think our loss of Asklepios’ vision of human wholeness is the predominant reason that the United States has the most costly and bloated healthcare (sick care) delivery system in the world yet is ranked dead last among wealthy industrialized countries in the quality of healthcare delivery. This being true even though most of the other eleven wealthiest countries provide government sponsored universal health care. Here in the West, we universally use the symbol of the rod of Asklepios but largely reject his holistic treatment strategies. Much to our detriment.

Better technology, cutting-edge surgeries, highly advertised drug industry offerings, telemedicine and now AI medicine, while sometimes life-saving and miraculous, do not address the “soul-sickness” that can be seen almost everywhere.

Modern mechanized, impersonal medicine tends to value profit, efficiency and symptomatic relief over helping people feel seen, heard and personally cared for. Being treated callously in a place that one visits for healing and reassurance increases the epidemic of loneliness that too many people suffer. Alienated, lonely people tend to tear at the fabric of our society in many ways, and at great cost.

There are about 14 million doctors on our planet, about 30 million nurses, and over 8 billion humans here on Earth. If my math is close to being correct, this translates into these doctors being able to treat about 1% of the Earth's population 1% of the time. We need healthcare professionals to learn and teach integrative self-care now more than ever!

We’ll talk more about Asklepios and many of my impressions of allopathic medicine; modern psychology; modern pharmaceutical companies; the value of vitamins, minerals, herbs and what to avoid; Chinese medicine; and what I think is highly effective and sometimes tragically misguided about “alternative medicine” in future posts.

Thanks for reading! So much more to come…

DR

 References:

(1)  The Practice of Dream Healing/Bringing Ancient Greek Mysteries into Modern Medicine. Quest Books 2001 author Jungian psychologist Dr. Ed Tick

Dr. Tick is an extremely knowledgeable Jungian Psychologist who also leads pilgrimages to various Asklepions in Greece including going to the remains of the Asklepion and great amphitheater at Epidaurus, Greece. 

(2)     U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2022: Accelerating Spending, Worsening Outcomes

Commonwealth fund publications January 31^st, 2023

In the previous edition of U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, we reported that people in the United States experience the worst health outcomes overall of any high-income nation.¹ Americans are more likely to die younger, and from avoidable causes, than residents of peer countries.

• Health care spending, both per person and as a share of GDP, continues to be far higher in the United States than in other high-income countries. Yet the U.S. is the only country that doesn’t have universal health coverage.

• The U.S. has the lowest life expectancy at birth, the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions, the highest maternal and infant mortality, and among the highest suicide rates.

• The U.S. has the highest rate of people with multiple chronic conditions and an obesity rate nearly twice the OECD average.

• Americans see physicians less often than people in most other countries and have among the lowest rate of practicing physicians and hospital beds per 1,000 population.

(3)  World Health Organization Assesses the World's Health Systems  Feb 7, 2000

The U.S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance, the report finds. The United Kingdom, which spends just six percent of GDP on health services, ranks 18th. Several small countries – San Marino, Andorra, Malta and Singapore are rated close behind second- placed Italy.

(4)  Ranking 37th — Measuring the Performance of the U.S. Health Care System

          New England Journal of Medicine Published January 14, 2010 VOL. 362 NO. 2

(5)  Stunning New Report Ranks U.S. Dead Last in Health Care Among Richest Countries-Despite Spending the Most 

Changing America August 6, 2021

·       The report analyzed 71 health care performance measures under five categories.

·       Norway, the Netherlands and Australia were the top-performing countries overall, with the U.S. coming in dead last.

·       The U.S. ranked last on access to care, administrative efficiency, equity and health care outcomes despite spending 17 percent of GDP on health care.

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