The Healing Power of Mythic Symbols
There are many ancient mythical symbols that are thought to have healing power. Every ancient culture, every religion, every belief system has its mythical and mystical symbols. these have all been used for healing the body as well as the soul. It is only possible in this article to touch on a few such symbols.
Egypt
There are many Egyptian myth and religious symbols. Some were more important in different Egyptian eras. The Pharaohs themselves were thought to be gods and therefore were powerful mythic symbols. Their tombs (pyramids) and their statues were imbued with the power of the man himself. The sun was a powerful symbol for life and for healing. Osiris was the sun god as well as Ra. The ankh was a symbol that represented life. Each of the many gods and goddesses had their particular specialty when it came to healing and bringing other help to supplicants. Each had their own symbols as well.
Hebrews The Hebrews were enjoined not to worship idols. Nevertheless they had their symbols of power. The greatest of these was the Ark of the Covenant. Once built, this holiest of holy objects followed the Hebrews wherever they went. Before that, Moses used the staff of Aaron to do his little tricks before Pharaoh. Another powerful symbol used by the Hebrews and modern day Jews is the Star of David. This can be found on temples and religious clothing and of course in many Jewish households.
Greeks/Romans
The Romans borrowed many of their gods and goddesses from the Greeks. They gave them Roman names and claimed them as their own. These gods/goddesses each had their own talents and powers. One prayed to a specific god/goddess depending on your needs. But the Greeks had specific healing gods who were specialists in that arena. There were many Greek god/goddesses and a surprising number of them had healing powers. I will only mention those most familiar to the general public.
Paean was the physician to the gods. His name is connected to the concept of singing praises. Panacea was a healing goddess. Her name is obviously attached to the idea of some kind of cure-all. Apollo is the sun god and his twin sister Artemis is the moon goddess. he is said to have healing powers. Perhaps the best known healing god during the time of ancient Greece was Asklepios (Roman Aesculapius). You will see a number of other spellings for the Greek name.
At the height of his worship there were hundreds of dream temples dedicated to his name throughout Greece. The ill would travel to these dream temples, sometimes a trip of many days. They would fast and abstain from liquor and sex. They would sacrifice to the god; doves if they were poor, sheep if they were wealthy. But getting into the temple was not easy. The supplicant would first need to have a dream in which the god invites them into the temple. The priests would decide if the dream was a genuine invitation and if so, the supplicant would be allowed to sleep in the temple. Graffiti found on these temples bear testimony to those who found healing through this experience.
The Greeks and Romans used symbols for healing as every culture did but they also used the likeness of their gods and goddesses for their healing power. Unlike the Hebrews, the Greeks and Romans loved their idols.
Healing Temples It should be mentioned that many ancient cultures had healing temples. There were healing temples in Egypt and all over the ancient world, including China. Most of these were associated with a specific healing god or goddess and most were run by priests. The rituals for each was different but all had rituals that would lead to the healing experience. Of interest, the way that healing took place depended on the beliefs of the culture. As mentioned above, Greek supplicants to Asklepios usually were healed by their dream. When the Romans swiped Asklepios they believes that the dream would bring some healing remedy that would then lead to a healing.
Christianity
The major symbol of Christianity is the cross. This is an ancient symbol that predates Christianity and is found in many ancient societies. The cross is thought, by devout Christians, to have powerful healing properties. Many saints of the Catholic church have been thought to be healers and objects touched by such saints can have healing properties. In the early centuries of Christianity there was a brisk business in relics. These relics were thought to have healing powers because they were connected to Christ or the disciples. One could buy a piece of the true cross. Of course there were enough pieces of the true cross available to build a large ship. One could buy pieces of the bones of the disciples or saints.
In modern times we have places like Lourdes with its healing waters. Many other places claim waters with healing power. Some preachers claim the same power to heal that Jesus had. Any genuine healing that occur are probably due to the symbolic power of the experience.
Modern Symbols of Healing It may be assumed that the most powerful symbols of healing are from the mythic and mystic past, from cultures around the world and from every religious tradition. But that would be a mistake. The present is filled with healing symbols if we just pay attention and notice them when we see them. In fact it can be said that human beings are primarily symbol-makers. We are, as Marilyn Schlitz of the Institute of Noetic Science calls us, "Creatures of meaning."
The most obvious place where we can find healing symbols is every night in our dreams. If we are sick or even have an impending illness, our dreams are very likely to give us an early warning. If our illness is full-blown,our dreams will give us symbols to help us heal. but we must recognize those symbols and utilize them.
We can also get symbols in meditation or visualization. My wife suffered from asthma. I did a visualization with her and she got a symbol to counteract her asthma. Whenever she has an asthma attack, she only needs to call up here symbol in her mind's eye and the attack stops immediately. (Of course sometimes she can't remember her symbol.)
A friend of mine was a seminary student and was doing an internship with a chaplain in a local hospital. A young man was in the hospital following a serious motorcycle accident. His spine was broken but they couldn't give him medications to relieve the pain because it could cause more severe problems. The young man was very religious. My friend asked him what the pain felt like. He said it was like a big nail had been driven into his spine. She then asked if there was anyone who could remove the nail. He immediately said, "Jesus." My friend told him to imagine Jesus removing the nail. He did so and the pain immediately went away.
The Healing Power of Symbols
A book could be written on the power of symbols for healing. Maybe it has been written. In any case, symbols have more of an impact on our daily lives than most of us realize. We like to think of ourselves as rational creatures but we are buffeted about by symbols every day. Just look at advertising as one big example.
And symbols can be healing. It doesn't really matter if they are ancient mythical or mystical symbols or symbols from your own dreams or imagination. Symbols have the power to make any changes we want in our lives, including physical, emotional, or spiritual healing. The imagination creates symbols and symbols stimulate the imagination. Imagination is the realm of magic. Turn your imagination loose and see what you can accomplish.