Healing and Transformation

The Temple

of

Asclepius

History

Asclepius was the son of Apollo and Coronis. Coronis yielded her love to a mortal, Ischys, the son of Elatus. Apollo killed her, but just as her body was lying on the funeral pyre, Apollo tore the child, still alive from her womb. Thus, Asclepius was born. After his birth, he was entrusted to the Centaur Chiron, who taught him medicine, in which Asclepius developed exceptional skill. He was given the blood which had flowed in the Gorgon's veins by Athena, and while the blood from its left side spread a fatal poison, from the right was beneficial, and Asclepius knew how to use it to restore the dead to life. In his healing , Zeus felt that Asclepius might upset the natural order of life and struck him with the thunderbolt. To avenge him, Apollo killed the Cyclopes. After his death, Asclepius was changed into a constellation (the image of Asclepius himself holding the staff with coiling serpent, or the curative serpent), and became the plant Serpentaria (Snake-root).

In some writings, he is said to have had two children, Podalirius and Machaon, whose names are found in the Illiad. They were the physicians who attended the Greeks at Troy. Other traditions give him a wife Epione and five daughters, Aceso, Iaso, Panacea, Aglaea and Hygieia. While his daughters, through their particular mythology, seem to have been aspects of Asclepius himself, his sons appear to have been born separate from their father, with aspects in their nature more removed from his substance.

The cult of Asclepius was centered on Cos, Epidaurus and Pergamus in the Peloponnese, where a school of medicine flourished. Those seeking a cure from the god slept in his temple upon the branches from the Willow. There , the story goes, the god would visit them in a dream and tell them what course of treatment to undergo. The grateful patients would then throw gold into the fountain at the temple and hang votive offerings, small metal models of that part of the body they wished to be cured, on the temple walls.

The Temple of Asclepius

on The New Road to Eleusis

The Mystagagos of The Temple of Asclepius show great dedication, expertise and growth in their respected fields of specialized therapy; facilitating and assisting in self healing of the body, mind and spirit.

Having shared knowledge and hands-on experience with the Priesthood of Eleusis, Southern california there are a select few within the body of Mystagagos whose modalities synchronize with the path work so unique to Eleusis. As in other guilds where a particular level of experience or accreditation may be required. To accomodate the sensitive nature of the mind-body healing process, they have been invited when and where possible to join in the Temple duties to help smooth out the sometimes rugged path of the Mystai on The Road to Eleusis.

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