By Edward Tick
Quest Books, 2001.
ISBN-13 : 978-0835607995
318 Pages.
As Dr Tick clarifies:
“Dreaming was once both a mystery and a method for exploring the Great Mysteries. In the ancient world dreams were not shadow plays that really meant something else. Rather, dreaming was a primary activity of the soul. Dream stories were events that occurred to the soul in a living, otherworldly dimension. Interpretation did not tell what dreams really meant. Rather, like unraveling an oracle, interpretation provided guidance for utilizing in daylight what had happened to the soul during the night.
One of the most important uses of dreaming was a ritual form of healing by which people suffering from physical, psychological or spiritual ailments could travel to a healing center where priest-physicians practicing a combination of physical and spiritual medicine could help them prepare for a dream visit from Asklepios, the god of healing. Modern medicine and psychotherapy derive directly from this ancient practice.
This tradition is alive and available to us today. We can still seek and experience healing dreams. We can still attain healing or learn what we must do to heal ourselves from transpersonal powers encountered in dreams. Moreover, our medical and psychological healing disciplines could be profoundly improved were we to incorporate the ancient techniques of dream healing into their practice, a change that would benefit millions of suffering people.”