Iatromantis is a Greek word whose literal meaning is most simply rendered "physician-seer." The iatromantis, a form of Greek "

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

", is related to other semimythical figures such as Abaris,

Aristeas Aristeas () was a semi-legendary Greek poet and Iatromantis, miracle-worker, a native of Proconnesus in Asia Minor, active ca. 7th century BC. The Suda claims that, whenever he wished, Astral Projection, his soul could leave his body and return ...

, Epimenides, and Hermotimus. In the classical period,

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

uses the word to refer to

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

and to

Asclepius Asclepius (; ''Asklēpiós'' ; ) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of Apollo), Coronis, or Arsinoe (Greek myth), Ars ...

, Apollo's son. According to Peter Kingsley, ''iatromantis'' figures belonged to a wider Greek and Asian shamanic tradition with origins in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. A main ecstatic, meditative practice of these healer-prophets was incubation (ἐγκοίμησις, ''enkoimesis''). More than just a medical technique, incubation reportedly allowed a human being to experience a fourth state of consciousness different from sleeping,

dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...

ing, or ordinary waking: a state that Kingsley describes as “consciousness itself” and likens to the '' turiya'' or ''

samādhi Statue of a meditating Rishikesh.html" ;"title="Shiva, Rishikesh">Shiva, Rishikesh ''Samādhi'' (Pali and ), in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, is a state of meditative consciousness. In many Indian religious traditions, the cultivati ...

'' of the Indian yogic traditions. Kingsley identifies the Greek

pre-Socratic Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates. Pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of the ...

philosopher

Parmenides Parmenides of Elea (; ; fl. late sixth or early fifth century BC) was a Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic ancient Greece, Greek philosopher from Velia, Elea in Magna Graecia (Southern Italy). Parmenides was born in the Greek colony of Veli ...

as an ''iatromantis''. This identification has been described by Oxford academic Mitchell Miller as "fascinating" but also as "very difficult to assess as a truth claim".Mitchell, Miller, "The Proem of Parmenides" in Sedley, David (ed.), ''Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Volume 30'' (Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 15, note 24.

References

{{authority control Ancient Greek religious titles Diviners European shamanism Supernatural healing Traditional healthcare occupations