The Practice of Dream Healing

Rating:
Summary: Greek Myth and Modern Medicine
Review: I give this book five stars, and not because I am quoted in it. In _The Practice of Dream Healing: Bringing Ancient Greek Mysteries into Modern Medicine_, Dr. Edward Tick takes us on a journey-literally and figuratively. Mixing travelogue, psychotherapy, and mythology, Tick's book brings us to ancient Greek, where Asklepios, the ancient Greek god of healing, was believed to have worked through dreams. _The Practice of Dream Healing_ is in fact a "spiritual" critique of the entire medical profession as it has evolved in a society dominated by scientific and technological thinking.

This book is the culmination of years of psychologically counseling patients, and years of traveling to Greece with patients and with friends to explore and seek solace in the hot dust of Athens, the cool caves of Elysium, the cutting mountains of Crete. A highly skilled travel writer who has written several pieces for _The New York Times_, Dr. Tick has authored a book that is learned yet wholly accessible. The reader is a valued member of the group, and will find many unexpected turns and interesting "sites"-psychological, mythological, historical, geographical, religious-along the way.

Rating:
Summary: Depth and discovery
Review: I've read a lot of books in the area of archetypal psychology. This is a great one. Asklepios is a fascinating figure (note: his emblem is usually one snake around a stick. Mercury--god of commerce among other things-- has two snakes. This difference is potentially tellng in and of itself, but another story) What struck me is how prevelant a god and healer Asklepios was at one time. In this current culture, dreamwork still has a tinge of being somewhat marginal to health and even slightly indulgent. Tick successfully describes how this was not always the case. Previously, dream visions were primary, with the medical applications an important secondary process. Speaking of the medical aspect of Asklepios's worship, I found it interesting how modern objective medicine originally found its support in Asklepian temples.
Tick combines his knowledge of Greek history with his psychological practice. The descriptions of his travels in Greece and the pilgrimmages he leads really show the logistics and the ups and downs of being a modern seeker. While reading the book, I started to get a little bored with the drawn out historical chapters, but I must say, in retrospect, that they are essential groundwork to the personal stories and experiences that follow. In general, this is a very rewarding book.

Rating:
Summary: A really fascinating work
Review: What I found most interesting about this book was its fascinating combination of material associated with travel writing, in this case on Greece, and its integration with a discussion of the relationship between ancient Greek mythology and contemporary healing practices. The effort to combine those two different genres is quite unusual and made the book an especially interesting "read."