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...casting of lots or the rustling of tree leaves, or more sophisticated, taking the form of a direct inquiry of an inspired person who then gave the answer orally. One of the most common methods was incubation, in which the inquirer slept in a holy precinct and received an answer in a dream.
...were combined with other means of prophecy (such as animal sacrifice) and with efforts to heal the sick. In classical Greece, dreams became directly associated with healing. In a practice known as temple sleep, ailing people came to dream in oracular temples such as those of the Greek god of medicine, Asclepius; there, they performed rites or sacrifices in efforts to dream appropriately, and...
...of temples throughout Greece, the remains of which may still be seen at Epidaurus, Cos, Athens, and elsewhere. To these resorts, or hospitals, sick persons went for the healing ritual known as incubation, or temple sleep. They lay down to sleep in the dormitory, or abaton, and were visited in their dreams by Asclepius or by one of his priests, who gave advice. In the morning the...
The king may be the recipient of a direct revelation of the will of a god. Thus, in Egypt the pharaoh received a divine oracle through dreams in the temple (a practice known as incubation). In Mesopotamia the duty of the king to ascertain the will of the gods was more strongly emphasized; a directive of the gods could result from omens, dreams, or reading the entrails of offerings. All major...
...a subterranean chamber, but no trace of such has been found at Delphi, though the Pythia was always said to “descend.” At the oracle of Trophonius, discovered in 1967 at Levádhia, incubation (ritual sleep to induce a dream) was practiced in a hole. The most famous centre of incubation was that of Asclepius at Epidaurus. His temple was furnished with a hall where the sick were...
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