Medicine and the Occult Sciences
Hallowe’en is upon us, so I decided
this week to have a rummage through the RCPI Library Catalogue for some past
tales of the paranormal, mystical or just plain spooky!
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| Eusèbe Salverte |
What I found was an interesting book
in Dun’s Library called The Occult Sciences - the Philosophy of Magic, Prodigies, and
Apparent Miracles, first published in
English in 1846. Written by the French revolutionary, lawyer, left-wing
political figure, and anti-religious activist Eusèbe
Salverte (1771-1839), The Occult Sciences examines various aspects
of assumed miracles related by the ancients.
One chapter in the book deals with
the subject of medicine as part of the occult science in ancient times. In numerous
ancient societies, the figures of priest, magician and physician were often
combined in the one person. Salverte in particular makes reference to Native
American tribes, such as the Nadöcessis, Chippeways, and Osages, in which the
three titles of Priest, Physician, and Sorcerer were inseparable. In the heart
of the Native American Carib (or Galina) nations, the Payes were priests,
physicians, and magicians, and they formed a corporation, the admission into
which could only be obtained by submitting to a very painful initiation.
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| Title page of The Occult Sciences (RCPI Library) |
Some of the methods used by
priest-physicians in ancient societies were ritualistic in nature. One such
ritual described by Salverte related to the preparation of a remedy to cure
consumption and sweating sickness. The remedy had to be prepared by fire, but
not any common fire would do. Instead a saw had to be manufactured from an
apple tree struck by lightning, which was to be used to cut the wood of a door
threshold through which many people had passed, until the continued friction of
the instrument upon the wood produced a flame.
Modern medicine has certainly come a
long way. Happy Hallowe’en!
Fergus Brady,
Project Archivist