Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

ASKLEPIOS (aka Asclepius, Aesculapius)

Greek god of physicians and healing, whom the Romans named Aesculapius, was worshipped from about 800 BC to 400 AD. His cult centers were at Epidauros; Kos, and the Asklepeion in Pergamon. He was the favorite son of Apollo and mortal consort of Ceronis. Even though he lived effectively with mortals, and died as such, Asklepios was regarded as a deity. He was reared by the centaur Charon who taught him medicine, and fathered two sons, Podaleirios and Machaon, who were also physicians. His daughter was the goddess of health, Hygieia. Asklepios' symbol is the rod or staff with one snake curled around it.

He is also represented in temples by captive snakes.

Asklepius became successfull; part of this success came from his knowledge in resurrecting the dead. This ability came from the blood that Athena had given him from Medusa's wounds. The blood from the veins on her left side was poisonous, but the blood from her right side could bring the dead back to life. Asklepius used his ability liberally, to the extent of acquiring occasional complaints from Hades. This caused Zeus to be troubled for fear that Asklepius, with his knowledge, might upset the world order, so he killed the god of medicine with a thunderbolt. This outraged Apollo who in turn killed the Cyclopes who had forged Zeus' thunderbolt.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc