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Iatromantis[1] is a Greek word whose literal meaning is most simply rendered "physician-seer." The iatromantis, a form of Greek "shaman", is related to other semimythical figures such asAbaris,Aristeas,Epimenides, andHermotimus.[2]In the classical period,Aeschylus uses the word to refer toApollo[3] and toAsclepius, Apollo's son.[4]
According toPeter Kingsley,iatromantis figures belonged to a wider Greek and Asianshamanic tradition with origins inCentral Asia.[5] A main ecstatic, meditative practice of these healer-prophets wasincubation (ἐγκοίμησις,enkoimesis). More than just a medical technique, incubation reportedly allowed a human being to experience a fourth state of consciousness different fromsleeping,dreaming, or ordinarywaking: a state that Kingsley describes as “consciousness itself” and likens to theturiya orsamādhi of theIndian yogic traditions. Kingsley identifies the Greekpre-Socratic philosopherParmenides as aniatromantis. This identification has been described by Oxford academic Mitchell Miller as "fascinating" but also as "very difficult to assess as a truth claim".[6]
