together to effect a cure, in particular when a case presented complex
problems. As Albert Einstein once said,
Seeing with eyes of wholeness means recognizing that
nothing occurs in isolation, that problems need to be seen
within the context of whole systems. Seeing in this way,
we can perceive the intrinsic web of interconnectedness
underlying our experience and merge with it. Seeing in this
way is healing.An essential element in the curing of diseases was the role the
gods played in both inflicting them in the first place, and
providing cures for them in the second. This was in accord with
the belief that many of the afflictions suffered by humankind,
both medical and otherwise, resulted from punishments imposed
by the gods on their mortal worshippers for offences they had
committed. Included amongst these offences were ones against
the gods themselves, such as the neglect of their sacrificial
ceremonies. Thus when no other reason could be found for an
ailment which afflicted either an individual, from the king
downwards, or all the inhabitants of the Hittite land, divine
displeasure was suspected. Specially qualified priests or priestesses
were called upon to ascertain who the displeased deity was, and
the reasons for his or her displeasure.
This was done by consulting the oracles, often through the
examination of a sacrificed animal’s entrails. First of all, the god
whose wrath had been provoked had to be identified. This in itself
could be a protracted process, given the Hittite world’s multiplicity
of gods. And once the god had been identified, the reason for the
offence he or she had taken had to be established. Then appropriate
remedial action could be initiated, to appease the god and effect a
cure. But even then oracular enquiry could be a long, drawn-out
process since the gods were not particularly helpful in their
responses to the consultant’s questions. When the patterns on an
animal’s entrails were examined for a sign from above, the enquirer
could expect only a‘yes’or‘no’answer to their question when they
suggested a possible cause of offence. If the answer was‘no’, the
HEALTH,HYGIENE AND HEALING 123