Pharmakeia, The False god of Medicine
Pharmakeia - Witchcraft, Sorcery & Magic
Some interesting words can be found in scripture, and upon deeper inspection, it's fascinating what comes to light.
The Greek word pharmakeia for example, the origin of the word pharmacy and pharmaceutical, is mentioned three times in scripture in interesting contexts.
In the first mention, the meaning of pharmakeia is witchcraft, and is categorised alongside idolatry, and at first glance, it is not clear why this is the case.
The second mention means magic arts and the third, magic spells that lead all the nations astray - a bold claim that inspires further insight.
As we delve deeper into the origin of where this word came from and how it came about, the picture very quickly comes into focus.
The 3 Scriptures Containing The Word Pharmakeia
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft (pharmakeia); hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.
I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).
Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts (pharmakeia), their sexual immorality or their thefts (Revelation 9:21).
The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s important people. By your magic spell (pharmakeia) all the nations were led astray (Revelation 18:23).
This lead me into a deeper exploration of the connection between pharmakeia aka the pharmaceutical industry, and magic, sorcery and witchcraft.
The Universal Symbol For Medicine
Beginning with the logo, the universal symbol for medicine is a staff with a snake wrapped around it - either the Rod of Asclepius or the Caduceus of Hermes and Mercury.
The Rod of Asclepius is symbolised by a staff with a single snake, and the Caduceus of Hermes is a staff entwined by two serpents, sometimes surmounted by wings.
The Rod of Asclepius (left) is used by The New England Journal of Medicine, The American College of Physicians and the World Health Organisation, whilst the Caduceus (right) is the official insignia of the United States Medical Corps, the Navy Pharmacy Division and the Public Health Service.
According to research, the Caduceus has been confused with the Rod of Asclepius, hence why both symbols are used to symbolise medicine, and is strangely also the symbol for commerce.
In a world where nothing is sacred, not even life, and where everything has a price, it's ironic that both medicine and commerce share the same symbol.
Perhaps there is no confusion at all and this is simply confirmation of the truth.
The Symbology of the Snake
In 1913, Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, a German classical scholar, who specialised in Greek and Roman mythology, pointed out that the serpent is a variant of the giant serpent-dragon known at Delphi as Python, who was slain by Apollo.
Python was said to be born of Gaia, the Greek goddess of the Earth. The bible also makes reference to a great dragon - that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan.
The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. (Revelation 12:9)
The Original Hippocratic Oath
This is the beginning part of the original Hippocratic Oath as translated by Michael North, National Library of Medicine, 2002.
"I swear by Apollo the physician, and Asclepius, and Hygieia and Panacea and all the gods and goddesses as my witnesses, that, according to my ability and judgement, I will keep this Oath and this contract."
It has since been re-written numerous times in line with modern values and no longer references false gods or goddesses, but the origin was firmly planted in idolatry.
The Birth of Asclepius
According to Greek mythology, the god Apollo and a mortal princess called Coronis became pregnant with a son.
When Coronis was pregnant, she fell in love with Ischys, a fellow mortal, and when Apollo found out, he sent his sister Artemis to kill her.
Artemis put her on a funeral pyre and whilst Coronis was burning, Apollo felt guilty about his unborn child and rescued the baby by cutting open her womb - hence the meaning of Asclepius, "to cut open".
Following the death of Coronis, Apollo entrusted the baby to Chiron, a creature who was half-human and half-horse (a centaur), who was famous for his skills in medicine, who brought Asclepius up and became his mentor.
Through Chiron, Asclepius learned to heal the sick and raise the dead and he became the god of medicine and healing.
Chiron's Teachings
Aside from the art of surgery, Chiron also taught Asclepius the effective use of drugs, incantations and aphrodisiacs as aids to healing.
Asclepius was also said to have been given a small bottle of Gorgon blood with magical properties from the goddess Athena.
The Gorgons were mythical female monsters that had snakes for hair, wings, bronze claws and eyes that could turn a human into stone.
Because of his powers, he become known as Asclepius the Saviour of the World and his ability to bring people back from the dead was considered a threat to the gods and outraged Hades, the god of the underworld.
Because of this, Zeus, at the instigation of Hades, struck Asclepius down with a thunderbolt and set him in the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus also known as “the serpent bearer”.
The Origin of the Symbol of the Rod of Asclepius
The origin of the Rod of Asclepius symbol is unknown and various theories abound including the worm theory that dates back to around 1500BC.
The worm theory was a treatment for the parasitic Guinea worm that was said to be among the first ancient Egyptian medical documents, whereby physicians made an incision next to the worm for it to exit and as it did, it was wrapped around a stick.
The Staff of Moses & the Bronze Snake
Another example of the staff and snake relates to the snake image mounted on a pole that Moses made at God's command when the Israelites were in the wilderness.
Whenever someone was bitten by the poisonous snakes that the Lord sent among the people, because of their constant complaining against God and Moses, they died.
But when anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake image mounted on Moses' staff, they recovered.
Herein lies a clue of where our attention should be focussed, as it was Jesus and God's Power that people's heads needed to be turned towards, not the snake, or the holder of the staff.
"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life." (John 3:14-15)
The Caduceus
The Caduceus, from the Greek word kērū́keion, means "herald's wand, or staff", it is an occult item that was carried by several prominent ancient figures including:
- Hermes, the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology;
- Mercury, the god of commerce, communication and travel in Roman mythology;
- Thoth Hermes Trismegitus, (Thrice Greatest) the purported author of many hermetic texts associated with spells, magic and alchemy;
- General heralds such as Iris, the messenger of Hera, who was queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Olympus, sister and wife of Zeus, and daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea;
- Baphomet also has a Caduceus down his trousers.
In all instances, with the exception of the worm theory, the snake-entwined staffs were used by mythological false gods and were associated with the occult, and with that, the correlation between sorcery and idolatry is clear.
Biblical & Mythological Similarities
Throughout mythology, the creatures identified as having magical powers such as Chiron and Gorgons, were all non-human, a phenomenon that is also found in the bible.
When the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them, they created the Nephilim, the heroes of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6:4)
The Hebrew word Nephilim is sometimes directly translated as "giants" or taken to mean “the fallen ones” (from the Hebrew naphal, “to fall”).
In the Book of Enoch, not only did the fallen ones corrupt the human genome, they corrupted the animals too, creating hybrid creatures who were part human, part bird, animals, reptile and fish, all of which were abominations.
In addition, they had supernatural knowledge and powers as a result of their heritage, which did not come from God, which they taught to man.
Snake & Idolatry
The snake in the Garden of Eden represents deception, caused Eve to sin and resulted in mankind's shameful fall from grace.
With reference to idolatry and bowing down to false gods, the bible has so many references depicting God's wrath and anger at humanity's foolishness, ignorance and total lack of loyalty and honour, that they are too numerous to count.
One thing is clear, all forms of idolatry result in destruction and devastation.
The Temples of Asclepius
Returning to Asclepius, the owner of the rod in the universal symbol for medicine, glorious temples were erected to honour him and were places that people sought cures.
Everyone who entered the hospital complex passed a snake symbol and credited any healing they would receive to the snake god.
They spent the night in a sleeping room and Asclepius was said to come to them in their dreams and tell them what they must do in order to receive healing.
The man that Jesus healed at the pool of Bethesda in John 5:1-16, who had been an invalid for 38 years, was believed to be located near a Temple of Asclepius.
Others, went to the Asclepieion to learn the secrets of medicine and it is said that this is where Hippocrates, the father of medicine, studied and started his medical career.
Bowing Down to Asclepius, a False God
Before leaving the Asclepieion, patients bowed down on their knees before a statue of Asclepius, thanked him for their healing, and bestowed gifts upon him.
Finally, they would inscribe their name and the ailment from which they had been cured on a large white stone as a testimony to the god they believed had healed them.
Interestingly, the bible makes reference to a white stone that will be given by Jesus Himself, with a new name written on it, making reference to the one true God that heals.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna.
I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. (Revelation 2:17)
False gods of Medicine
Just as back then, people are still being lead astray and turning to idol worship as opposed to the one true God who saves.
With Corona, (strangely similar to Coronis, the mother of Asclepius), people were told that the "vaccine" was the only treatment and that it was "safe and effective".
This was part of a series of blatant, brazen and unrelenting lies that the enemy told to further their agenda and get a foothold.
There are always numerous treatment options available, no-one has a monopoly on healing and everything carries a risk.
Informed consent, required by law, was not sought, and everyone was told they must bow down and follow "the science", which is an oxymoron as science is wide and varied, with no distinct path and is ever changing as new information comes to light.
Persecution At The Hands of The Enemy
Failure to bow down resulted in persecution, removal of basic human rights, and being censored or cancelled, with many medical practitioners licenses threatened or revoked.
People were experimented on en-masse, another illegal fait accompli, and common sense was bypassed as lambs to the slaughter hailed and heralded the vaccine "cure".
This was the biggest bowing down to false gods I have ever witnessed, and I shudder at the consequences of such foolishness, reprehensibility and misplaced trust.
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Pharmakeia - A Source of Witchcraft, Sorcery & Magic
Here, we can clearly see why the word pharmakeia, a source of witchcraft, sorcery and magic, is placed next to idolatry, as they work hand in hand.
Overwhelming fear is peddled and pushed and those caught in its grip are rendered totally and utterly powerless, willing to do anything, no matter the cost, to survive.
Not realising the deception and spell they are under, all personal power, logic and reason is deferred to the false god of medicine.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen (Romans 1:21-22 & 25).
The Connection Between Idolatry and Pharmakeia
The distinct connection between idolatry and pharmakeia is strikingly obvious; anyone who places their abject trust into pharmakeia, whether occult practices or the seemingly innocuous and benign practice of medicine, is placing their trust outside of themselves.
Forgetting about their connection to Source, to God and to the innate and ineffable wisdom that is written on their hearts and minds, they defer to "experts", who they do not know, who doesn't know them, most of whom are not what they portray themselves to be.
This is akin to playing Russian Roulette, where the person holding the gun spins the cylinder, pulls the trigger and hopes for the best.
Pharmakeia and the force behind it, has its roots in the worshipping of false gods, borne out of demonic forces, and is designed to steer us away from God.
Ignore this at your peril.
Do Not Be Deceived
In many cases, Western "medicine" creates more problems that it solves, treating the symptoms as opposed to the root cause and suppressing the true cause, acting as nothing more than a band aid and inhibitor and creating new issues as a result.
As part of God's glorious creation, He provided us with everything necessary, including an extensive and all-encompassing medicine cabinet that can only be found in nature, a far cry from the synthetic, harmful and dangerous manufactured substitutes of today.
Placing the pharmaceutical industry in such high regard, giving it god-like status, turning towards it for healing, bowing down to it and looking to it as a Saviour, is a dangerous game that leads people and nations astray, exactly as the bible warns.
The deception of the enemy is so strong, so powerful, so clever and so overwhelming, that God is the only antidote, which is why it is critical that we turn to our Maker, the one and only true source of wisdom and Power.
He alone is capable of saving us and His guidance will never lead us astray, if we but listen and do what He says.
God The Healer, Saviour & Redeemer of All
Jesus provided evidence that refuted the claims of false gods and proved his power to heal in many first hand accounts, hence why his disciples and those healed were called to witness and testify.
Jesus holds the keys of death and Hades to bring people back from the dead, something no snake god or occult practice can do.
I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18).
Throughout the bible, God's word decries the sin of idolatry and He commands us to honour only Him, the LORD our God, the one who brought us out from Egypt, the land of slavery (Exodus 20:2).
Having been called back, to the womb of where we came, to God Himself as our provider, protector and purveyor of everything good, it is here, and only here, that we are able to find healing, holiness and wholeness, as we place our trust firmly where it rightfully belongs.
God's Helping Hand
It is critical that we face all of our challenges with God's help and hand upon us and His countenance turned towards us, without which, we have no hope.
Only God can reveal to us the true path to healing, and that can only be received and redeemed with fellowship and faith.
May we remember who we are and from where we came and may we return to the one true Source of wisdom and truth, mercy and grace.
Amen.
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