As often happens, that knowledge had been gained and lost before. It was certainly known to the ancient Greeks. In 380 BCE Plato wrote Charmides, in which the Thracian king Zamolxis tells Socrates that the great error of the physicians of his day was the separation of the soul from the body. Despite doctors' best efforts, curing the body is impossible without flattering the mind, Zamolxis says. If the head and body are to be well, you must begin by curing the soul; that is the first thing. And the cure, my dear youth, has to be effected by the use of certain charms, and these charms are fair
...more