{"title":"Paganism \u0026 Ancient Beliefs","description":"\u003cp\u003eStudies of ancient religious beliefs, mythic traditions and pre-Christian customs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart of the Hearthwise Historical Library, curated by Hearthwise Physic.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"digital-product-8","title":"Ancient Cures, Charms, and Usages of Ireland (c. 1890) - Lady Wilde","description":"\u003ch2\u003eAncient Cures, Charms, and Usages of Ireland (1890)\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBy Lady Wilde (Jane Francesca Wilde)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eContributions to Irish Lore\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEnter a world where herbs grew from a physician's grave, fairy enchantments were feared, the dead were called upon to heal the living, and ancient charms passed from generation to generation.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst published in London in 1890, Lady Wilde's \u003cem\u003eAncient Cures, Charms, and Usages of Ireland\u003c\/em\u003e is a captivating collection of Irish folk medicine, supernatural beliefs, healing charms, seasonal customs and traditional stories. Blending accounts of older Irish practices with the author's nineteenth-century interpretations, it preserves an extraordinary range of lore associated with everyday life, illness, the landscape and the unseen world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eInside this historical collection\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHerbal healing and ancient Irish physicians:\u003c\/strong\u003e tales of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the healer Dian Cécht, and a legendary bath of herbs said to restore wounded warriors after battle.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePlants born from the dead:\u003c\/strong\u003e the story of healing herbs springing from the grave of a physician murdered by his jealous father.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSpoken charms and folk remedies:\u003c\/strong\u003e traditional formulas for sprains, bleeding, toothache, fever and other ailments, including an elder-twig necklace once associated with epilepsy.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eStrange cures:\u003c\/strong\u003e accounts involving water from a human skull, a dead hand, and other unsettling objects of folk belief.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWitchcraft and the evil eye:\u003c\/strong\u003e charms, maledictions, suspected enchantments and protective customs.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFairies and spirits:\u003c\/strong\u003e the nature of fairies, the banshee, the leprechaun, spectral brides and eerie tales of the dead.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSacred nature:\u003c\/strong\u003e beliefs surrounding trees, briars, birds, omens and the Irish countryside.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSeasonal traditions:\u003c\/strong\u003e May Day, May Eve, St Patrick's Day, Hallowtide, Garland Sunday, wakes and village customs.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIrish storytelling and heritage:\u003c\/strong\u003e legends, peasant tales, old sayings, proverbs and historical reflections.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of the book's most fascinating qualities is the way medicine, religion and magic overlap: a healing charm might invoke Christian saints while preserving the structure of an older folk tradition, and a plant might be valued as much for its legend as for its supposed medicinal power.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePerfect for readers interested in \u003cstrong\u003eIrish folklore, traditional herbalism, witchcraft history, fairy lore, folk magic, cultural history and the old ways of healing\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Ancestral Library | Hearthwise Herbals\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDigital historical facsimile · English · Originally published 1890 · 282-page edition with the modern promotional cover removed.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHistorical research notice:\u003c\/strong\u003e This work records folklore, historical beliefs and remedies, not verified medical treatments. Some practices described are unsafe; the material is supplied for historical, cultural and educational study only. The author's nineteenth-century interpretations should not be mistaken for established facts about ancient Ireland.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hearthwise Herbals","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64200610382154,"sku":null,"price":4.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1088\/9940\/2058\/files\/Screenshot2026-11-02212131.png?v=1793655029"},{"product_id":"digital-product-26","title":"Incubation; or, The Cure of Disease in Pagan Temples and Christian Churches (c. 1906) - Mary Hamilton","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat if the ancient world believed the surest way to find a cure was to fall asleep in a temple?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eIncubation; or, The Cure of Disease in Pagan Temples and Christian Churches\u003c\/em\u003e (1906), Carnegie Research Scholar \u003cstrong\u003eMary Hamilton\u003c\/strong\u003e explores the extraordinary practice of sacred sleep: people travelled to temples, shrines and churches, slept in designated holy places, and hoped to receive healing, instructions or divine visions in their dreams.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeginning with the sanctuaries of \u003cstrong\u003eAsklepios\u003c\/strong\u003e in ancient Greece, Hamilton follows this remarkable tradition through the classical world, into medieval Christianity and onward to surviving customs of her own day. Drawing on ancient inscriptions, classical literature, saints’ lives and accounts of local practice, she reveals a world in which dreams, ritual and medicine were closely intertwined.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eInside this fascinating historical study\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHealing dreams at Epidauros:\u003c\/strong\u003e inscriptions describing extraordinary cures attributed to Asklepios, including encounters with sacred snakes and temple dogs.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDivine surgery:\u003c\/strong\u003e vivid accounts of sleepers who believed a god had removed an object, treated a wound or performed an operation while they dreamed.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe ritual of incubation:\u003c\/strong\u003e sacred sleeping halls, purification, offerings and the interpretation of dreams.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDreams as prescriptions:\u003c\/strong\u003e the remarkable experiences of the ancient orator Aristides, who recorded baths, diets, remedies and other treatments revealed through visions.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFrom pagan temples to Christian churches:\u003c\/strong\u003e how traditions of sleeping for healing became associated with saints, shrines and holy places.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLiving folklore:\u003c\/strong\u003e traces of sacred sleep and healing pilgrimage that endured into more recent centuries.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor readers drawn to ancient religion, dream interpretation, forgotten healing customs, folklore and the meeting place of medicine and the mystical, Hamilton’s work is an absorbing journey into the history of belief.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBook details\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFull title:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eIncubation; or, The Cure of Disease in Pagan Temples and Christian Churches\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/strong\u003e Mary Hamilton, M.A.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOriginally published:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1906\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e W. C. Henderson \u0026amp; Son, St Andrews; Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent \u0026amp; Co., London\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Digital PDF facsimile of the historical work\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/strong\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCollection:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hearthwise Historical Library\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePresented as a historical study of healing beliefs and practices, rather than modern medical guidance.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64240422519114,"sku":null,"price":6.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1088\/9940\/2058\/files\/Incubation_VintageBookTitlePage.png?v=1793882310"},{"product_id":"digital-product-29","title":"Outlines of Greek and Roman Medicine (c. 1914) - James Sands Elliott","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBefore the physician's consulting room, there were sacred serpents, healing temples, whispered charms and remedies gathered beneath the moon.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst published in \u003cstrong\u003e1914\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eOutlines of Greek and Roman Medicine\u003c\/em\u003e by \u003cstrong\u003eJames Sands Elliott\u003c\/strong\u003e is a captivating journey through the origins of Western medical thought—from the gods and healing sanctuaries of ancient Greece to the physicians, public baths and extraordinary medical customs of Rome.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere, \u003cstrong\u003eAsklepios\u003c\/strong\u003e presides over temples where the sick sought answers in dreams; \u003cstrong\u003eHippocrates\u003c\/strong\u003e transforms the study of illness; and \u003cstrong\u003eGalen\u003c\/strong\u003e leaves an influence that echoes across centuries. Along the way, Elliott uncovers a world of sacred snakes, curious amulets, spoken incantations, ancient surgery, botanical treatments and the occasionally astonishing personalities who practised the healing arts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWithin these pages\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGods, serpents and healing dreams:\u003c\/strong\u003e Apollo, Asklepios, Hygeia and the ritual life of ancient sanctuaries.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe first physicians:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hippocrates, Aristotle, the Alexandrian schools, Celsus, Dioscorides and Galen.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMedicine and magic:\u003c\/strong\u003e household cures, charms, amulets, astrology and the enduring influence of superstition.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe stranger side of Roman medicine:\u003c\/strong\u003e notorious practitioners, imperial patients and extraordinary prescriptions.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAncient public health:\u003c\/strong\u003e baths, aqueducts, sewers, sanitation and the emergence of hospitals.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrations:\u003c\/strong\u003e historical depictions of healing deities and reconstructed Greek temples.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten with the curiosity of a physician looking backwards through the centuries, this richly absorbing volume reveals that the history of medicine is not merely a story of scientific progress. It is also a story of belief, ritual, observation, ingenuity and the perennial human desire to be healed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBook details\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/strong\u003e James Sands Elliott, M.D.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOriginal publication:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1914\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOriginal publisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e William Wood and Company, New York\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Downloadable PDF facsimile\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLength:\u003c\/strong\u003e 191 scanned PDF pages, including preliminary matter and illustrations\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/strong\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCollection:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hearthwise Historical Library\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64240617226570,"sku":null,"price":6.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1088\/9940\/2058\/files\/IMG_2618.jpg?v=1794040880"}],"url":"https:\/\/hearthwiseherbals.com\/collections\/paganism-ancient-beliefs.oembed","provider":"Hearthwise Herbals","version":"1.0","type":"link"}