DeConick A.D

170
GNOSTIC ALTERED STATES
was controlled by a different demon, understood to be a stellar entity
within the celestial realms, corresponding to all the degrees of the zodiac
(Epiphanius, Panarion 24.7.6).
The association of body parts with stars and planets, called melothesia
(literally, “limb assignment”), is very common in antiquity. In fact, it
formed the basis for medical practice until the close of the medieval ages.
Although ancient doctors did not try to control the demons that ruled an
affected body part, many believed that their treatments, such as bloodletting,
could only be effective when performed at the right time, when the
planets and stars were aligned in certain ways that corresponded to the
body part in question. This was thought to work because the ancients
believed in the efficacy of correspondences, that the human body is correlated
with the universe and that this correlation can be manipulated to
our advantage. Put another way, the human body is a mini universe, so
every aspect of the body is linked with the universe through parallelism.
Belief in the power of this linkage led many physicians to refer to medical
almanacs before they treated their patients, to make sure that the right
stars were aligned with whatever body part they were trying to heal. To
assist the doctors and patients, these almanacs often depict the human
being charted from head to toe with the zodiac signs that correspond
with the different body parts. Also included in these almanacs are tables
and diagrams that enabled doctors to perform the necessary astronomical
calculations for the successful treatment of whatever ailed their patients
(figure 6.2).
The Gnostics were not ancient medical doctors. They weren’t into
bleeding their patients to balance out the humors when the stars aligned
with the blighted body part. Rather, their closest parallel may be the shaman.
They thought that the body would be cured of its ailments when the
spirit had been integrated into God’s wholeness in an ecstatic experience.
This integration healed the damage caused by the primal separation of
the spirit from God, empowering the spirit to take charge of the soul and
body. The human spirit, when integrated with God, was now the superior
at the helm, cosmically and personally. By its command, the subordinate
demons had to give up control over the body. Wielding godlike powers,
Gnostic healers invoked the name of the demon responsible for the
particular injured limb or sick organ, displayed the stone and sign associ-