Many years ago Meier read a paper on the Greek therapeutic cults to the small group of analysts then starting the Society of Analytical Psychology in London. We listened fascinated to his vivid account of the rituals enacted at Epidaurus and Pergamon. Each reflected processes with which Jung had made us familiar: the induction of regression (catabasis) leading to the emergence of a vision or dream which was held to be healing in itself because it represented a dialectic with the god. The whole process relied on experience rather than interpretation and resulted in rebirth or ‘putting on the new man’ which could be understood as farther self-realization and a step towards individuation.

The translation of this book, originally published in Switzerland in 1949, provides a