Aesculapian Society


to the Castle Falkenstein index, or the list of Orders

 

 

The Aesculapian Society

 


Background

 

     Physicians who employ magic alongside medicines and surgical treatment. Members are also medical doctors, pharmacists, nurses, or other related professions.

     In Europe and the Americas it is a wealthy order, both due to the income of its members, donations by grateful patients, and bequests in wills. It is popular among the lower classes for the (well-publicized) charity works members perform.

 

History of the Society

 

     While it claims descent from medical and healing cults of the ancient world, even the members admit that the current organization dates from the 14th Century AD.

     The Roman College of Aesculapius and Hygia flourished for a few centuries under the Empire. With the coming of Christianity, and the Dark Ages, the actual cults, temples and societies were suppressed or dwindled away; knowledge of medicine dwindled to almost nothing in Europe.

     In the wake of the Crusades, interest in the ancient lore of this order was revived in the courts of various European kingdoms -- several sets of the order's lore were brought back from the Middle East.

     Each national society is independent -- there is no international organization. Thus, there is the Æsculapian Society of London, the Æsculapian Society of Paris, etc.

 

Notable Figures

 

     Hippocrates was famously skilled in both "mundane" and magical healing methods. He worked at the temple of Asclepius on the island of Kos, and is revered by all modern doctors of Western medicine. 

     Dr. Leslie Durno is president of the London branch.

 

Doctrine

 

      Aesculapius (or in Greek, Asclepius) was a Greek hero and the god of medical matters and healing.

 

Rites and Rules

 

      The oath is that of Hippocrates, with an addition regarding the secret lore of the society. "I swear by Apollo the physician and by Asclepius and by Hygieia and Panacea and by all the gods …"

      Meetings, especially between members from different nations, and the society's journals and other texts, are in either Latin or Greek.

      The Aesculapian staff, typical of the order, has two (carved) snakes entwined around it. The constellation Ophiuchus is named for the god.

      Traditionally, actual revival of the dead is prohibited to the society's members -- or at least not without the approval of Zeus!

 

Lore

 

      The magical texts employed by the society are called collectively the Scrolls of Aesculapius; the knowledge within them has been gradually accumulated over two thousand years or more.

 

Spells

 

Aesculapian Spells

name

base thaums

suit

Strengthen the Life Bond

1

Bring to Peace

4

Hear the Hidden Thoughts

6

Opening the Mystic Eye

8

Healing Trance

10

Ease Childbirth

6

Somatic Command

10

 

      The usual cantrips (Sense Magic, Magelight, Candleflame, Confusion, Simple Illusion, Minor TK, Resistance to Sorcery, and Housewifery) are also available and taught. The common magics of Wards and Focuses are regularly cast.