Oi Anargiri Ritual: A Ritual for Healing

Background

Greeks name their children for grandparents and saints. I was lucky. I was named for a grandmother I loved and knew well; she lived with us until she died when I was 8. I am also named for Oi Anargiri, the physician saints and great healers. My father wanted me to be a doctor, but even when I was young, I knew that would not be my path. I do, however, consider myself a healer, and a person always in the process of healing.

In the Orthodox tradition, Oi Anargiri were twin saints who healed people and animals. Their names were Cosmas and Damian. Anargiri literally means without silver, indicating that they were physicians who would not take money for their acts of healing. They are celebrated on Nov. 1 and July 1 (depending on which pair you celebrate; I have always celebrated on July 1).

These saints healed any living beings they encountered. They did so with great love and gentleness, and always together, though they sometimes disagreed about their methods. 

There is a strange story about a talking camel whom they had healed who helped them find a resolution for their argument; in some versions, this resolution came after they were dead. 

In some accounts of their death, when they were brought to trial for not being true Christians and using witchcraft to heal people, they healed the king who was judging them, causing him to rescind the charges. But later, while in the mountains gathering herbs to be used in their healing, they were stoned to death by people who believed they were not truly Christian.

As with most of the saints' stories, there are no historical records, and the stories were passed down orally before they were written down. There are three different versions of the Cosmas and Damian story in three different parts of the Christian world, and multiple depictions of them in Orthodox iconography. In all the icons, they are standing together, holding boxes of medical "equipment," including sticks and feathers used to apply ointments.

The written versions of all the saints' stories are super problematic. They are framed around the idea of staunchly defending a belief system and fighting non-Christian doctrine rather than acting out of love and authenticity to make the world a better place. 

Despite all of these issues with the stories of these and all the saints, I can't help but love them. They are sacred archetypes whose stories have much to teach us if we can get beyond the first layer of, well, b.s. As you conduct this ritual, consider it a ritual for healing, and feel free to address any archetype or divine being that suits you, if Oi Anargiri doesn't fit. The ritual includes reference to the fact that the saints were twins, healed without getting anything in return, and healed whomever they encountered, as I feel these are important aspects of the healing archetype.

Preparing for the Ritual

To prepare:

This ritual can be done alone or in a group.

Choose a space you will use for healing, either over the long term or simply for the time frame of this ritual. This might be a spiritual space in your own home, a place in nature, or any other place you choose.

Bring a candle and a way to light it (real or battery-lit).

Bring incense (or some other sign of your intention to be present to your senses).

Bring a bell, singing bowl, or drum.

Bring some water or oil that you will use to anoint yourself or one another.

If possible, have an image of Oi Anargiri, or another image that signifies healing for you, available in the space.

A Script for the Ritual (Feel free, of course, to improvise)

Begin with silence. When you are ready, light incense and bless the space. As you do so, sing Kyrie Eleison, Om, or another chant you know 3-12 times, depending on your need/preference.

Light the candle, and say this prayer:

Oi Anargiri, you have accompanied me since the day I was born, walking each step of my healing journey with me. May this candle shine as a sign of the light of healing in each living thing. May the sound of the singing bowl [bell, or drumbeat] be a sign of cleansing, the cleansing that comes with clarity, authenticity, and forgiveness.

3-12 chimes or drumbeats, depending on your preference/what you need, using a singing bowl or bell. 

Oi Anargiri, bring healing to my body. Let me welcome pain as a sign of the need to rest, to take my time, to listen. Let me grateful for my body, and care for it daily. 

Oi Anargiri, bring healing to my breathing. Let me notice when I have stopped breathing, and when I am breathing too quickly. Let me be grateful for breath, and all it has to teach me.

[Using the oil or water, anoint yourself or the person next to you on the throat, where the breath first enters the deeper parts of the body]

Oi Anargiri, bring healing to my mind. Let me notice when my thoughts become rapid or when my mind slows down and stops working. Let me become curious about my thoughts, attend to them without judgement, and learn from them. 

[Using the oil or water, anoint yourself or the person next to you on the forehead]

Oi Anargiri, bring healing to my heart. Teach me to grieve. Teach me to feel anger, blame, self-righteousness, jealousy, fear, and shame without self-judgement. Teach me to be curious about each feeling. Teach me to learn from each feeling. Teach me to love myself as much as you love me, as the Holy Mystery loves and embraces me. Teach me to believe I am worthy.

[Using the oil or water, anoint yourself or the person next to you near the heart]

Oi Anargiri, bring healing to my words. Help me to know when to speak, and when to remain silent. Help me to speak with authenticity, clarity, and love. When my words hurt others, help me to notice and make amends.

[Using the oil or water, anoint yourself or the person next to you on the lips]

Oi Anargiri, bring healing to my actions. Teach me to act with authenticity, clarity, and love. Help me to know my own motivations, to recognize them. Help me to be OK with making mistakes, to ask forgiveness when I have hurt others. Help me to be courageous, acting in ways that heal myself, all living beings, and the Earth. 

[Using the oil or water, anoint yourself or the person next to you on the palms of the hands]

Oi Anargiri, bring healing to all of those who need healing. As I say the names of those who come to mind, help me to allow the feelings that come up to come up. Help me to simply notice my reactions to each name.

[If you wish, from here to the end you can sing “Kyrie Eleison,” “Om,” or sound the chime after each petition, or simply give each petition a little space]

As I say their names, help me to let go of resentment and anger I feel toward anyone I name. Help me to forgive as I am able.

As I say their names, help me to consider, honestly and without self-judgement or self-righteousness, what I have done to contribute to either their pain or their healing.Give me a right mind and heart so that I may make amends if and when it is possible. Give me a right mind and heart that I may be able to contribute to their healing if and when it is possible.

As I say their names, help me to remember that although healing is community work, I am not responsible for anyone’s healing, nor is anyone responsible for mine. Today I simply say their names, handing them over to you, the Great Healers.

As I say their names, let me remember that this work of naming, staying open, feeling, and asking the hard questions is the work of a lifetime, not work I can complete during this ritual.

For now, help me simply acknowledge my connection to the pain of others, as I say their names. 

Some Notes on this Naming Section:

Name all those who come to mind. This might include people you know who are in need of physical, emotional, spiritual healing; people with whom you are in relationship when the relationship needs healing; people you have encountered/read about; leaders in institutions of which you are a part…and anyone else. Take your time. Don’t worry too much about what names come to mind, or who you are missing. Just say their names.

You might chime, ring the bell, or sound the drum after each name to allow each name to resonate and give space to each story.

If you are doing this ritual as a group ritual, you might ask each person to name one person, but to hold others in their hearts. Or, you might allow this naming to go on as long as it needs to go on. Or, people might simply call names to mind rather than saying them out loud. Finally, participants could bring names written on a piece of paper, and place them in the center of the sacred space to be held there by those gathered.

Be with all those I [or we] did not name, or do not know.

Oi Anargiri, bring healing to our dreams—those in progress, those never realized, those already met. Whatever I dreamt in the past, dream now, or will dream in the future, let my dreams emerge in a space of healing.

Oi Anargiri, bring healing to our relationships—help us to live in the center of ache and awe in every moment. And when we cannot, help us to notice, to get curious about what is keeping us from staying there, and to act with authenticity and love.

Oi Anargiri, bring healing to our institutions. Help all of us who are part of institutions as intimate as marriages and as massive as nations to see clearly the ways we perpetuate anguish and block healing.

Oi Anargiri, Help us to recognize the power we have and to humbly use that power for healing and positive change within our institutions.

Oi Anargiri, help the leaders in our institutions to recognize the power they have to enact healing, and to use that power for positive change.

Oi Anargiri, Teach us new ways of being. Teach us to build institutions that heal.

Oi Anargiri, bring healing to the earth, to all living things. Help us to love all living things enough to change the way we live so as to heal them.

Oi Anargiri, help us to live generously, offering our gifts of healing to all in need, to whomever we encounter, without asking for a reward. Help us to change our lives so that their foundation can be healing.

Oi Anargiri, twin saints, brothers and co-workers, you healed without the need for money or other trappings of this earthly life. You lived lightly, but you also lived together. You did not always agree on how to do your healing work, and yet you were, in the end, buried together, brothers always. Help us to know how to be in relationship with other healers who can challenge us, walk beside us, help us to be our best selves. Let us recognize the healers among us who can play a role in helping us to grow.

Oi Anargiri, You considered all those you encountered to be worthy of healing—whether they were camels or rabbits, servants or kings. Help us to turn from looking down on those we serve. Instead, let us work toward healing in the spirit of reciprocity and deep, loving engagement. Help us to see each being as our twin, born of healing, born to heal.

Oi Anargiri, Help us to know our deep connectedness with all matter, to remember the story of our origin, the great flaring forth that birthed us all.

Oi Anargiri, Help us to know that healing is not always easy, nor is the process ever a clearly laid out path. If it feels too easy, help us to assess, without shame, whether we are truly seeing the situation we have encountered in its full complexity. Help us to notice when we are not being honest with ourselves about the work that needs to be done.

Oi Anargiri, Help us to know that healing is sometimes playful, and always creative. We will have to be flexible. We will have to get centered, be real, be open. We will have to know where our feet are planted, even if we know nothing else. We will have to stand still awhile, to be open to silence. We will have to know how to weep, laugh, sing, draw, paint, write, create.

Oi Anargiri, Help us to walk one step at a time in the darkness. Help us to see the light available to us, whatever its source. Help us to stay focused on each precious moment of the journey.

Oi Anargiri, Help us to be able to tell our own stories.

Oi Anargiri, Help us to be able to live our own stories as they are unfolding.

Oi Anargiri, Help us to recognize and really hear others’ sacred stories.

Oi Anargiri, Help us never to turn away from pain. Let us always remember that living a life dedicated to healing means living with an open heart, with deep empathy for the whole universe. This means we must be willing to be broken, again and again, and to deeply believe that even when broken—especially when broken—healing is possible.

Oi Anargiri, Help us to know that living in this authentic way will bring us more sorrow, but also more joy, than living a closed-off life.

Oi Anargiri, help us to always be gentle with ourselves and one another.  Help us to do what is right—to continue to work toward healing, as you did, even when others are actively trying to harm us. 

Oi Anargiri, Help us to be willing to die, as you did, because of our dedication to healing, if doing so is necessary.

Oi Anargiri, on this, the day on which your lives and legacies are commemorated, bless us in our work as healers, in our journey toward healing. Help us to always look to you, healer archetypes, twin physicians, saints without silver, and persevere.

Silence. When you are ready, allow 3-12 chimes/drumbeats (depending on your preference/need) to bring you out of silence.

Before extinguishing the candle, walk around a space you are dedicating to healing, lighting each corner intentionally. You may do so in silence or while chanting. When you are ready, extinguish the candle.