Mesopotamian āšipu and asû healing

Domain XVI · Historical, discredited & harmful · -2000 · Mesopotamia

What it is

This is a historical practice, not a therapy. It is included for the history of ideas and for the clinician's literacy, and nothing here is recommended as treatment. Mesopotamian cuneiform texts name two healing experts: the āšipu (usually rendered "exorcist"; also called mašmaššu) and the asû…

Format

• Recognition: notice how the topic has arrived (curiosity, heritage, a media story, a revival group, a belief that a ghost or spirit is causing distress). Move on when you know what role the topic plays for the client.
• Session number and length follow the client's needs and the setting.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Safety and routing: medical review for physical or neurological symptoms; screening of revivals and unregulated healers; safeguarding where beliefs lead to accusations or harm to others. Move on when risks are addressed.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• spiritual framing masking intent. Working when risk is named and a plan agreed.
• the therapist being recruited to one side. Working when the family agrees a joint plan.
• pressure toward exorcism or ritual healing in place of care. Working when supports align.
• turning therapy into a seminar. Working when the client's stance softens toward the beliefs at issue.
• pathologising ordinary devotion; missing scrupulosity. Working when the client can tell the two apart.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.