In the primeval myths, the creation of the world is traced back to the magic effect of the powerful letters of The Holy Name. "In the Beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth." Early man dwelt in a living relationship to the cosmic heavenly forces that maintained his health. Most of the mythic cosmogonies and theogonies speak of a paradisiac state which is reflected in similar sounds such as akman, akmon ancient tones denoting Heaven and God, found in the transition of the early Mediterranean high cultures. Pain-staking linguistic research work has assembled the evidence, in pre-Indo-European Eurafrica, for the handed-down expressions that date back to vanished sources, whereby Akman as maintainer of Heaven and Earth indicates the name of the highest Being of an ancient high religion. The words akmae and akmon also appear, both in Sanskrit and in the Zend.
These archaic colossi, the massive stones in the palaces of Mycenae and Ekbatana, could tell us moderns a thing or two. Ekbatana had many circular walls that, according to Herodotus, enclosed the heavenly spheres; the obelisks were the petrified rays of the sun. In this image, preserved for millennia for us, the inner relationship of the stony heaven in the word akme might become clear to us.
The Sanskrit word acman corresponds to the early Greek Akmon, which designates the Heavens and the Earth. Although the word is found a few times in this sense in the Veda, it appears more frequently in the Iranian language, where acman in the Zend is the standard designation for the Heavens. The Greek mythological name Akmon is evidence that the Greeks had known the word in the sense of "heaven", in which sense it continued in the Iranian language. The medieval Christian theologians glossed this name as "untiring, fresh", referring to the never-ending motions of the heavens.
Asian primeval elements and cultural borrowings extended all the way into the Mediterranean region. As the crossroads of all major eastern Mediterranean maritime routes, Crete opened not just on Greece and Asia Minor: Phoenicia, Egypt and Italy were nearer from here than elsewhere but most enduring were the numerous contacts with Asia Minor. Here, Asian and European (in a narrower sense Phrygian and Pelasgic) elements could coalesce and, in this oldest period, elevate Crete to the focal point and point of departure of a mighty cultural mission. Here is where many varied legends converge and intertwine richly, their predominance and revolutionary power making itself felt everywhere in Greece on into historical times. The legend of Europa, born here, is directly connected to Phoenicia.
From the earliest times, the Cretan Ida bore the same name as the Phrygian mountain. It was connected with the same complex of legends and idols, that of the Idaic mother Thea or Cybele, the Dactyls, the Curetes or Corybants.
The Dactyls arose from the dust thrown behind him by Anchiale; they are prototypes of those sorcerers and shamans who serve the great goddesses. They unify God and man by means of ecstatic dances. In the legend complex around the Idaic mother, they appear as the demons, blacksmiths and sorcerers, Kelmis, Dammaneus and Akmon of hearth, hammer and anvil. The father is Dactylos (hence the name Idaioi Daktyloi; sources for this include the Phoronis epic and the Paris chronicle). For example, the gigantic Phrygians are mentioned in the Phoronis, fantastically strong and capable servants of Rhea, who were the first to find and forge iron in the mountain gorges and ravines, five masculine ironworkers and five assistant sisters.
There must have been many cultural stimuli that originated with them. They went, for example, to Samothrace as Orphic teachers, they developed the first Ephesian forms and musical rhythms - hence the dactyl as the name of a poetic metrical pattern. They first taught the Hellenes how to play stringed instruments.
Here, the myth of the birth of Zeus culminated in the Diktaic Grotto. In this, the Dactyls composed the protective demons who performed rhythmic dances. They represent the constructive and beneficent forces of nature. The Cretan Idaic cult of the dying and resurrecting vegetal god, which was later joined with the Hellenic Zeus, was adopted from here.
The Curetes are the offspring of the Dactyls, who founded the Mysteries into which even Pythagoras was initiated. Hercules, one of the most influential Curetes, came to Olympia and established the Games; he also consecrates an altar to the Olympic Zeus. In Olympia, the Curetes appear primarily in their healing sense. The Curetes' duties again, merged with the Corybants were adopted by the Orphics, and were maintained until the 4th century A.D. Philosophy has also taken hold of it, starting with the rationalism of Euhemeros and later the Stoa.
The name Akmon thus turns up in the Idaic Dactyls, and the kinship between the Dactyloid demons and the race of Titans has been established. With the Cretan birth legend of Zeus, the Idaic Dactyls also came to Olympia, where, in addition to Hercules, many altars were erected to them, who were regarded as healing gods. Of these, Epimedes was considered to be the "herbalist and conjuror" and Paenaios a "remedy-bringer" demigod. How far back these traditions reach (that originate in Asia Minor) can be seen in the fact that the Ethymology of the ancients hardly mentions the Dactyls.
According to the witnesses, Akmon, as the highest divine servant of the goddess Adastreia, carries out the sentence against his brother Kelmis by putting him into iron chains as punishment for his wickedness with respect to divine law. Kelmis here plays the role that would in like manner fall to Prometheus in later Greek mythology. Here, the knowledge of a healthy existence is shrouded in allegorical images.1 Zeus, overcome with rage at Prometheus' theft of fire, sent the female Pandora as vengeance, whom Hephaistos had fashioned out of clay for this purpose, who had given to Aphrodite charm, to Hermes handsome features, flattering speech and cunning and to Zeus a box - Pandora's Box containing all the evils, which she was forbidden to open. But her female curiosity got the better of her and she opened the box, out of which then emerged snakes and all manner of evils, and they spread out throughout mankind (i.e. the consequences of thousands of chronic ailments!). There was but one hope left in the bottom of the box, conditional upon the return of the accursed fire (i.e. the forced return to a diet of raw fruits and vegetables!). This marvelous symbolism is reinforced by the illustration of the effect of the improper use of fire in food preparation, in which an eagle gnaws on the liver and gallbladder of the rock-bound Prometheus (initial symptoms of cancer formation!).
All of this mythic wisdom forms the basis of the like-oriented teachings that focus on the divine life commandments and the warding off of dangers. This role of keeper of life's supreme laws and executor of divine orders was played by Akmon, the god of health. He is the supreme messenger, sent to preserve the divine order. He appears in Greek mythology as the personification of the anvil, which indicates the ancient connections to smithcraft, mining and metallurgy.
The name Akmon is included in the names of the gods. Akmon is the son of Gaia, the father of Uranus, of Eros, of Charon. According to other sources (Hesiod, Hesychius), Akmon is the nickname of Oceanos and Aether. Akmon is the companion of Diomede, of Aeneas, the son of Manes, of the Phrygian demigod Eponymos and founder of the city of Akmonia in Phrygian Asia Minor on the route to Philadelphia.
The name Akmon as a term for heaven and earth is reminiscent of the mythological beginnings, and is used as a divine nickname in remembrance of its healing significance, as a term for the elevated and all-encompassing, a symbol of the fullness of life and of health.
The name Akmon is (even viewed purely linguistically) a "trademark" that by which the essence is recognized, that which makes a difference. This explains the custom, which persisted into historical times, of giving a seriously ill person a new name. This isn't just in the superstitious sense of thereby leading evil spirits astray: it is a sign of an inner alteration in the patient, a change of course, a transformation of lifestyle.
The Idaic Dactyls (Kelmis) retain the name Akmon in this sense. The verses are prayers, in which the individual word has a mystical character. There are also three Nymph alters at Olympia,. near the Oracle of G e, on whom the nickname Akmenai was bestowed. These altars belonged to particularly prominent individuals, superhuman beings less than goddesses but more than actual women, occupying an intermediate rank. They were a subordinate choir to the highest godhead, serving the great mother Hera, Demeter and Apollo, and had helped build the Temple of Hera. Mantic powers were ascribed to them. They are said to have embodied the uplifting and inspiring aspect of fresh, free nature; they were said to be donors of the blessings of water, which caused meadow and cattle to flourish. In ancient times, the springhouses were dedicated to them; they bore the name to which they were entitled: Akmenai. They were beings who imparted the Akmic to mankind.
