{"id":14998,"date":"2026-02-08T14:01:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T11:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matanhakimi.com\/?p=14998"},"modified":"2026-07-08T09:30:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T06:30:42","slug":"pharmakon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matanhakimi.com\/en\/pharmakon\/","title":{"rendered":"Pharmakon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Did you know that chemotherapy contains carcinogenic substances?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That antidepressants can lead to suicidality?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That a course of antibiotics devastates the microbiome our immune system relies on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That pills for intestinal inflammation can create ulcers in the stomach? (I took those for years)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The irony\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you know the origin of the word pharmacy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you did, you wouldn’t rush to the pharmacy the next time you got sick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word \u201cpharmakia\u201d (Greek: \u03c6\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03b5\u03af\u03b1) has its roots in ancient Greek texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is an ancient, loaded term, with a meaning entirely different from the way we use the word \u201cpharmacy\u201d today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In classical Greek, pharmakia derives from the word – pharmakon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally, pharmakon meant both \u201cmedicine\u201d and \u201cpoison.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This duality is no coincidence – it is an ancient warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

anything powerful enough to \u201cheal,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is also powerful enough to harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Greek translation of the New Testament, the term pharmakia appears several times –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for example in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 18:23)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where it is translated as \u201csorcery\u201d or \u201cwitchcraft\u201d – meaning magic, spellcraft, or the use of substances to alter consciousness for magical purposes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and sometimes also spiritual deception – controlling people through potions, drugs, or false medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its symbolic meaning, \u201cpharmakia\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

represents the use of substances to bypass the divine power, or the inner process of healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This connects to the pharmacological-scientific narrative<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that leads us to believe that what God, or creation, made is not enough,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and that you need the \u201cscience\u201d and progress humans created in order to be healthy – or worse, in order to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the ancient sense, pharmakia referred to using substances to manipulate the body, the mind, or perception,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

often for power, profit, or control, rather than for true healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now let’s look at the modern pharmaceutical system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n