One of the Island's most fascinating personalities, Stelios Atteshlis, died last week at the age of 82. Following a brain hemorrhage, he had
been in a coma for several months.

Atteshlis became known all over the world as a healer and spiritual teacher endowed with extraordinary powers and gifts, following the publication in 1985 of a book by Kyriakos Markides entitled "The Magus of Strovolos".

In it, Markides told of his first meeting with the man about whom he had been warned as a child by his parish priest ("He Is a man with satanic powers") and then of the nine months he spent observing and listening to the man he called "Daskalos" ("Teacher").

Despite the Orthodox Church's disapproval of his activities, Atteshlis (referred to as "Spyros Sathi" in the book) never saw any conflict between his Christian beliefs and his healing and teaching gifts.
Indeed, he was a good friend of Archbishop Makarios, who may nonetheless have been wary of the "magus"' assertion that he was an incarnation of the Cypriot Saint Spyridon.

This, and other fascinating insights into Atteshlis' beliefs, can be found in detail in Markides' second book on him, "Homage to the Sun: The Wisdom of the Meg us of Strovolos".

People from many countries sought out Stelios Atteshlis, who described himself as a healer and 'doctor of the soul' whose primary concern was to alleviate pain and to assist those who were ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery. There are many authenticated stories of the apparently miraculous cures that he achieved. One does not have to read Markides' books to learn of them: Cyprus is full of people who, often as a last resort, had visited Atteshlis in the hope of being treated for ailments that conventional medicine was unable to help.
There is no shortage of convinced and grateful patients, although equally one can find many people for whom the initial apparent cure turned out to be short-lived.
Whether one 'believes' in Stelios Atteshlis or not, it cannot be denied that he was a unique thinker and teacher with a 'magical' personality. His death will leave a far greater gap than most people in Cyprus could possibly realize.
ã The Cyprus Weekly 1995