Delphi, Greece. A place of awe. A guest post by @navajobob #OracleofDelphi
The Oracle of Delphi
Delphi
is a place of spiritual and religious awe, or why would Michelangelo
have dedicated it on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? Yes, it is
there on the ceiling among the Christian saints and the Jewish
patriarchs. Makes you wonder.
If
you’re going to Athens, then save a day for Delphi. Ask your hotel
to arrange it for you in advance. It’s around ten hours round trip.
If you have more time then you could spend the night in the region.
The site of the naval battle of Lepanto, where the Spanish and
Italians finally defeated the Ottomans, is not far away. The
monastery of Osios Loukas is also nearby.
Delphi
is not a tiny cave-like place, nor does one have to climb a cliff to
get there, as Leonidas was depicted doing in the film 300.
The site contains the remains of a theatre and the temple of Apollo,
plus an array of other structures.
Archeologically,
Delphi has been occupied since Neolithic times, and pretty much has
been a religious site as far back as Greek records go. Legend states
that Apollo arrived there in the shape of a dolphin and was carrying
Cretan priests on his back. Does this imply Minoan origins?
The
mystery of the temple centers on the priestess, always called Pythia,
and always a woman of good repute who was selected from the
neighboring villages, and who was also over the age of 50. I guess if
she lived to be 50, she had to be wise, but there goes some of the
allure—I preferred the image of a beautiful young woman. She sat
on her tripod over a crack in the earth, from which vapors rose,
causing her to go into a trance. Have you ever breathed sulphur
dioxide fumes? One whiff and you’re dizzy, or dead. That and other
toxic gases could have risen out of the earth in small enough
concentrations to affect her mental state without killing her.
Her
prophecies and advice are well known. Here are a few that I have
heard:
The
Oracle told Byzas, the founder of Byzantium, to settle his colony
opposite the "Land of the Blind". He traveled to the Asian
side of the Bosporus Straits and looking north, he pointed to the
European side, and said, “I see a city there.” Everyone he spoke
to said there was no city there, and finally he concluded they were
all blind to the potential of the site so he built a city on the
opposite side of the straits from them. Later it was called
Constantinople and was the capital of the Roman Empire for a thousand
years. When it fell to the Ottomans, it was renamed Istanbul, and was
the capital of the Ottoman Empire for over four hundred years.
Chaerophon,
a contemporary of Socrates, visited the Oracle and asked who the
wisest man in Athens was. The Oracle said no one is wiser than
Socrates. Socrates tried to prove the Oracle
wrong and began to search for someone wiser than he, but found that
everyone blathered with authority regarding things they knew nothing
of, and he, at least, was aware of his own ignorance, and hence truly
was wiser than they.
Finally,
prior to the Battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas was told that a king of
Sparta would have to die or Sparta would be destroyed. Knowing this,
he refused to leave the battlefield and the stand of the three
hundred was forever immortalized.
There
is something spiritually fundamental about Delphi. Go there, find a
place away from others, close your eyes and let it flow into your
body.
Blake grew up just south of Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he spent his spare time in his World War Two surplus jeep, exploring the desert. When he could, he sat with the old timers’ and listened to their tales of Geronimo, Cochise, Pancho Villa, and Billy the Kid. His love and respect for the desert weaves through his stories.
A licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California with Masters Degrees in Energy Conversion and Urban Planning as well as experience as a college math instructor, Blake includes a dash of science and technology, along with a smattering of history and paranormal topics in his writing.
He is currently writing The Shaman Gene series, the story of Earth’s rise to join galactic society. “A Far Traveler”, is the first in the series. Two more novels: Panther Watches and Seekers of the Scroll are in draft.
You can read more and comment at Blake’s website: http://shamangene.com/BLOG/. Blake is also a member of California Writers Club and the Indie Author News.
Thanks for sharing your journey with us :)
About W. Blake Heitzman
Blake grew up just south of Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he spent his spare time in his World War Two surplus jeep, exploring the desert. When he could, he sat with the old timers’ and listened to their tales of Geronimo, Cochise, Pancho Villa, and Billy the Kid. His love and respect for the desert weaves through his stories.
A licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California with Masters Degrees in Energy Conversion and Urban Planning as well as experience as a college math instructor, Blake includes a dash of science and technology, along with a smattering of history and paranormal topics in his writing.
He is currently writing The Shaman Gene series, the story of Earth’s rise to join galactic society. “A Far Traveler”, is the first in the series. Two more novels: Panther Watches and Seekers of the Scroll are in draft.
You can read more and comment at Blake’s website: http://shamangene.com/BLOG/. Blake is also a member of California Writers Club and the Indie Author News.
