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Pagan Goddesses and Gods of the Delphi Oracle

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Crystal Thielkien
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« on: November 13, 2008, 03:09:58 pm »

Pagan Goddesses and Gods of the Delphi Oracle
by
MaatRaAh


The Pagan Oracle of Delphi was located about 75 NW of Athens on the Corinthian Sea (Korinthiakos Kolpos), 5 miles inland and 10 miles south of Mount Parnassos' (Parnassus) summit. There on the sharp, Parnassus mountain cliffs, at nearly 1900 feet above the Corinthian Gulf, where the sacred spring, Castalia still flows into the Cephissus river, two spectacular crags form a ledge. It is here that the Pagan temple of Apollo was located. The lower level of the Temple was reached by steps at one corner, and it is said that intoxicating fumes rose from a cleft in the floor near the center of the chamber, which were believed to be the smell from the decaying Python which Apollo is said to have killed. It was on Parnassus that the sacred Stone of Rhea landed when Cronus disgorged it. (There is a large stone that still rests in destroyed temple.)

Tradition has it that Delphi was found by Coretas, a shepherd boy, who discovered that his sheep and goats acted strangely when they approached the area and he himself soon began uttering prophetic statements which came true. However, oracle was given at Delphi by the Priestesses of Daphoene during Cretan times, which was at least 200 years and possibly 400 years before Apollo. The shepherd, Coretas obviously did not discover the sight, but rather he uncovered the secret to the Priestesses of the Serpent Oracles of Mother Goddess who presided there.
Christian sources assert that the Priestess at Delphi (Pythoness) was intoxicated by fumes escaping from the underground cavern and that she spoke gibberish which had to be interpreted by the priest; and further that the questions had to be formed so as to receive a "yes" or "no" answer.
Adamantius Origenes [Origen (c. 250 CE)], the Christian writer who defended Christianity against attacks by the philosopher, Celsus, in Contra Celsum, uses the following argument against Paganism:
"It is said of the Pythian priestess, whose oracle seems to have been the most celebrated, that when she sat down a the mouth of the Castalian cave, the prophetic spirit of Apollo entered her private parts. She sat with parted thighs on the tripod of Apollo, and the evil spirit entered her from below, passing through her genital organs, and plunged her into a state of frenzy, so that she began with loosened hair to foam and rage like a drunkard."
It must be noted that the Pythoness was still giving oracle at the time Origen wrote, and Origen did not report having personally seen this--even though he was a Greek--but rather, he reports that "it is said." And his statement was pure fantasy, intended to paint the Pythoness as a demonic channel.
The Pythoness did sit on a brass tripod, each leg of which represented a Goddess; the front most--facing east-- was Hera; tripod right was Pasiphae, the Cretan wife of Minos whose Bull worship was still reflected in Delphic worship; and tripod left was Ino, who, like Pasiphae predated the Apollonian invasion of the shrine. Thought apotheosis Ino became, Leucothea, Goddess of pools and streams, as it was from the pool of Castalia that the Priestess obtained her bowl of water from which she descried the oracle. The water from the Castalia pool contained methane and ethylene, traces of which are still present in the pool today. And it is likely that there was a greater degree of these gasses present anciently. And it is also possible that the amount of these gasses, and possibly others, decreased over the centuries, and as their euphoric properties decreased, so did the ability to produce oracle.
It was upon this tripod that the Pythoness sat with parted thighs, but she did not give frenzied oracle. That was the Sibyl of Cumae; and of course Origen would have considered any spirit or God which entered the Pythoness to be evil.
Socrates recognized the differences in madness, distinguishing it from being sane,
"but there is also a madness which is a divine gift, and the source of the chiefest blessings granted to men. For prophecy is a madness, and the prophetess at Delphi and the priestesses at Dodona when out of their senses have conferred great benefits on Hellas, both in public and private life, but when in their senses few or none." (Phaedrus, 243)
But being out of one's senses does not mean that one is "plunged" into a state of frenzy. On the contrary, all ancient paintings of the Pythoness show her seated on her tripod with a laurel sprig in her right hand and a bowl of water in her left from which she descries the oracle. No picture of the Pythoness shows her in a frenzied state, nor would she have been able to hold a bowl of water in that condition.
Origen, thus, becomes a classic example of the Christian ignorance which prevailed in the early days of that religion. That ignorance did not improve with age.
This is not to say that the Pythoness was not frenzied when she was in the cavern, as she most often was, for theolepsy was part of the oracle of Dionysus whose shrine was behind that of Apollo's. However, the cavern was forbidden to all but the priestess, and it is doubtful that she was ever seen in frenzied state when seated upon her tripod.
Modern exploration of the temple show mineral traces of methane and ethylene which could have been the fumes described by Plutarch. However, many of the questions asked by the inquirants have survived, and though many are trivial, they require more then a simple "yes" or "no" answer. Moreover, many of the answers have survived, and none are gibberish, but are articulate, though often couched in ambiguous terms. The Pythoness, however, did not speak directly to the inquirant, but rather she spoke to the priest of Apollo was always placed between the pythoness and the people.

This is what the 536th High Priestess of my religion told me about the Pythoness:
"She sat on a brass tripod, with a brass bowl filled with water in her right hand and a laurel sprig in her left; it was not fumes from the cavern which intoxicated the Priestess, for oracle had been given there long before the murder of Python by Apollo; the Pythoness was entered by the Spirit of the Vortex while alone in the lower cavern, protected by her two assistants who remained above. When she ascended she gave oracle in the ancient Cretan tongue, which was gibberish to the uninitiated, but was translated or interpreted by the priest and given to the inquirant. When the spirit was too weak to enter the Pythoness, she used a plant to induce a weakened physical and mental state; the plant which induce the trance-like state grew near the temple, and Coretas' goats had become intoxicated from eating the leaves of the tree (or bush), while the sheep, which are grazers, not browsers, were not affected. Coretas, however, had not eaten the leaves, but had become intoxicated after he had drunk a tea he had made from the leaves - which our priestesses say is a Laurel which grows only in that area; but originally oracle was given to the priestess when she was in an orgiastic state in the lower chamber and her assistant priestess conveyed the oracle to those who waited above." (The High Priestess also stated that while the fumes did not intoxicate, they produced a sense of euphoria which elevated the Priestess the same way music elevates the soul.)

http://www.goddess.org/vortices/notes/delphi.html
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Crystal Thielkien
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« Reply #1 on: November 13, 2008, 03:16:13 pm »

Pagan Goddesses and Gods of the Delphi Oracle
by
MaatRaAh (Cont.)



It must be noted that the Pythoness was still giving oracle at the time Origen wrote, and Origen did not report having personally seen this--even though he was a Greek--but rather, he reports that "it is said." And his statement was pure fantasy, intended to paint the Pythoness as a demonic channel.
The Pythoness did sit on a brass tripod, each leg of which represented a Goddess; the front most--facing east-- was Hera; tripod right was Pasiphae, the Cretan wife of Minos whose Bull worship was still reflected in Delphic worship; and tripod left was Ino, who, like Pasiphae predated the Apollonian invasion of the shrine. Thought apotheosis Ino became, Leucothea, Goddess of pools and streams, as it was from the pool of Castalia that the Priestess obtained her bowl of water from which she descried the oracle. The water from the Castalia pool contained methane and ethylene, traces of which are still present in the pool today. And it is likely that there was a greater degree of these gasses present anciently. And it is also possible that the amount of these gasses, and possibly others, decreased over the centuries, and as their euphoric properties decreased, so did the ability to produce oracle.
It was upon this tripod that the Pythoness sat with parted thighs, but she did not give frenzied oracle. That was the Sibyl of Cumae; and of course Origen would have considered any spirit or God which entered the Pythoness to be evil.
Socrates recognized the differences in madness, distinguishing it from being sane,
"but there is also a madness which is a divine gift, and the source of the chiefest blessings granted to men. For prophecy is a madness, and the prophetess at Delphi and the priestesses at Dodona when out of their senses have conferred great benefits on Hellas, both in public and private life, but when in their senses few or none." (Phaedrus, 243)
But being out of one's senses does not mean that one is "plunged" into a state of frenzy. On the contrary, all ancient paintings of the Pythoness show her seated on her tripod with a laurel sprig in her right hand and a bowl of water in her left from which she descries the oracle. No picture of the Pythoness shows her in a frenzied state, nor would she have been able to hold a bowl of water in that condition.
Origen, thus, becomes a classic example of the Christian ignorance which prevailed in the early days of that religion. That ignorance did not improve with age.
This is not to say that the Pythoness was not frenzied when she was in the cavern, as she most often was, for theolepsy was part of the oracle of Dionysus whose shrine was behind that of Apollo's. However, the cavern was forbidden to all but the priestess, and it is doubtful that she was ever seen in frenzied state when seated upon her tripod.
Modern exploration of the temple show mineral traces of methane and ethylene which could have been the fumes described by Plutarch. However, many of the questions asked by the inquirants have survived, and though many are trivial, they require more then a simple "yes" or "no" answer. Moreover, many of the answers have survived, and none are gibberish, but are articulate, though often couched in ambiguous terms. The Pythoness, however, did not speak directly to the inquirant, but rather she spoke to the priest of Apollo was always placed between the pythoness and the people.
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Crystal Thielkien
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« Reply #2 on: November 13, 2008, 03:18:08 pm »

Robert Graves seems to agree somewhat with this, stating that the "Goddess Daphoene [also Daphonesissa [the bloody one] was worshiped by a college of orgiastic laurel-chewing Maenads" and that "Apollo took over the laurel which, afterwards, only the Pythoness might chew".
Some species of the Laurel are mildly poisonous in small amounts--lethal in larger dosages--and when made into a decoction (boiled) of honey-wine, it has been know to produce prophetic hallucinations at the places of oracle. However, prior to the use of laurel leaves, the priestesses received oracle in three other ways,the first was by ecstatic orgasm, the second by drinking blood of sacred bulls, and the other by use of poisonous snakes to induce the oracular state.
Delphi is a classic example of the patriarchy overcoming Goddess worship. In order for the priests of Apollo to take possession of the oracle, it was necessary to destroy the Python and overcome the Cretan Goddess worship which had employed Snakes and the Bull for centuries. And while Apollo was very new in the Greek pantheon, the sacrificing of sheep to Apollo did not supplant the sacrificing of bulls to the Goddess until Classic times.
It is recorded that Doria [also called Rhodopis, the Thracian courtesan who lived in Egypt] donated a tenth of her wealth to have hugh iron spits made which were large enough to roast whole oxen. This was done in atonement of her fellow Thracian, Aesop, (of Fable fame) whom the Delphinians had killed by throwing him from the precipice (c. 193 AUC--560 BCE). These iron spits were used for the sacrifices at the altar of Dionysus which was opposite the temple building. After the ram supplanted oxen, the spits were removed and stored behind the altar where they were seen at the time of Herodotus (c. 299 AUC--454 BCE) but they were only mentioned by the priests at the time of Plutarch (c. 800 AUC--47 CE).
There had been six shrines at Delphi. The fifth which was made of dressed stones was burned and the sixth [and last] was erected in 262 AUC--491 BCE). Tradition has it that the fourth shrine had been built of brass by Hephaestus but was swallowed by an earthquake. However, this brass shrine of Hephaestus would have predated that of the laurels, as Hephaestus (Ptah in Egypt) was the master of the Cyclops (Kyklops), who predated the worship of Apollo. The brass shrine is more fable than myth, as there is no evidence of this kind of earthquake activity at the sight for at least 30,000 years. The second shrine was said to have been made of fern-stalks, which indicates that the oracle was purely sexual before it was replaced by the equally sexual Cretan Order. This is confirmed by the first shrine also which was made of bee's wax and feathers, which indicates that the oracle was not only sexual, but had its origin in Egypt, and that the cave was at one time a Vortic center--the bee's wax being formed in the shape of an omphalos.
The Omphalos, or Navel of the World, was said to have originally been in the cave at Delphi, but that would have been at least 6,000 years before Troy; and that conflicts with Greek myth which has Zeus losing his navel string at Omphalion, which is on Crete, near Knossos. Knossos, of course, predated the Greeks by at least one thousand years, and it is likely that the later Greeks attributed the Omphalos to Delphi because it was the home of Pythos, the Stone of Rhea.
The Stone of Rhea came about when Uranus, whom Cronus had castrated before usurping his throne, prophesied that one of the Children of Cronus would in a like manner dethrone him. Cronus took this to heart and after making his sister, Rhea, his consort, each year she bore to him a child. Hestia was the first, then Demeter, and Hera, third. After this were born Hades followed by Poseidon. Cronus devoured each of these five as they were born. Rhea's third son, Zeus was born at night on Mount Lycaeum in Arcadia. Knowing that Cronus would devour her newborn son, Rhea bathed him in the River Neda, to cover him with an earthly scent, and gave him to Gaea (Mother Earth) who took him to Lyctos in Crete where he was hidden in the Cave of Dictes. There he was cared for by the daughters of Melisseus, by name, Adrasteia and Io, and by the Goat-nymph Amalthea, who fed Zeus and his foster-brother, Pan, on her milk.
When Zeus grew to maturity he went to the Ocean Stream where he took his first mate, the Oceanid, Metis (counsel), one of the thousand daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. It was Metis who instructed Zeus in how to become the Cup Bearer of Cronus. She also taught Zeus how to serve his father an emetic concoction, which caused Cronus to vomit the children he had swallowed. The first disgorged was not a child, but the Stone Rhea had given to Cronus, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and which he believed to be Her Son. When disgorged, the stone called Pythos, was hurled down to Mount Parnassus where Zeus fixed it in a deep cleft. It was constantly anointed with oil by the suppliants of Apollo who offered it strands of unwoven wool. It was Metis, also, who would be the force in the dethronement of Zeus.
The usurping of the priestess' authority took place no more than three generations before the Trojan war. It was Heracles who had restructured the zodiac with his twelve labors, and it was Perseus who had set Pegasus and Agyieus loose to destroy the Goddess worship in Greece. For it was the winged-horse, Pegasus, springing full grown the body of Medusa, who then flew to mount Halcion where he became the favorite of the Muses; and it was the poets, touched by the Muses, who created the myth of their past. Even so, the takeover of Delphi was not completed for least 600 years
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