Delphi

CHESMAYNE

Delphi - oracle of

The oracular shrine of Apollo at Delphi in central Greece. This was a temple of spirit and mystery that were popular in ancient Greece. People talked to the spirits at the temple of Delphi and Asklepios. The necromanteum of Ephyra was the place where the ancients went to see apparitions of their departed loved ones. On the payment of a fee, enquirers put their questions to Apollo’s medium, a priestess called the Pythia. Her ecstatic responses (oracles) were notorious for their ambiguity. Mantike: the Greek term for divination. The Greeks used mantike not to see into the future, but to seek advice. In classical times it was regarded as the center of the world. The spot was marked by a navel-stone or ‘omphalos

’. Oracles were delivered in hexameter verse by the priests who interpreted the inspired raving of the ‘Pythia’ or prophetess, who sat on a tripod in the temple of Apollo. By the 2^nd century AD the oracles were given in prose. In antiquity its treasures were unequalled. Nero removed 500 bronze statues from Delphi but this had little impact on its overall appearance. Christians, looters and time disposed of the rest. Chaonian Bird: the dove that bore the oracles of Chaonia (poetical name for a dove). Delphic Utterance: ambigious. Dodona: site of the most ancient oracle of Epirus dedicated to Zeus. Delphi was an omphalos.

Parnassus: mountain in central Greece on whose slope Delphi is situated and home of Apollo where he holds court with the Muses.

Many ancient civilizations set great store in oracles, signs and omens. These were read from the entrails of animals, the flight of birds, the weather and practically every manifestation of the natural world. In Ancient Greece ‘Kottavos’ involved throwing a cup of wine into a metal bowl and interpreting the shape of the splash and sediment. This survives today as tea-reading. Good luck symbols associated with tea reading include:

01 Star general good fortune. 02 Anchor success in business. 03 Bouquet a happy marriage. 04 Clover prosperity. 05 Crescent Moon Romance. 06 Bridge happy journey. 07 Dots money/windfall. 08 Dashes new project. 09 Circles end of some matter. 10 Straight lines determination. 11 Wavy Lines difficult time. 12 Triangle unexpected luck. 13 Cross problems. 14 Square restriction/letter. 15 Clouds disappointment. 16 Serpent slander. 17 Dagger be careful. 18 Pistol disaster/danger. 19 Rat deception. 20 Owl avoid the new etc.

In countries where coffee is drunk the patterns formed by coffee grounds are used instead ie, Turkish coffee practitioners in the Middle East.

Also see ‘Astrology’, ‘I Ching’ and ‘Tarot’ in this dictionary?

An oracle is a shrine or temple sanctuary consecrated to the worship and consultation of a prophetic god. The person who transmits prophecies from a deity at such a shrine is also called an oracle, as is the prophecy or revelation itself.

Oracles are usually presented in the form of an enigmatic or ambiguous statement or allegory. “Socrates is the wisest of men”. “A great king will achieve victory”. Such statements can have several meanings, thus affording a greater chance of being interpreted in such a way as to make them accurate than if they were more clear and precise, such as “Socrates has seven toes” or “Cyrus will defeat the Persians at Salamis on Tuesday”.

The belief in oracles can be traced to the desire to know the future. There are literally dozens of strange techniques humans have developed in an effort to divine events before they occur. Unfortunately, the only sure guide to the future is the past, and even that isn’t always reliable.