Delphi Attractions
Description
Venue: Tholos Temple When: Daily
One hundred miles north-west of Athens, high above the Gulf of Corinth, stands the holy mountain of Parnassus. Nestled amidst its pine forested slopes and rocky crags are the beautiful and exceptionally well-preserved ruins of Delphi. Rich in myth, bound up with the mysteries of clairvoyance and earth energies, for many this is a very sacred spot.
According to ancient legends, the site was originally a sacred place of the earth goddess Gaia. Later legends involve Apollo (son of Zeus) in battle with a snake for the site. He persuaded Pan (the goat-god of wild places and evocative music) to reveal to him the art of prophecy, and erected his own oracular temple.
Myths aside, archaeologically we know little about the early beginnings of Delphi. Excavations have revealed the site was a Mycenean village from 1500 to 1100 BC, during the time of the oracular cult of the Earth Goddess. But by about 1000 BC, the worship of Apollo had overtaken.
By the 7th century BC, Delphi was known as an oracular shrine. Women (considered to be more sensitive than men) would first bathe in the waters of the nearby sacred Castalian spring. Next they would drink from the sacred Kassotis spring, and then, sitting in meditation near the omphalos stone, they would enter into a visionary trance state.
Questions regarding the future would be asked of these women "communing with the oracle". The answers, interpreted by male priests and then spoken in verse, proved so accurate that the Delphic oracle came to exercise enormous political and social influence in the Greek empire for nearly 1000 years. But the arrival of Christianity signalled the death knoll of the ancient Greek oracle shrines and Delphi was abandoned to the elements.
Throughout history, the particular energy of the site had been recognised as inducing prophetic visions. Ignoring the mysticism, Delphi is still an awesome distraction from the chaos of Athens.
One hundred miles north-west of Athens, high above the Gulf of Corinth, stands the holy mountain of Parnassus. Nestled amidst its pine forested slopes and rocky crags are the beautiful and exceptionally well-preserved ruins of Delphi. Rich in myth, bound up with the mysteries of clairvoyance and earth energies, for many this is a very sacred spot.
According to ancient legends, the site was originally a sacred place of the earth goddess Gaia. Later legends involve Apollo (son of Zeus) in battle with a snake for the site. He persuaded Pan (the goat-god of wild places and evocative music) to reveal to him the art of prophecy, and erected his own oracular temple.
Myths aside, archaeologically we know little about the early beginnings of Delphi. Excavations have revealed the site was a Mycenean village from 1500 to 1100 BC, during the time of the oracular cult of the Earth Goddess. But by about 1000 BC, the worship of Apollo had overtaken.
By the 7th century BC, Delphi was known as an oracular shrine. Women (considered to be more sensitive than men) would first bathe in the waters of the nearby sacred Castalian spring. Next they would drink from the sacred Kassotis spring, and then, sitting in meditation near the omphalos stone, they would enter into a visionary trance state.
Questions regarding the future would be asked of these women "communing with the oracle". The answers, interpreted by male priests and then spoken in verse, proved so accurate that the Delphic oracle came to exercise enormous political and social influence in the Greek empire for nearly 1000 years. But the arrival of Christianity signalled the death knoll of the ancient Greek oracle shrines and Delphi was abandoned to the elements.
Throughout history, the particular energy of the site had been recognised as inducing prophetic visions. Ignoring the mysticism, Delphi is still an awesome distraction from the chaos of Athens.
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