Oracle of Delphi

[Alexander]

Jeff, what do you make of the Oracle of Delphi?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythia

She was a major institution of the ancient Greeks... and widely respected. Many people are surprised at the reverence she held, with many so-called "scientific" Greeks who became quite superstitious when consulting her.

Interesting to me is the accuracy of many of her predictions... Of course most *are* ambiguous, but she gave several over the centuries that were pretty clear statements of "do this" or "don't do this" which the Greeks heeded pretty seriously. The Spartans, for example, wouldn't go to war without her approval.

Here are some of the predictions I believe I'm remembering right...
-She told the Athenians to abandon their city when the Persians came (they did this and indeed saved the population... the Persians burned the city itself to the ground)
-She told the Athenians to fight Persia at sea... (they won the Battle of Salamis)
-She made a pretty spooky prediction about the death of Philip of Macedon (Alexander's father)
-She accurately said Croesus' empire would fall if he went to war with Cyrus
-She accurately stated Alexander would be a world-conqueror...
-She said Socrates was the wisest man in Greece (speaks for itself)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oracular_statements_from_Delphi

There are many I'm forgetting, but that is a good track record if you ask me...

She also gave guidance for some pretty major events, like the foundings of Cyrene, Byzantion, and Sparta.

Do you think there is anything to this? I have heard some modern scientists say they believe it was the gases under the caves in Delphi, that she got loopy on the fumes, but it doesn't really explain the thoughtfulness, learnedness, and wisdom to some of the statements. Could it be the operation of "intuition"? If so, why is she basically the one example we have in history of a "fortune teller" of this level of excellence? What did the priests of Apollo do right that let her work so effectively, and why have we not been able to recreate it since?

[Jhanananda]

Good to hear from you Alexander. For our purposes here of promoting a per level community who is dedicated to depth in meditation to acquire the superior fruit of attainment (maha-phala) I don't really see how the Oracle of Delphi is relevant.  On the other hand, since the Oracle of Delphi had a central influence on Greek Culture, then we could spend some time speculating about her.  Most importantly, since Socrates is quoted by Plato as having a profound influence from the Oracle of Delphi, and Socrates was clearly a mystic, then I see the relevance of this discussion; however, psychic ability doesn't strike me as that much on topic, especially regarding someone of antiquity who is pretty obscure. Also, history is often revised to favor the victor, so we really cannot know enough about the Oracle of Delphi to gain much from a discussion.

The questions that are relevant are: 1) Who was the the Oracle of Delphi?  2) Was the Oracle of Delphi a contemplative?  3) Was the Oracle of Delphi a mystic?

1)The record suggests that the Oracle of Delphi was not a single person, because of the many years of her record suggests.  I think it is more likely the Oracle of Delphi was an office held by a succession of women. 2) Revisionist history might have favored the Oracle of Delphi. 3) I don't see enough regarding the Oracle of Delphi to tell me that she was either a contemplative or a mystic, but a psychic.

But, I would like very much to be convinced otherwise of my opinions, but I am more convinced by vetted sources than belief systems.

[Alexander]

Correct, it is the reverence Socrates had for her that makes me take her so seriously... She made the statement that began Socrates' whole mission, which proved to be accurate, and led to one of the great events of all time. So, she must have had some real wisdom or insight there. She was also consulted by many Greek kings and archons over the centuries.

It is unfortunate, as I have asked many people of this over the years, and no one has an answer.

[Jhanananda]

While there is some support for considering the Oracle of Delphi may have been a mystic; nonetheless we do not have a sufficient record to benefit from whatever the Oracle of Delphi; whereas, we have an excellent record for the major mystics: Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Rumi, Kabir, Patanjali, and Siddhartha Gautama, whereby we have a remarkable cohesion of expression that supports the community of mystics here. So, we need to familiarize ourselves with that remarkable record, while searching for other similar records. Whereas, there is so little evidence of who or what the Oracle of Delphi was, let alone the path that the Oracle of Delphi took to become an oracle.