When
The Oracle Spoke
For most pilgrims, an encounter with the Delphi Oracle was to
be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. According to Jungian author
Dianne
Skafte, Ph.D. in "Listening To The Oracle," it was normally
considered impious for a pilgrim to ask the Oracle for predictions
of the future.
It was,
however, considered proper to ask Apollo's Oracle how one could
become aligned with their destiny. Thus...
the questions asked of the Oracle were, more often than not,
normally concerned with instructions on how to give proper tribute
to one
of the Greek gods.
As such,
Shafte feels that most of the ancient pilgrims journeying to the
Oracle did so, not so much for the advice
given, as for the numinous experience of encountering the Oracle
and its powers of transformation.
At the same time, it might be to your benefit to know that kings
and conquerors seldom shied away from visiting the Oracle and asking
for specific predictions of the future.
When
questions calling for prediction were asked, the Oracle of Delphi
was then known for giving
truthful, but ambiguous and hidden answers.
For
example, the Lydian King Croesus asked the Oracle whether he should
fight King Cyrus
of Persia or negotiate with Cyrus for terms of peace. The historian
Herodotus reports that for some reason the gods were angry with
Croesus, and that they therefore decided to punish him. The Oracle's
answer
was that who ever crosses the river Halys will become the ruler
of a great empire.
King Croesus
mistakenly assumes he will be the one to
cross. (There are different versions as to exactly what the Oracle
said.) Based on the Oracle - along with the fact that his army
greatly outnumbered that of Cyrus - Croesus went to war with
Cyrus. However,
it was King Cyrus who crossed the river. The kingdom of Croesus
fell in 547 BC.
Being Who You Are and Horoscopic Astrology
By the time the maxim "Know Thyself" made its way to the
likes of Socrates and Plato, it [in a nutshell] meant "learning
how to be who you are." The Delphi task involved in "Knowing
Thyself," being "complete," or "wholeness" is
that of more consciously (and fully) understanding and living out
all the potentials - the good, the bad, and the ugly - contained
in who you are as an individual.
The
ancient Delphi Oracle life task of "Knowing Thyself" never has lent itself out to easy "one
size fits all" answers and/or solutions to life.
In Jungian psychological
terms, the natural internal movement of the psyche toward "wholeness" or "completion" is
called the process of "individuation." The ancient Christian
philosopher Irenaeus wrote that "the glory of God is a life
fully lived."
In his
statement, Irenaeus was very likely inspired by the familiar passage
from the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus of
Nazareth said: "You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly
father is perfect." Unfortunately, modern translations of this
passage - making use of the word "perfect" - are more than
a wee bit misleading.
The
original Greek word used was teleios, meaning "brought
to completion." Therefore, a better translation might be: "You
must therefore be complete just as your heavenly father is complete." You
must learn to be who you are. Thus, "the glory of God is a life
fully lived." In fact, what I call the "living out" of
one's birth chart - and aligning oneself with one's personal destiny
- is the psychological goal and/or task of this lifetime...
"If thou knowest thyself well, thou art better and more praiseworthy
before God, than if thou didst not know thyself, but didst understand
the course of the heavens and of all the planets and stars, also
the dispositions of all mankind, also the nature of all beasts, and,
in such matters, hadst all the skill of all who are in heaven and
on earth. For it is said, there came a voice from heaven, saying,
'Man, know thyself.' Thus that proverb is still true, 'Going out
were never so good, but staying at home were much better.'" (short
excerpt from the "Theologia Germanica," Chapter 9, Author
Unknown, 1516. The "Theologia Germanica," discovered and
published by Martin Luther, was extolled by Luther as being one of
the important books ever written.)
"Knowing Thyself" and "learning how to be who you
are" sounds deceptively simple doesn't it? So how are you doing
so far? Unfortunately, life doesn't come with an owner's manual included
in the box. Heck... tell the truth... even if life did come with
a manual in the box, we probably wouldn't read it. We'd all be waiting
for it to come out on video. Having its birth in ancient Greece,
horoscopic astrology is an ancient oracular tool that can in modern
times support each one of us in the ancient task of "Knowing
Thyself."
At it's best,
astrology (like the Oracle of Delphi) is one of many tools that
can assist us in the task of becoming aligned with our
destiny. Astrology's "map of the soul" (owner's manual)
provides each one of us with a map of our inborn potentials and then
shows how these inborn potentials will (sooner or later) seek to
systemically unfold over the course of our lifetime. As such, in
our modern world - too often devoid of meaning - astrology can assist
us in purposes of meaning, purpose, self-discovery, soul growth,
and being "brought to completion."
The Second Inscription
What most folks don't know is that along with the maxim "Know
Thyself," there was - according to the historian Plutarch -
yet another inscription on Apollo's Oracle of Delphi temple.
Part
III> Yet
Another Inscription on Apollo's Oracle of Delphi > Page
1, 2, 3
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