Gustave Moreau [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsWhat do you picture when you think of ancient Delphi in in the southern crags of Mount Parnassus in Greece? Golden haired Apollo battling the monstrous python? A devoted oracular priestess of Apollo in rapturous trance uttering cryptic prophecies? Delphi’s role as an important religious and mythological center originated long before Apollo’s glory in Greece. The Great Cosmic Mother by Monica Sjoo and Barbara Mor describes how, prior to the rise of Achaean Greeks and the Olympian gods headed up by Zeus, the shrine of the magnificent earth goddess Gaia stood on the sacred site of Delphi. The area was considered the omphalos or navel of the world. There, in an underground chamber shaped like a beehive, lived the powerful spiraling serpent or python, sometimes referred to as drakaina or dragon. The dragon energy and form spiraled around the beehive chamber. It was sometimes seen as the child of Gaia and sometimes as another form of the goddess, who possessed the regenerative powers of the serpent. Gaia’s divine authority included life and death, those most basic of mysteries. Life originated from her womb, and the word Delphi itself comes from the word for womb.
Edward Burne-Jones [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsLater, when the male-oriented culture of the Achaeans rose in Greece,the sun god Apollo assumed exaltation as the primary deity of Delphi. Before the god of light could gain prominence, however, he had to fight and kill the python (overthrow the power of the goddess). He did so with a silver bow and golden arrows forged by Hephaestus, after which he had to purify himself of the murderous blood-guilt by serving as a shepherd for eight years. Even after Apollo took control of Delphi, a powerful priestess known as the Sibyl served as his oracle, and the myth of the goddess continued to be honored there as well. I’d love to visit the mystical site of Delphi, wouldn’t you?
“The sunbeams are my shafts, with which I kill Deceit, that loves the night and fears the day; All men who do or even imagine ill Fly me, and from the glory of my ray Good minds and open actions take new might, Until diminished by the reign of Night.” From Hymn of Apollo by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Cheers and Happy Reading! Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Paranormal Romance
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By Flossie Benton Rogers
Paranormal romance author who loves to shake the edges of reality.
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Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Paranormal Romance
You have the most interesting posts
I’m pleased you enjoyed it, Cathy.
There’s such a sense of an archaic past in this post, Flossie. Great job of conjuring the legends of an ancient and mysterious world!
Thanks, Mae. It’s amazing how Delphi is still a town but reaches back into such ancient times.
Darkness ever feeds the Enemy! Light is the Savior to all. Lots of beautiful info here, thanks for sharing.
Thank you for stopping by and commenting, Linda:)
Food for thought, as always. Thanks for sharing with us, Flossie!
Thank you, Carmen. It’s a pleasure to have you stop by.