Nothing to Excess, a message engraved in Delphi ,is a universal message.
For the Buddhists, the Middle Way and the story of the Buddha, who realized that neither extreme riches nor extreme poverty were the answer, represents Nothing to Excess.
For Christians the Tenth Commandment, “Thou shalt not covet” means precisely the same.
More recently, Gandhi said that the world has enough for what everyone needs, but not for what everyone wants.
Even psychologists studied this phenomenon and found that when you are in extreme poverty increasing riches, sexual pleasure, power, and so on, will bring you more happiness, but once you achieve a certain point the increase in happiness is so small that it is not enough to compensate the anguish produced in our quest for more.
So, I ask, why do we keep wanting more, why is our society always praising excess? I pray Apollo may give me the answer and guide me in achieving Nothing to Excess.
Showing posts with label Random. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Random. Show all posts
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Delphi, Python and Human Development
The myth of the Python tells u show Apollo fired a hundred missiles (Hekateros) to slay the Python and take over the Oracle at Delphi. Modern scholars believe this may be a reflection of a male society taking over a female society, or a male cult over a female cult. However, I believe that this holds a deeper message for us, a message found among all Word Religions.
The first to hold Delphi was Gaia, Mother Earth. Later, she passed it to Themis, who was in charge when Apollo, through means of slaying the Python (dragoness daughter of Gaia), got the Oracle.
I find Delphi a most curious metaphor to human development. Psychologists now recognize three stages of development: pre-personal (or pre-conventional), personal (or conventional), and trans-personal (or post-conventional). Curiously, these stages were already known to mystics from both the East and the West, and they find a striking correspondence with the stages of Delphi.
The pre-personal stage, I believe, corresponds with the time Gaia ruled over Delphi. This is the stage we are brought into the world, the primordial stage or, should we say, the earthly stage. This is before education, before we realize we are a person and other people are people too.
The personal stage naturally takes over, through education. This is the stage most people live and die in. It is the stage of conventions and acquiring culture, not the rules set by law but those set by society and tradition – the very essence of the Goddess Themis, second ruler of Delphi.
Finally, comes the third stage. This stage is found in every religion and it is described as enlightment, freedom, recognizing the ultimate truth, liberation. The transpersonal stage is described the same way as Apollo, the third ruler of Delphi.
This last stage was also described by the Greeks, namely by Plato. He says that the transpersonal stage is like, having lived our entire life in a cave seeing shadows, we get to go out and see the light. And he describes, just like Buddhism, Taoism, Christianism, Judaism, Islamism, Hinduism and many others, that to set ourselves free from that cave we need to look inside.
Looking inside is the very essence of Delphi – “Know thyself”. Know that the ultimate truth is inside you, know yourself and you will see the ultimate truth, Apollo will shine on you. Recognize the importance of Gaia and Themis, but don’t let your body rot (root of the word Python) without passing to the last stage, don’t just meet Apollo “whose temple lies at the door of Hades”, know thyself and meet Apollo the slayer of the Python.
Contrary to modern scholars, I believe that “Know thyself” doesn’t mean “Know you are not divine”. Quite the opposite, it means, to me, “Know that the divine is inside you.”
Release yourself from the Asian maya, the dream or illusion, Know Thyself is, to me, one of the most important messages of Delphi, one that should be heeded by today’s followers, far more than oracles, rituals or the many stories surrounding that place that is, after all, each and every one of us.
The first to hold Delphi was Gaia, Mother Earth. Later, she passed it to Themis, who was in charge when Apollo, through means of slaying the Python (dragoness daughter of Gaia), got the Oracle.
I find Delphi a most curious metaphor to human development. Psychologists now recognize three stages of development: pre-personal (or pre-conventional), personal (or conventional), and trans-personal (or post-conventional). Curiously, these stages were already known to mystics from both the East and the West, and they find a striking correspondence with the stages of Delphi.
The pre-personal stage, I believe, corresponds with the time Gaia ruled over Delphi. This is the stage we are brought into the world, the primordial stage or, should we say, the earthly stage. This is before education, before we realize we are a person and other people are people too.
The personal stage naturally takes over, through education. This is the stage most people live and die in. It is the stage of conventions and acquiring culture, not the rules set by law but those set by society and tradition – the very essence of the Goddess Themis, second ruler of Delphi.
Finally, comes the third stage. This stage is found in every religion and it is described as enlightment, freedom, recognizing the ultimate truth, liberation. The transpersonal stage is described the same way as Apollo, the third ruler of Delphi.
This last stage was also described by the Greeks, namely by Plato. He says that the transpersonal stage is like, having lived our entire life in a cave seeing shadows, we get to go out and see the light. And he describes, just like Buddhism, Taoism, Christianism, Judaism, Islamism, Hinduism and many others, that to set ourselves free from that cave we need to look inside.
Looking inside is the very essence of Delphi – “Know thyself”. Know that the ultimate truth is inside you, know yourself and you will see the ultimate truth, Apollo will shine on you. Recognize the importance of Gaia and Themis, but don’t let your body rot (root of the word Python) without passing to the last stage, don’t just meet Apollo “whose temple lies at the door of Hades”, know thyself and meet Apollo the slayer of the Python.
Contrary to modern scholars, I believe that “Know thyself” doesn’t mean “Know you are not divine”. Quite the opposite, it means, to me, “Know that the divine is inside you.”
Release yourself from the Asian maya, the dream or illusion, Know Thyself is, to me, one of the most important messages of Delphi, one that should be heeded by today’s followers, far more than oracles, rituals or the many stories surrounding that place that is, after all, each and every one of us.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
A&A make the show
Another brief reflection on how Apollon and Artemis work together. The music to day is much interlinked with show and dance. When you have a music show it has dance and, obviously, a dance show has music. Apollon is the patron of music and Artemis of dancing, thus this is another activity in which the twins work together as a single force with two components.
I think that the fact that the gods are twins means much more than most people ever care to investigate.
I think that the fact that the gods are twins means much more than most people ever care to investigate.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Paean and Paeonia
It is possible that Paean and Paeonia and its inhabitants, the Paeonians, are connected. The Paeonians were a Northern tribe present in the Iliad, sided with the Trojans. They lived in the place that later became Macedon. The hypothesis of some form of connection with them and Paean or Apollo in general has been suggested, rejected, re-suggested and re-rejected only to be suggested once again.
It may be possible that Paean is an adjective, meaning "of healing", since it has been associated with Apollo and Asklepios, both healing gods, and when used in the Iliad alone also refers to a healing god. Some scholars say that maybe then this was the title given to the healing deity of the Paeonians, which seemed to be their patron male deity, possible Helios, Apollo or some other God associated with the sun, who was worshipped along with Artemis, associated with the moon.
Not much is known about the Paeonians. We know their religion was centered not only on the sun and the moon (as Apollo and Artemis), but also on the rivers and lakes. In fact, the Axius, a river, was the great-grandfather of the chief Paeonians in the Iliad. From the Iliad we also know that they used to wash their to-be-kings in the water of this river and that would make them kings.
Herodotos says that they offered to Artemis offerings in the same fashion as those sent from the North to Delos from the Hyperboreans. Another clash with Apollo's cult is the fact that they worshiped Helios with rituals similar to those performed in the Daphnephoria.
Their chief god, whomever he was, was linked with not only the sun but also with water. He was a great healer, the god of healing waters and, mostly, of healing herbs, just like Paean and, not surprisingly, Apollo.
It appears that the Paeonians themselves were known for their salves and their knowledge of healing herbs and that Paeonian could also mean "doctor", as iatros.
Another curious thing about the Paeonians, one which I find beautiful and easy to incorporate in modern devotion and cult of Paean, Apollo, Helios or Asklepios, is that they were refered as the famous Northmen of famour pharmakoi and their land was in the road of rose gardens (because in their land grew roses and peony).
One last thing, besides Paean, Apollo and Asklepios, another healer linked with them is Chiron, whom they taught how to heal to Asklepios himself.
It may be possible that Paean is an adjective, meaning "of healing", since it has been associated with Apollo and Asklepios, both healing gods, and when used in the Iliad alone also refers to a healing god. Some scholars say that maybe then this was the title given to the healing deity of the Paeonians, which seemed to be their patron male deity, possible Helios, Apollo or some other God associated with the sun, who was worshipped along with Artemis, associated with the moon.
Not much is known about the Paeonians. We know their religion was centered not only on the sun and the moon (as Apollo and Artemis), but also on the rivers and lakes. In fact, the Axius, a river, was the great-grandfather of the chief Paeonians in the Iliad. From the Iliad we also know that they used to wash their to-be-kings in the water of this river and that would make them kings.
Herodotos says that they offered to Artemis offerings in the same fashion as those sent from the North to Delos from the Hyperboreans. Another clash with Apollo's cult is the fact that they worshiped Helios with rituals similar to those performed in the Daphnephoria.
Their chief god, whomever he was, was linked with not only the sun but also with water. He was a great healer, the god of healing waters and, mostly, of healing herbs, just like Paean and, not surprisingly, Apollo.
It appears that the Paeonians themselves were known for their salves and their knowledge of healing herbs and that Paeonian could also mean "doctor", as iatros.
Another curious thing about the Paeonians, one which I find beautiful and easy to incorporate in modern devotion and cult of Paean, Apollo, Helios or Asklepios, is that they were refered as the famous Northmen of famour pharmakoi and their land was in the road of rose gardens (because in their land grew roses and peony).
One last thing, besides Paean, Apollo and Asklepios, another healer linked with them is Chiron, whom they taught how to heal to Asklepios himself.
Friday, December 28, 2007
On Archers in Ancient Greece
This is an excerpt from the bood Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece by Lesley and Roy Adkins, an excellent book which I highly recommend. This part is about Archers, under the chapter on warfare:
"Archers were used in Greek warfare from earliest times, and archery is mentioned quite often in Homer's Iliad. Archery seems to have played a crucial role in the Trojan War, but Homer implies that archers had a lower status than spearmen. Leaders like Teucer and Odysseus were proficient with the bow, but they also fought with other weapons. However, there is some evidence of groups of specialist archers even at this early date.
Later Greek armies concentrated on soldiers of the phalanx, and archery seems to have been neglected, except in Crete. Contingents of archers in Greek armies were therefore often mercenaries, usually Scythians or Cretans. Athens employed Scythian and Cretan archers as early as the 6th century BC. Scythian archers were often portrayed in contemporary Attic vase paintings, frequently shooting from a kneeling position. They wore a distinctive longpointed cap or hat, loose tunic, and trousers; slung from their belt was a bow case, which also contained their arrows. The Scythians protected the hoplites, and in the 5th century BC Scythian archers who had been bought as public slaves for Athens served as a police force in the city.
Nevertheless, the importance of archery was not fully appreciated until the latter part of the Peloponnesian War, and archers were not always used effectively. In part, this may have been because Greek archers pinched the bowstring between thumb and forefinger, a weak grip that did not allow them to use the most powerful bows. The Scythian used the first three fingers of the hand curled around the bowstring (the "Mediterranean loose", still used today) and so could draw the more powerful Scythian bows. Hellenistic armies made greater use of archers, but unlike the Parthian armies, the Greeks never used archers as a main element of their forces. Archers were generally armed with only a bow and arrows and did not wear armor. They were almost always foot soldiers; mounted archers were rarely used by the Greeks until the time of Alexander the Great."
Some notes to be taken:
"Archers were used in Greek warfare from earliest times, and archery is mentioned quite often in Homer's Iliad. Archery seems to have played a crucial role in the Trojan War, but Homer implies that archers had a lower status than spearmen. Leaders like Teucer and Odysseus were proficient with the bow, but they also fought with other weapons. However, there is some evidence of groups of specialist archers even at this early date.
Later Greek armies concentrated on soldiers of the phalanx, and archery seems to have been neglected, except in Crete. Contingents of archers in Greek armies were therefore often mercenaries, usually Scythians or Cretans. Athens employed Scythian and Cretan archers as early as the 6th century BC. Scythian archers were often portrayed in contemporary Attic vase paintings, frequently shooting from a kneeling position. They wore a distinctive longpointed cap or hat, loose tunic, and trousers; slung from their belt was a bow case, which also contained their arrows. The Scythians protected the hoplites, and in the 5th century BC Scythian archers who had been bought as public slaves for Athens served as a police force in the city.
Nevertheless, the importance of archery was not fully appreciated until the latter part of the Peloponnesian War, and archers were not always used effectively. In part, this may have been because Greek archers pinched the bowstring between thumb and forefinger, a weak grip that did not allow them to use the most powerful bows. The Scythian used the first three fingers of the hand curled around the bowstring (the "Mediterranean loose", still used today) and so could draw the more powerful Scythian bows. Hellenistic armies made greater use of archers, but unlike the Parthian armies, the Greeks never used archers as a main element of their forces. Archers were generally armed with only a bow and arrows and did not wear armor. They were almost always foot soldiers; mounted archers were rarely used by the Greeks until the time of Alexander the Great."
Some notes to be taken:
- Even though specialized archers were inferior in class, don't forget that Apollo also uses the sword and is, after all, the Lord - we could say he is sort of a special archer;
- Strenghtning how special he is, on the myth of Delphi he came mounted on a Dolphin and then shoot the Python, but not mounted, much like the leaders in the Broze Age would drive charriots or horses to the battle, but unmount to fight;
- The Greeks employed foreigns to their archery ranks and they were better archers than the Greeks; Apollo is also the god of foreign people, maybe it is just a coincidence?;
- Archers as policeman sounds really odd, but it fits Apollo as protector of the community.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Know Yourself and Know Your Limits
Apollo is the God of gifts. If you think of it, all gifts can be seen as coming from Apollo: beauty, physical excellence, intelligence, balance, compassion but also cold thought, any form of artistic talent, any skill with the body or the mind. If you have a gift, and you are bound to have at least one, odds are Apollo is related to it somehow. Perhaps it comes from being the God of perfection.
This may seem to draw him nearer humanity, as a distributor of gifts, but because he has all the gifts it actually draws him farther away. He is all we will never be alone, but he is all we could be if we came together and joined our gifts to make our jobs, his lesson is that we need to know ourselves, know what we excel at, then we can contribute with it to the building of a greater humanity, because you cannot try to do it all by yourself, you have to know your limits and be kind with your friends who will help you when your limits can't be overcome.
Knowing thyself and knowing your limits is not meant to be a barrier to your deeds. Instead, it is meant for you to know when to stop and realize that only together, working with the rest of humanity, can we hope to draw nearer the God of Light, who is also, coincidently, God of Community Building and the founding of colonies, in this age spiritual colonies and communities.
So, we need to find our Oracle of Delphi again, not as the physical place where the future is told, but as the spiritual place where all humanity will come together and seek advice from each other, complementing each other with the gifts the god gave us, for that is, in truth, seeking the God himself and having his light as our guide.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
The Power of Music
All I need is
The Rhythm Divine
Lost in the music
Your heart will be mine
All I need is
The look in your eyes
Viva la music
Say you'll be mine
"Rhythm Divine" by Enrique Iglesias. This music may be about love but it can also be about music and its power. Somehow it reminds me of Apollo and how it takes over all our being when he wants. I can't quite remember who was the ancient poet that focused so much on this, I believe it was Pyndar, that even said that Apollo's music even has power over Zeus, casting sleep over the eagle when He wants. I believe that is this power that makes Apollo so powerful and even equates the bow with the lyre and makes Apollo patron of Spirit.
Besides, this can be a great way for Apollo to gain lovers in a way that may seem involuntary: we can't quite control ourselves or our emotions when music meddles with them!
The Rhythm Divine
Lost in the music
Your heart will be mine
All I need is
The look in your eyes
Viva la music
Say you'll be mine
"Rhythm Divine" by Enrique Iglesias. This music may be about love but it can also be about music and its power. Somehow it reminds me of Apollo and how it takes over all our being when he wants. I can't quite remember who was the ancient poet that focused so much on this, I believe it was Pyndar, that even said that Apollo's music even has power over Zeus, casting sleep over the eagle when He wants. I believe that is this power that makes Apollo so powerful and even equates the bow with the lyre and makes Apollo patron of Spirit.
Besides, this can be a great way for Apollo to gain lovers in a way that may seem involuntary: we can't quite control ourselves or our emotions when music meddles with them!
Monday, July 16, 2007
The Distance
The song "I can go the distance" of Disney's Hercules soundtrack not only conveys perfectly the spirit of Herakles but it always reminds me of Burkert's description of Apollo: the God is distant and remains distant, but it is through that distance that Man can identify himself and strive to reach a little further and make that distance smaller.
In other news, I just received, 10 minutes ago, The Cults of Apollo at Sparta: the Hyakinthia, the Gymnopaidai and the Karneia, by Michael Petterson. However, I am still reading Asklepios' book and haven't even finished his page for Neokoroi yet.
In other news, I just received, 10 minutes ago, The Cults of Apollo at Sparta: the Hyakinthia, the Gymnopaidai and the Karneia, by Michael Petterson. However, I am still reading Asklepios' book and haven't even finished his page for Neokoroi yet.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Update
Phew, it has been a while since I last updated something on the net. Like I said previously this is due to my exams buy... Now they ended, I finished the last one just a few hours ago (Psychology). Therefore I will be a lot more active than I have been.
To my surprise when I got home I had "Apollo - the Wind, the Spirit and the God" by Karl Kerényi waiting for me! I can't wait to read it, but right now I am reading "Asclepius: a collection and interpretation of the testimonies" by the Edelstein's so it will have to wait. I have been working on the Asclepius page for Neokoroi but now it will proceed much quicker and I expect to have it finished by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, since last saturday was the 7th of the 7th month of the 7th year of the 2nd ( :( ) millenia, I did a little something for Apollo and also wrote the article I promised about the Homeric Hymn number 21, which you can now see at the Neokoroi page at http://www.neokoroi.org/apollon.htm#homeric
I also watched the ellection of the new 7 wonders (hosted in my own country, close to my College and my apartment, but I wasn't at Lisbon that day, so I didn't even bothered to try and buy a ticket) and I must say I was not happy that the Acropolis did not win. Anyway, it was good for us if that meant that it would receive less turists (it would be much easier to preserve it and the cluster of turists sure reduces the sense of mysticism) but I doubt that will happen...
To my surprise when I got home I had "Apollo - the Wind, the Spirit and the God" by Karl Kerényi waiting for me! I can't wait to read it, but right now I am reading "Asclepius: a collection and interpretation of the testimonies" by the Edelstein's so it will have to wait. I have been working on the Asclepius page for Neokoroi but now it will proceed much quicker and I expect to have it finished by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, since last saturday was the 7th of the 7th month of the 7th year of the 2nd ( :( ) millenia, I did a little something for Apollo and also wrote the article I promised about the Homeric Hymn number 21, which you can now see at the Neokoroi page at http://www.neokoroi.org/apollon.htm#homeric
I also watched the ellection of the new 7 wonders (hosted in my own country, close to my College and my apartment, but I wasn't at Lisbon that day, so I didn't even bothered to try and buy a ticket) and I must say I was not happy that the Acropolis did not win. Anyway, it was good for us if that meant that it would receive less turists (it would be much easier to preserve it and the cluster of turists sure reduces the sense of mysticism) but I doubt that will happen...
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Homeric Hymn to Apollo
I am currently developing the idea of writing about the Homeric Hymn XXI to Apollo. I will be doing it in the next few days (probably not today as tomorrow is my immunology exam (which I consider something under the tutelage of Apollo), but then I will only have psychology so I can afford to write this) and submit it to Neokoroi for Apollo's page. I am also developing Asclepios' page for the same group, though I wont send it until I read the book I ordered through Amazon and just shipped today (Asclepius: Collection and Interpretation of Testimonies, by Emma J. Edelstein, Ludwig Edelstein, and Gary B. Ferngren).
With this shipment there are also loads of other books (namely Farnel's Cults of the Greek States, except volume 3 which was out of stock and will arrive later) and I have also ordered through a separate shipment Apollo the Wolf God by Daniel Gershenson, Apollo: the Wind, the Spirit and the God by Karl Kerenyi and Cults of Apollo at Sparta by Michael Pettersson, among other books about Delphi. I guess I will have a busy summer! It is so good to have my birthday just before my summer break!
I plan on making a summary or at least a review of each of these books and post it, probably on the Online Temple of Apollon and Asclepios, sometime in the next year.
With this shipment there are also loads of other books (namely Farnel's Cults of the Greek States, except volume 3 which was out of stock and will arrive later) and I have also ordered through a separate shipment Apollo the Wolf God by Daniel Gershenson, Apollo: the Wind, the Spirit and the God by Karl Kerenyi and Cults of Apollo at Sparta by Michael Pettersson, among other books about Delphi. I guess I will have a busy summer! It is so good to have my birthday just before my summer break!
I plan on making a summary or at least a review of each of these books and post it, probably on the Online Temple of Apollon and Asclepios, sometime in the next year.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Apollo in the videogames
These are my two favorite images of Apollo. Funy thing is they are both from video games and not ancient...
This picture is from the game Age of Mythology. You can see in the last post this is also the picture I currently have on my Shrine to Apollo, and it is also the picture I have has a cover in the notebook I use to record rituals I make to Apollo, offerings and divination. I think it blends in a very profound way both the light and dark aspects of Apollo.
This picture is concept art from the game Zeus, Master of Olympus. I currently have it as a cover of my journal and use it everywhere to keep the God present in my mind (at my wallet, my notebooks..). I just like it, don't know why...
This picture is concept art from the game Zeus, Master of Olympus. I currently have it as a cover of my journal and use it everywhere to keep the God present in my mind (at my wallet, my notebooks..). I just like it, don't know why...Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Apollon's Shrine
Yesterday I took some pictures of my thanksgiving ritual to Apollon, Asklepios, Hermes and Aphrodite and decided to take one of my Apollon's Shrine. It is quite simple, and is like this since last Noumenia (probably by the next Noumenia it will be different), and I use it to pray, do ritual, divination, meditate and practice Yoga.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Apollo Butterfly
Yay! I just discovered that there is a butterfly named Parnassius Apollo. This is probably of no interest to any of you, but here are some pictures anyway:
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