Free Republic

...the rituals and divine utterances of Apollo's oracle at Delphi were subjects recorded and commented upon by numerous ancient writers through the centuries, including Pliny the Elder, Diodorus Siculus, Plato, Aeschylus, Cicero, Strabo and Plutarch, a Boeotian native who gained fame in late 1st century AD Rome for his essays and biographies, provides a firsthand account of the oracle at Delphi. As a senior priest who long served in the sanctuary, Plutarch recorded detailed observations of the Pythian priestess's trance-like, occasionally erratic behavior during sacred rituals... a multidisciplinary team of specialists in the late 20th century uncovered tangible proof that...

The most famous oracle in ancient Greece was undoubtedly the Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi. However, Greek sources also mention another oracle active in the distant past, one who has mostly been forgotten today but was said to have predicted the Trojan War. This was the Erythraean Sibyl. Much confusion surrounds this legendary figure. So what do we know about her? The source for the Erythraean Sibyl Information for the Erythraean Sibyl, the oracle who predicted the Trojan War, primarily stems from a single source. This is Pausanias’s Description of Greece 10.12. Pausanias, a second-century AD geographer, offers detailed accounts...

Numerous classical authors report that natural phenomena played an essential part in one of their most sacred religious rituals: the oracle at Delphi. According to the geographer Strabo (c. 64 B.C.–25 A.D.), for example, "the seat of the oracle is a cavern hollowed down in the depths … from which arises pneuma [breath, vapor, gas] that inspires a divine state of possession" (Geography 9.3.5). Over the past five years, a team of researchers -- a geologist, an archaeologist, a chemist and a toxicologist -- has put that claim to the test, making it much more likely that we will actually...

Foundations are being laid now in my children that have crossed the threshing floor of My heart and will for all my children of light , for to partake of my cup you must enter into me in all fullness and truth therefore obey my statutes and “ live “ my words to you given upon the foundation of my kingdom “ My heart “ , for truly as I send my sent ones and speak through my prophets , the oracles shall reveal themselves to all those that receive me in the manner I choose to come , for...