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Oracle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the classical medium. For the software company, see Oracle Corporation. For
other uses, see Oracle (disambiguation).

Consulting the Oracle by John William Waterhouse, showing eight priestesses in a temple of prophecy.

In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to provide wise counsel
or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form
of divination.
Contents
[hide]

1 Description

2 Origins

3 Pythia

4 Dodona

5 Trophonius

6 "Oracles" in other cultures


o

6.1 China

6.2 Celtic polytheism

6.3 Hinduism

6.4 Tibetan Buddhism

6.5 Pre-Columbian Americas

6.6 Sub-Saharan Africa

6.7 Norse mythology

6.8 Hawaii

7 References

8 Further reading

9 External links

Description[edit]
The word "oracle" comes from the Latin verb rre "to speak" and properly refers to the priest or
priestess uttering the prediction. In extended use, oracle may also refer to the site of the oracle, and
to the oracular utterances themselves, called khrsmoi () in Greek.
Oracles were thought to be portals through which the gods spoke directly to people. In this sense
they were different from seers (manteis, ) who interpreted signs sent by the gods through bird
signs, animal entrails, and other various methods.[1]
The most important oracles of Greek antiquity were Pythia, priestess to Apollo at Delphi, and the
oracle of Dione and Zeus at Dodona in Epirus. Other temples of Apollo were located at Didyma on
the coast of Asia Minor, at Corinth and Bassae in the Peloponnese, and at the islands
of Delos and Aegina in the Aegean Sea. The Sibylline Oracles are a collection of oracular utterances
written in Greek hexameters ascribed to the Sibyls, prophetesses who uttered divine revelations in a
frenzied state.

Origins[edit]
Walter Burkert observes that "Frenzied women from whose lips the god speaks" are recorded in
the Near East as in Mari in the second millennium BC and in Assyria in the first millennium BC.[2] In
Egypt the goddess Wadjet (eye of the moon) was depicted as a snake-headed woman or a woman
with two snake-heads. Her oracle was in the renowned temple in Per-Wadjet (Greek name Buto).
The oracle of Wadjet may have been the source for the oracular tradition which spread from Egypt to
Greece.[3] Evans linked Wadjet with the Minoan snake goddess, a chthonic deity and one of the
aspects of the Great Mother.[4]
In Greece the old oracles were devoted to the Mother Goddess. At the oracle of Dodona she will be
called Din (the feminine form of Dis, genitive of Zeus, PIE *Dyaeus; or ofdos, "godly", literally
"heavenly"), who represents the earth-fertile soil, probably the chief female goddess of
the PIE pantheon. Python, daughter (or son) of Gaia was the earth dragon of Delphi represented as
a serpent and became the chthonic deity, enemy of Apollo, who slew her and possessed the oracle.[5]

Pythia[edit]
... When the Prytanies' seat shines white in the island of Siphnos,White-browed all the forum need
then of a true seer's wisdom-Danger will threat from a wooden boat, and a herald in scarlet ...
The Pythoness [6]
Pythia, the oracle at Delphi, was said to be infallible.[citation needed] Pythia only gave prophecies the
seventh day of each month, seven being the number most associated withApollo, during the nine
warmer months of the year; thus, Delphi was not the major source of divination for the ancient
Greeks. Many wealthy individuals bypassed the hordes of people attempting a consultation by
making additional animal sacrifices to please the oracle lest their request go unanswered. As a
result, seers were the main source of everyday divination.
The temple was changed to a center for the worship of Apollo during the classical period of Greece
and priests were added to the temple organizationalthough the tradition regarding prophecy

remained unchangedand the priestesses continued to provide the services of the oracle
exclusively. It is from this institution that the English word, oracle, is derived.
The Delphic Oracle exerted considerable influence throughout Hellenic culture. Distinctively, this
female was essentially the highest authority both civilly and religiously in male-dominated ancient
Greece. She responded to the questions of citizens, foreigners, kings, and philosophers on issues of
political impact, war, duty, crime, lawseven personal issues.[7]
The semi-Hellenic countries around the Greek world, such as Lydia, Caria, and even Egypt also
respected her and came to Delphi as supplicants.
Croesus, king of Lydia beginning in 560 B.C., tested the oracles of the world to discover which gave
the most accurate prophecies. He sent out emissaries to seven sites who were all to ask the oracles
on the same day what the king was doing at that very moment. Croesus proclaimed the oracle at
Delphi to be the most accurate, who correctly reported that the king was making a lamb-and-tortoise
stew, and so he graced her with a magnitude of precious gifts.[8] He then consulted Delphi before
attacking Persia, and according to Herodotus was advised,

If you cross the river, a great empire will be destro

Believing the response favorable, Croesus attacked, but it was his own empire that ultimately was
destroyed by the Persians.
She allegedly also proclaimed that there was no man wiser than Socrates, to which Socrates said
that, if so, this was because he alone was aware of his own ignorance. After this confrontation,
Socrates dedicated his life to a search for knowledge that was one of the founding events of
western philosophy. He claimed that she was "an essential guide to personal and state
development."[9] This Oracle's last recorded response was given in 362 AD, to Julian the Apostate.[10]
The oracle's powers were highly sought after and never doubted. Any inconsistencies between
prophecies and events were dismissed as failure to correctly interpret the responses, not an error of
the oracle.[11] Very often prophecies were worded ambiguously, so as to cover all contingencies
especially so ex post facto. One famous such response to a query about participation in a military
campaign was "You will go you will return never in war will you perish". This gives the recipient
liberty to place a comma before or after the word "never", thus covering both possible outcomes.
Another was the response to the Athenians when the vast army of king Xerxes I was approaching
Athens with the intent of razing the city to the ground. "Only the wooden palisades may save
you"[citation needed], answered the oracle, probably aware that there was sentiment for sailing to the safety
of southern Italy and reestablishing Athens there. Some thought that it was a recommendation to
fortify the Acropolis with a wooden fence and make a stand there. Others, Themistocles among
them, said the oracle was clearly for fighting at sea, the metaphor intended to mean war ships.
Others still insisted that their case was so hopeless that they should board every ship available and
flee to Italy, where they would be safe beyond any doubt. In the event, variations of all three
interpretations were attempted: some barricaded the Acropolis, the civilian population was
evacuated over sea to nearby Salamis Island and to Troizen, and the war fleet fought victoriously at
Salamis Bay. Should utter destruction have happened, it could always be claimed that the oracle
had called for fleeing to Italy after all.

Dodona[edit]

Dodona was another oracle devoted to the Mother Goddess identified at other sites
with Rhea or Gaia, but here called Dione. The shrine of Dodona was the oldest Hellenic oracle,
according to the fifth-century historian Herodotus and in fact, dates to pre-Hellenic times, perhaps as
early as the second millennium BC when the tradition probably spread from Egypt. Zeus displaced
the Mother goddess and assimilated her as Aphrodite.
It became the second most important oracle in ancient Greece, which later was dedicated
to Zeus and to Heracles during the classical period of Greece. At Dodona Zeus was worshipped as
Zeus Naios or Naos (god of springs Naiads, from a spring which existed under the oak), and Zeus
Bouleos (cancellor). Priestesses and priests interpreted the rustling of the oak leaves to determine
the correct actions to be taken. The oracle was shared by Dione and Zeus.

Trophonius[edit]
Trophonius was an oracle at Lebadea of Boeotia devoted to the chthonian Zeus Trophonius.
Trophonius is derived from the Greek word "trepho" (nourish) and he was a Greek hero, or demon or
god. Demeter-Europa was his nurse.[12] Europa (in Greek: broad-eyes) was a Phoenecian princess
who Zeus transformed into a white bull abducted and carried her to Creta, and is equated
with Astarte as a moon goddess by ancient sources.[13] Some scholars connect Astarte with the
Minoan snake goddess, whose cult as Aphrodite spread from Creta to Greece. [14]

"Oracles" in other cultures[edit]


Main article: Divination
The term "oracle" is also applied to parallel institutions of divination in other cultures. Specifically, it is
used in the context of Christianity for the concept of divine revelation, and in the context
of Judaism for the Urim and Thummim breastplate, and in general any utterance
considered prophetic.[15]

China[edit]
Main articles: Oracle bone script and Oracle bone

Oracle bone of the Shang Dynasty, ancient China

Oracles were common in many civilizations of antiquity. In China, the use of oracle bones dates as
far back as the Shang Dynasty, (16001046 BC). The I Ching, or "Book of Changes", is a collection
of linear signs used as oracles that are from that period. Although divination with the I Ching is
thought to have originated prior to the Shang Dynasty, it was not until King Wu of Zhou (10461043
BC) that it took its present form. In addition to its oracular power, the I Ching has had a major
influence on the philosophy, literature and statecraft of China from the time of the Zhou
Dynasty (1122 BC AD 256).

Celtic polytheism[edit]
In Celtic polytheism, divination was performed by the priestly caste, either the druids or the vates.
This is reflected in the role of "seers" inDark Age Wales (dryw) and Ireland (fith).

Hinduism[edit]
In ancient India, the oracle was known as Akashwani or Ashareera vani (a person without body or
unseen ) or Asariri (Tamil), literally meaning "voice from the sky" and was related to the message of
god. Oracles played key roles in many of the major incidents of the
epicsMahabharata and Ramayana. An example is that Kamsa (or Kansa), the evil uncle of
lord Krishna, was informed by an oracle that the eighth son of his sister Devaki would kill him. There
are still a few existing and publicly accessible oracles in India.

Tibetan Buddhism[edit]
In Tibet, oracles have played, and continue to play, an important part in religion and government.
The word "oracle" is used by Tibetans to refer to the spirit that enters those men and women who act
as media between the natural and the spiritual realms. The media are, therefore, known as kuten,
which literally means, "the physical basis".
The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in northern India, still consults an oracle known as the Nechung
Oracle, which is considered the official state oracle of the government of Tibet. The Dalai Lama has
according to centuries-old custom, consulted the Nechung Oracle during the new year festivities
of Losar.[16] Nechung and Gadhong are the primary oracles currently consulted; former oracles such
as Karmashar and Darpoling are no longer active in exile. Another oracle the Dalai Lama consults is
the Tenma Oracle, for which a young Tibetan woman is the medium for the goddess. The Dalai
Lama gives a complete description of the process of trance and spirit possession in his
book Freedom in Exile.[17]

Pre-Columbian Americas[edit]
In the migration myth of the Mexitin, i.e., the early Aztecs, a mummy-bundle (perhaps an effigy)
carried by four priests directed the trek away from the cave of origins by giving oracles. An oracle led
to the foundation of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. The Yucatec Mayas knew oracle priests or chilanes,
literally 'mouthpieces' of the deity. Their written repositories of traditional knowledge, the Books
of Chilam Balam, were all ascribed to one famous oracle priest who correctly had predicted the
coming of the Spaniards and its associated disasters.

Sub-Saharan Africa[edit]
The Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria in Africa have a long tradition of using oracles. In Igbo
villages, oracles were usually female priestesses to a particular deity, usually dwelling in a cave or
other secluded location away from urban areas, and, much as the oracles of ancient Greece, would
deliver prophecies in an ecstatic state to visitors seeking advice. Two of their ancient oracles
became especially famous during the pre-colonial period: the Agbala oracle at Awka and the
Chukwu oracle at Arochukwu.[18] Though the vast majority of Igbos today are Christian, many of them
still use oracles.

Amongst the related Yoruba peoples of the same country, the Babalawos (and their female
counterparts, the Iyanifas) serve collectively as the principal aspects of the tribe's World-famous Ifa
divination system. Due to this, they customarily officiate at a great many of its traditional and
religious ceremonies.

Norse mythology[edit]
In Norse mythology, Odin took the severed head of the mythical god Mimir to Asgard for consultation
as an oracle. The Havamal and other sources relate the sacrifice of Odin for the
oracular Runes whereby he lost an eye (external sight) and won wisdom (internal sight; insight).

Hawaii[edit]
In Hawaii, oracles were found at certain heiau. These oracles were found in towers covered in white
kapa. In here, priests received the will of gods. These towers were called "'Anu'u." An example of
this can be found at Ahu'ena heiau in Kona.[19]

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