FEATURES
THE TRADITION OF ORACLES | | Print | |
In ancient times and throughout history, an oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion. It may also be a revealed prediction or precognition of the future from deities, that is spoken through another object or life-form (e.g.: augury and auspice). In the ancient world, many sites gained a reputation for the dispensing of oracular wisdom: they too became known as oracles, and the oracular utterances, called khre-smoi in Greek, were often referred to under the same name - a name derived from the Latin verb 'o-ra-re', to speak. Readers' Comments
Tibet 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 a custom that has endured for centuries, consulted the Nechung Oracle during the new year festivities of Losar. Before fleeing from Tibet however, he consulted the oracle of Dorje Shugden. Another oracle he 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.
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).
Egypt Another oracle of note lay in Egypt during the Eighteenth dynasty (1550-1292 BC), is a temple dedicated to Amun, a god who rose to importance during that time. The Greeks associated him with Zeus. Alexander the Great once visited it, and although no record of his query remains, the oracle is thought to have hailed him as Amun's son, influencing his conceptions of his own divinity.
The Pythia, the oracle at Delphi, only gave prophecies the seventh day of each month out of a nine-month working period; thus, Delphi was not the major source of divination for the ancient Greeks. Many wealthy individuals attempted to bypass 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 organization although the tradition regarding prophecy remained unchanged. The apparently always-female priestess 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. The Greeks consulted her prior to all major undertakings, wars, the founding of colonies, and so forth. The semi-Hellenic countries around the Greece world, such as Lydia, Caria, and even Egypt also respected her and came to Delphi as supplicants. Croesus of Lydia consulted Delphi before attacking Persia, and according to Herodotus was told, If you cross the river, a great empire will be destroyed. Believing the response favorable, Croesus attacked, but it was his own empire that ultimately was destroyed by the Persians. She allegedly also proclaimed Socrates to be the wisest man in Greece, 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. This oracle's last recorded response was given in 393 AD, when the emperor Theodosius I ordered pagan temples to cease operation. Dodona is another oracle devoted to the Mother Goddess identified at other sites with Rhea or Gaia, but is 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 spread from Egypt. 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. During the period, in Crete lay another important oracle, sacred to Apollo. It ranked as one of the most accurate oracles in Greece.
Source: oracletraditions.com/oracle
|
Comments
OTHER FEATURES
- GADEN KACHOE SHING, USA
- TUGS BAYASGALANT NUNNERY
- TRIJANG CHOCKTRUL RINPOCHE LEADS VAJRA YOGINI FIRE PUJA
- GESHE YESHE WANGCHUK AND HIS HEART DISCIPLE, TRICHEN LAMA
- SUPPORTING THE GROWTH OF DORJE SHUGDEN IN SOUTH AFRICA