Alien Space Gods Of Ancient Greece and Rome (3 page)

Frequently associated with the oracle's ability to see foresee events was a mysterious vapor, which critics say rose from the cracks in the floor of the cubicle where the visionary would be seated on a tripod-like brass stool. The Christians propagated the idea that the prophetess was intoxicated by the fumes in order to step across the border into the void of the next world. They saw the oracle as a tool of the devil, much as fundamentalists today believe spirits are all Satan's conjurations used to fool people into believing there is life beyond the pale.

A Christian writer, Adamantius Origines, wrote about his pagan foes who were still foretelling future events at the time. He came up with the following condemnation: "It is said of the Pythian priestess, whose oracle seems to have been the most celebrated, that when she sat down at the mouth of the Castilian cave, the prophetic spirit of Apollo entered her private parts. She sat with parted thighs on the tripod of Apollo, and the evil spirit entered her from below, passing through her genital organs, and plunged her into a state of frenzy, so that she began with loosened hair to foam and rage like a drunkard."

The greatest thinkers of all time were in the region. Is it possible they were channeling their philosophy from a "higher source?"

A Twist of Fate

Unlike Jeanne Dixon or John Edwards, neither the oracle nor her priestly guides wrote books or even kept a ledger. (If they did, they have long since turned to dust.) So the tales of old come to us through secondhand verbal recollections handed down to the present.

Leaders of the ancient world who paid homage to the oracle included Alexander the Great, who wanted to know about the outcome of his military skirmishes.

And if someone was not satisfied with a particular reading or didn't link the prediction that was made for him, he could ask the oracle for extra time - that is, if another donation of gold was made. The rule of thumb seems to have been caveat emptor: let the buyer beware. To paraphrase Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher, "The oracle neither conceals nor reveals the truth ... only hints at it."

For the common person not embroiled in the machinations of war and politics, the oracle was available to answer personal questions. "How do I cure my son of lovesickness?" would receive a therapeutic, albeit vague, response of, "Treat him gently."

Critics Be Damned

Obviously, there were cynics and skeptics afoot even in those ancient of days. On the positive side, the lines for readings were said to extend as far as the eye could see along the route to the temple. Furthermore, some of those who mingled with the crowds were powerful members of the elite who would not normally be caught dead mixing with those of lesser distinction.

In some regards, consulting the oracle was like visiting a psychic retreat today. Upon arriving at the temple, those wishing a reading would register and pay a fee. Before seeing the oracle, they would purify themselves in the nearby healing waters Castilian Spring, where the bathing troughs can still be seen. Like pilgrims to any other spiritual event, they would form a line and proceed along the
Sacred Way
. The route was adorned with waving flags so the pilgrims would not wander from the prescribed path to the temple.

We can certify that it was a strenuous journey of a mile or more, but along the way one could marvel at the great statues and sculptures of the period, some of which are preserved in the
Delphi
museum, which we later visited.

Some of those who traveled to the site did so on a regular basis. Perhaps it's the same today. When you find a good psychic, it's best to stay with that person. I asked Penny what she thought of the idea of the aforementioned vapors being responsible for mesmerizing the oracle.

"I do sense a strange smell around here," she said. "The vapors may still exist underground, but I don't see any association with demons. Given the right conditions, I do believe this place could still be used to touch the other side - to see into other dimensions."

As she stood in front of the
Temple
of
Delphi
, Penny clutched her head.

"I got the distinct impression," she said, "that I was in another location. Not in modern times. I was in an older time. I could even smell that time."

Explaining further, Penny told me that she had received a vision of one of the ancient oracles. The vision was of an older woman in a white robe who appeared to be blind.

"It was like her eyes were clouded over. They were cloudy eyes. She appeared to me in my head and I was able to communicate with her. She gave me a message. It's very cryptic, so I have to figure it out for myself.

"I wanted to know where my life is going, and what I should do, and her answer was more or less, 'You can make yourself happy through your next steps.'

"So what steps do I take? She said, 'You have to make your own path and find your own happiness.' I mean, it's very cryptic."

I asked Penny again what she thought it all meant.

"I can see that I'm not on the right path now," she replied. "I might need further guidance or further reaching out, because I don't see it yet. Maybe it's supposed to be coming, and I just don't know it yet. They basically want me to be happy.

"I think what I've done is lost my way a little bit, and that's what they're trying to lead me back to - to get back to my roots and to being what I used to be. Up until recently, I was a devoted witch. But in the last few years, I haven't been. I'm trying to get back to being what I remembered. That's the path I need to be walking now, instead of worrying too much about materialistic things here."

So Penny had sought the Oracle of Delphi and had been rewarded by the same ambiguous warnings as the ancients who went before her. Can she make use of her dreams and visions there in
Greece
to help build a more happy life for herself? Did she journey those thousands of miles with me in order to find only what was within her all along? Whether we're dealing with a "Wizard of Oz" type of banality or fortune cookie wisdom is not really possible to know at the moment. What is real is the memory of that rainy afternoon in
Greece
, when Penny and I touched the fabric of time and it reached out and touched us back.

It was an odyssey I will never forget and it lead me to further accept that the mystery of the ancient space gods, which Britisher W. Raymond Drake delves into throughout the bulk of this book, were as real as you and I. Apollo and Zeus and all the others such as Artemis, Hestia, Hermes, Athena, Heda, once occupied the picturesque Mount Olympus and played footsie with us mortals, and spoke through the Oracle of Delphi acting as their cosmic conduit for prophetic messages from the stars.

We await their return as surely they must be coming back soon.

Sean Casteel
is a journalist who has been writing about UFOs, alien abduction and other paranormal topics since 1989. He has worked for "
UFO Magazine
," "
FATE Magazine
," and "
The Conspiracy Journal
." His articles have also been published in the U.K,
Italy
and
Romania
.

He is the author of several books for Inner Light Publications and Global Communications, to include "
UFOs, Prophecy and the End of Time
," "
Signs and Symbols of the Second Coming
," and "
The Excluded Books of the Bible
." Casteel coauthored the book "
Round Trip To Hell In A Flying Saucer
" with Tim Beckley. Casteel has been a guest on the radio talk show program "Coast To Coast AM" with George Noory as well as on Kerrang Radio out of
Birmingham
,
England
.

He has a website at
www.seancasteel.com