Editing Pythia (section)

===Oracular procedure===
In the traditions associated with Apollo, the oracle gave prophecies during the nine warmest months of each year. During winter months, Apollo was said to have deserted his temple, his place being taken by his divine half-brother [[Dionysus]], whose tomb was also within the temple. It is not known whether the Oracle participated with the Dionysian rites of the [[Maenads]] or Thyades in the Korykion cave on Mount Parnassos, although [[Plutarch]]<ref>Plutarch, op cit</ref> informs us that his friend Clea was both a Priestess to Apollo and to the secret rites of Dionysus. The male priests seem to have had their own ceremonies to the dying and resurrecting god. Apollo was said to return at the beginning of spring, on the seventh day of the month of Bysios, his birthday. This would reiterate the absences of the great goddess [[Demeter]] in winter also, which would have been a part of the earliest traditions.

Once a month, thereafter, the oracle would undergo purification rites, including fasting, to ceremonially prepare the Pythia for communications with the divine. On the seventh day of each month, she would be led by two attended oracular priests, with her face veiled in purple.<ref>Vandenberg, Phillip, (2007) "Mysteries of the Oracles (Tauris Parke Publications)</ref> A priest would then declaim:

<blockquote><poem>Servant of the Delphian Apollo
Go to the Castallian Spring
Wash in its silvery eddies,
And return cleansed to the temple.
Guard your lips from offence
To those who ask for oracles.
Let the God's answer come
Pure from all private fault.</poem></blockquote>

The Pythia would then bathe naked in the [[Castalian Spring]], then drink the holier waters of the [[Cassotis]], which flowed closer to the temple, where a [[naiad]] possessing magical powers was said to live. Euripides described this ritual purification ceremony, starting first with the priest Ion dancing on the highest point of Mount Parnassus, going about his duties within the temple, and sprinkling the temple floor with holy water. The purification ceremonies always were performed on the seventh day of the month, which was sacred to and associated with the god Apollo.{{sfn|Broad|2007|p=34-36}} Then, escorted by the {{Lang|grc-latn|hosioi}}, an aristocratic council of five, with a crowd of oracular servants, they would arrive at the temple. Consultants, carrying laurel branches sacred to Apollo, approached the temple along the winding upward course of the Sacred Way, bringing a young goat kid for sacrifice in the forecourt of the temple, and a monetary fee.

Inscribed on a column in the [[pronaos]] (forecourt) of the temple were an enigmatic "E" and three maxims:<ref>[[Plato]] ''[[Charmides (dialogue)|Charmides]]'' 165</ref><ref>Allyson Szabo ''Longing For Wisdom: The Message Of The Maxims'' 2008 {{ISBN|1438239769}} p8</ref>

# [[Know thyself]]
# Nothing to excess
# Surety brings ruin, or "make a pledge and mischief is nigh" ({{Lang|grc|ἐγγύα πάρα δ'ἄτα}})<ref>Eliza G. Wilkins (April 1927). [https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/360881 "ΕΓΓΥΑ, ΠΑΡΑ ΔΑΤΗ in Literature"].{{subscription required}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213025929/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/360881 |date=2024-02-13 }} ''Classical Philology'' Volume 22, Number 2, p. 121. {{doi|10.1086/360881}}. {{JSTOR|263511}}.</ref>

These seem to have played an important part in the temple ritual. According to Plutarch's essay on the meaning of the "E at Delphi" (the only literary source for the E inscription), there have been various interpretations of this letter.<ref>Hodge, A. Trevor. "The Mystery of Apollo's E at Delphi", ''American Journal of Archaeology'', Vol. 85, No. 1. (January 1981), pp. 83–84.</ref> In ancient times, the origin of these phrases was attributed to one or more of the [[Seven Sages of Greece]].<ref>[[Plato]], ''[[Protagoras (dialogue)|Protagoras]]'' 343a–b.</ref>

Pythia would then remove her purple veil. She would wear a short plain white dress. At the temple fire to [[Hestia]], a live goat kid would be set in front of the altar and sprinkled with water. If the kid trembled from the hooves upward it was considered a good omen for the oracle, but if it did not, the enquirer was considered to have been rejected by the god and the consultation was terminated.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jon D. |title=Ancient Greek Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_0Xa5uL8ZOEC&pg=PA99|date= 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-5819-3|page=99}}</ref> If it were a good omen, however, the goat would subsequently be sacrificed to Apollo. In turn, the animal's organs, particularly its liver, [[Haruspex#Haruspicy in Ancient Greece|were examined to ensure the signs were favorable]], and then burned outside on the altar of [[Chios]]. The rising smoke was a signal that the oracle was open. The Oracle then descended into the ''[[adyton]]'' (Greek for 'inaccessible') and mounted her tripod seat, holding laurel leaves and a dish of Kassotis spring water into which she gazed. Nearby was the ''[[omphalos]]'' (Greek for 'navel'), which was flanked by two solid gold eagles representing the authority of [[Zeus]], and the cleft from which emerged the sacred [[pneuma]].

Petitioners drew lots to determine the order of admission, but representatives of a city-state or those who brought larger donations to Apollo were secured a higher place in line. Each person approaching the oracle was accompanied with a {{Lang|grc-latn|proxenos}} specific to the state of the petitioner, whose job was to identify the citizen of their {{Lang|grc-latn|polis}}. This service, too, was paid for.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}

Plutarch describes the events of one session in which the omens were ill-favored, but the Oracle was consulted nonetheless. The priests proceeded to receive the prophecy, but the result was a hysterical uncontrollable reaction from the priestess that resulted in her death a few days later.

At times when the Pythia was not available, consultants could obtain guidance by asking simple yes-or-no questions to the priests. A response was returned through the tossing of colored beans, one color designating "yes", another "no". Little else is known of this practice.{{sfn|Broad|2007|p=38-40}}

Between 535 and 615 of the Oracles (statements) of Delphi are known to have survived since classical times, of which over half are said to be accurate historically (see [[List of oracular statements from Delphi]] for examples).<ref>Fontenrose, op cit</ref>

Cicero noted no expedition was undertaken, no colony sent out, and no affair of any distinguished individuals went on without the sanction of the oracle.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The early fathers of the Christian church believed demons were allowed to assist them to spread idolatry, so that the need for a savior would be more evident.{{sfn|Godwin|1876|p=12}}