Delphic Maxim Weekly Posting Project

What are the Delphic Maxims?

According to witchipedia: “The Delphic Maxims are inscribed at Delphi and are said to have been delivered by Apollo Himself. The Maxims are suggestions for pious living, not quite commandments, really strong recommendations. According to legend, they were written down by The Seven Sages who are usually identified as: Solon of Athens, Chilon of Sparta, Thales of Miletus, Bias of Priene, Cleobulus of Lindos, Pittacus of Mitylene and Periander of Corinth.”

How many Delphic Maxims are there?

There are 147 Delphic maxims and they are on witchipedia but straight up list with alternativeinterpretations of the maxims can be found here.

Why are Delphic Maxims Important Today?

For those follow a Greek path they are a description on how to be a moral person. For those of us not following any flavor of Greek path they still may be of interest because they provide both a non-Christian and specifically pagan moral path which we may use as a starting point for finding our own morals and faith. There are other examples of Non-Christian ethic commands, the nine noble virtues inform the Norse path, and we are probably all familiar with the rede and the outer court 161 Wiccan laws (which are mostly meaningless but that's a separate post entirely).

Why I am Blogging About Each Maxim in Detail?

Star Foster's orginal post here started an impromptu blogging party way back in May surrounding the Delphic maxims. Many people were partaking in this event (myself included though it was under a personal journal). Her attempts to make modern understanding out of old pagan law spoke to the community and it spoke to me personally.

I don't follow any kind of reconstructionist tradition, but I appreciate taking rules that were traditionally pagan and considering what wisdom they carry over to the present, and whether they have any meaning in the path I follow. One of the most well known quotes “Know thyself” comes directly from the maxims. Even if all of the other 147 laws are duds, it's worth looking more deeply into something that offers a least one significant nugget of truth.

My blogging in the past has been very sporadic. I'm looking for some stability in posting. One of my weekly reoccurring segments is going to be to pick up these maxims and talk about each at length.

Why I Use Tarot

Tarot cards are a huge part of my practice and is one of the few aspects of my practice that has been with me since the beginning and only grown rather than changed or diminished. Since the beginning, I have found that I have a talent in reading cards together to make a story that directly applies to myself or to my client. They are a focusing tool.  When I'm in energy, I'm bombarded with a million different thoughts, feelings, paths, images, aspects, and options. Sometimes I know what I find important, what I would need to hear but not what would connect best with my client. Sometimes all the information is just too much period.  Where do I start, what do I tell, how will I bring another person into the experience instead of just conversing with myself, there are all questions working with tarot helps me to solve. Drawing cards creates a path to focus on and helps to direct me to the most needed information.

Use of Tarot:

1. To read the future. We all have questions that need answering. Is this project a good one? Is Billy the right boy for me? If I do this or that will I like it? There are also the general “show me the future/ what's coming down the pipeline I should be aware of” spreads too. I can draw cards and come to a specific answer for myself and for others. It's something I've found immensely helpful.
   
   
2. To set tone for the day. Doing a one card pull to see what the day has in store more like asking the cards to tell you a little about the present. I like having a daily theme or thought to come back to, the one card draw in the morning helps me to shape that thought or idea.
   
   
3. To give more information about others or situations. I find myself stuck in my own head or fixated on certain things. Why did so and so do this? What does this action mean about me as a person? How is this happening or what does this happening mean about me? These drawings are similar to future drawing because they are meant to reveal information about a situation or person that would otherwise be hidden to our observation, but different in that there are no predictions made.
   
   
4. To speak with the divine. During ritual or ceremony I ask for the divine to share through the cards a message, action, or ethic with me. I draw the cards and hear what my Gods or guides have to tell me in these messages. I have other ways to speak with my higher powers and they do choose the method sometimes, but I do find the tarot the quickest and clearest.
   
   
5. To inspire. Sometimes I pick topics that are so broad and in which I have so much to say, that I don't know how to start. Often times I draw two or three tarot and use their messages or their themes to start off my writing or to start expressing information I'm looking to share. 
   
   
6. To choose which information is most important in an experience. When I am overwhelmed by the amount of information that I can pick out of a conversation, book, or spiritual experience, I will draw between 1-4 cards to see what specifically I should focus on out of all the information. I can come back and re-evaluate those choices later, but having fewer themes to look at in the beginning helps me to start acting instead of being bogged in my head.
   
   
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