Delphi Pilgrimage (pt. 02)
museum & temple of delphi
this is part 2 of our pilgrimage in delphi. part 1 is here.
we formed a circle outside the museum entrance, which is connected to the temple grounds. we opened a prayer to elevate our intentions of entering this place and also fortified our energetic protection. I always enjoy activating a shield of protection when entering museums as there’s so much distortion and projection upon the items that’ve been excavated from beneath the protection of the ground, and often times (particularly in egypt) items that don’t seem were ever meant to be unearthed.
the protective spells of the ancestors definitely worked for thousands of years, and the revival of these physical artifacts surely serve a sacred purpose— a profound reminder. there is, however, the orthodox overlay, the patriarchal narrative that exploits and attempts to override the organic truth encoded in the clay figurines, stone statues and temple parts. our intention seeding and protection serve to slice through the distortion and connect to the truth here, as an act of humble reverence and also service to our unique soul calling that led us here, both to delphi and to this lifetime of remembrance. in feeling connected, harmonized, protected and humored about the silly historical re-writes and frequency control’s desperate attempt to hide truth, we entered.
we meandered through rooms of display cases, seeing the evolution and sequential eras of delphi through the publicized artifacts. the first room of a museum is always my favorite— since its the most ancient items. goddess figurines with exposed breasts, wings, headdresses… men with exposed penises, beautiful dreadlocked warriors, stances of adoration, depictions of nature, guardian beings, ceremonial vases…
there’s essays to be said about each image here. i felt an invigorating connection to egypt pulsating through my body at the sight of some of these images. their ‘dreadlocked’ hair, the aker lions of yesterday & tomorrow… and also duplicate energetic signatures with that of the bronze age ‘minoan’ depictions from here in crete.
the ‘cosmic waters & breast flower’ was particularly interesting to me. as we stood before these swirling water images, i understood that the modern ‘greek key’ made of hard angles was the entrapment being implanted into the organic flow of energy and life force. but in this image is the milky way— that flower represents the milk ducts that are symbolized in egyptian art through that flower— the milk of creation— atop the waters of life— hence, the milky way, the sacred fluids of creation— primordial mother.
another parallel with egyptian depictions regards the two male guardians with their left foot forward. ancient statues of benevolent guardians have their left (feminine) foot forward. as we proceeded into the next room of the museum and observed the blatant shift where christianity began its hijacking, the statues suddenly had their right food (masculine) forward— representing, to me, patriarchal domination and disconnection from the emotional body and reverence for the feminine.
ugh, both of these benevolent beings struck us so strongly. the priestess on the left, she is so beautiful! we were all in awe. her statue is very large, with incredible detail. you can see the holes on her ear lobes and headdress where the gorgeous jewels were stolen. she wears the solar disc headdress— an emissary of christ consciousness, the solar codes of illumination, love, radiance. large eyes with a gaze fixed fervently forward, posture of integrity and an aura of gentle compassion. her hair has wave dreadlocks (did you know the first documented dreadlocks were in minoan crete? no wonder it felt like a part of my cultural identity when i had them..)
the sphinx guardian on the right, wow. body of lion (land authority), wings of the eagle (sky authority) and head of woman (divine merging of heaven & earth). she is also massive, holds a soft smile and radiates an emotion-evoking sense of devout protection, alliance— a familial companion.
the museum of delphi homes some incredible codes of remembrance. these few profound encounters shifted and activated codings within us that, for me, felt like home, medicine, soul family, remembrance, alignment.
hilariously enough, in the ‘home of the oracle’ there’s not a single representation of her, or anything mentioning her (besides 1 tablet referencing her hysteria while spewing her prophecies under the ownership of apollo). some of the group made a swift exit from the building after the beautiful moments, tending to a sense of disappointment that the oracle was not being honored in her home.
we made our way over to the temple and gathered as women in an open courtyard. we stood in a circle, holding hands, ready to embark on a prayer. one of the girls had popped her phone up on a tripod to take a video of whatever we were about to do, when a female guard yelled ‘NO TRIPODS’…..
luckily my realization and reaction was delayed, that the tripod was literally invented here. at this temple complex. here on this land. the oracle of delphi is known for her tripod that she imbibed the sacred fumes of oracular sight from. one would imagine that the temple guards would be more afraid of the hand-holding prayer circle, than the tripod, but there we were… the phone was moved from the tripod to the ground and we continued our prayer, energetically encircling the woman guard into our prayer:
may the subservient service to the patriarchy cease. may the witch wound be healed in all women of earth that, rather than blowing whistles of interruption on each other’s prayers, gather to defend the sacred, not tearing each other down, not projecting the pain of our own repressed expression and not working as agents for patriarchal agenda— remembering our sacred birthright as women to carry forward the wisdom of the pre-patriarchal medicine of our ancestors
this prayer continued as whistles hassled us throughout our walkabout at the temple. we approached 13 ancient columns and began twirling around, feeling the profundity of this particular spot. we looked closer and read the plaque stating that this was the area of the temple where the oracle spoke prophecies from. as we twirled, long skirts spinning weightlessly, another female guard from far away, up on the hill yelled and blew her whistle to stop dancing. as if someone was lighting the ancient stone on fire, her shouting was desperate and we couldn’t help but giggle at the drama: “is she seriously doing all that at us?”
a greek, male tour guide was leading a french couple through the temple and heard the interaction. he yelled up to the policing female guard in greek: “why can’t they dance? who made this rule?” she ignored the question. he looked back at us, not knowing one of us spoke greek and I excitedly asked him to keep nudging her. being challenged by a man, unfortunately may hold more weight than the tourist girls in skirts. i also wasn’t in a mood to challenge her- i’m very used to this behavioral correction from being in egypt. unless you’re on a private permit, you have to pay the guards off to let you close your eyes, be barefoot, dance or do anything that looks like connecting to the energy of the temple. god forbid its organic blueprint is reawakened and religious dogma control systems fall.
he turned to her atop the hill again: “who made this rule? it is a temple of the oracle, let them dance. whose to say how someone can and can’t move their body?” the woman disappeared behind the laurel tree as our twirling ecstasy had subsided anyways. I spoke to the tour guide, who was such a special man. I’ve never met a greek male tour guide walking and guiding tourists along their tour, in defense of the oracle, the feminine expression or that which predates the currently dominant orthodox Christianity. we had a nice chat and I took a photo of him and his french clients in front of the dance inducing columns, and thanked him for his kind words of defense and inquiry of the controlling narrative.
our journey connecting with the oracle isn’t a pedastooled grasping for some goddess entity to appear and foresee our futures. it is not a force that asks for offerings or bowing down. at our mana yi retreats we are decolonizing our relation with the cosmic and terrestrial forces of creation, prophecy, love and nature itself. we aren’t invoking anyone or anything. we are connecting directly with the spirit of the land, of the stones, of the animals, of the rainbows and waters.
my experience at the temple of delphi was a profound reminder of the oracle living within, who doesn’t waver in truth, whose compassionate conviction burns like an approachable, eternal flame. a stream of truth that can never be erased— that endures eons of slander, fear and projection, yet endlessly burns pure and bright.
this is the path of solar consciousness— the fanning of our ancient flame that burns through illusion and shadow play to unconditionally shine the frequency of love, of reclamation, of remembering.
our next group pilgrimage with the land of delphi is this may 2026 and the doors have just opened. click here for the details — we welcome your application! spaces are limited and we’re so excited for the profundity that awaits us. its an honor to be called home by this land and to steward the ministry that’s been pulsating through the organic grids for eons. thank you for reading along— you’re welcome to leave a comment below with reflections on your experience reading about our experience…
with love, Paulina
