Showing posts with label Covid-19. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Covid-19. Show all posts

Saturday, April 25, 2020

From Apollon: Why Is Covid-19 Here?

As a priest, I have thought long and hard on our present medical situation. Of course, I am referring to the spread of Covid-19 or the Coronavirus. Even though it's actually a small plague in historical comparison, it was still enough to put significant pressure on our society and way of life, and sadly kill thousands of people. Equally important, more people have recovered than died. It's also true that we all have a time to go and a time to live, regardless of the circumstances.

But the question on my mind, is probably the same one that's on the minds of all theists, and that is simply, "Why is this happening?" There were times when I would go out to my sanctuary at night to pray to Apollon (the God of healing, prophecy and plague), and basically plead with Him for an answer. 

"O' Apollon, son of Zeus and Leto, God of the sun, mighty Healer, enemy of evil, please hear my prayer, and free us of this plague. Tell me what to do. What do I tell people?"

Normally, the Gods answer my prayers through my feelings. For instance, if the answer is not to worry or that things will be ok, I will feel an unconquerable wave of peace come over me. In this case, I again felt an easy presence, telling me to tell people to be resilient. But yesterday, I asked the question again. Only this time, I used something called an oracle book, in which you ask a question in a meditative state and then open it. The page you turn to is your answer. I am no oracle, yet I knew the Gods can talk to anyone they choose. Although, at first, I didn't put too much stock in the book itself until I asked Apollon to tell me something about the plague, and flipped to a page with a story so compelling that I could not deny it was from the God. Keep in mind, this was the first time I had ever used this book, so I did not know any of the entries or even the pages to find them on. I didn't even realize the kind of oracle book it was until I finally took time to read the description.

On 157, I read a story about a man who survived a Nazi death camp. The moral of the story was that human beings, sometimes, need challenges to strengthen their will to live, to generate, as the page describes, "aliveness." Do we have something to live for? The answer is up to us, basically.

Of course, it's not to say that the Nazis were a necessary evil, that would be absurd at best and psychotic at worst. They were the disease, the plague that needed to be wiped away. Humanity would have certainly been just find without them. So we should not interpret the story teller that way. I think the core of his message is that if humanity is determined to prevail over evil, they universally will. We may not be able stop the evil or the plague from coming, and it may end up being able to take life at the start, but we can decide to fight back. That's the message. If we had chosen to not fight the Nazis, they would have won. Likewise, we have to be determined to fight Covid19.

I never thought of it this way, and indeed, most people don't. But what if the reason for this disease is to strengthen our will? What if, from time to time, humans need to be asked, "How bad do you want to live?" in order for them to keep living? Is it possible that we need to be toughened like an immune system? Apollon gave me the same answer He did in the sanctuary that night, resilience. I suppose this can mean many different things to many different people hearing it.

One thing I have learned since becoming a Hellenic Polytheist and a philosopher is that the world and the Universe is anything but cut and dry. Things are not as simple as our perceptions, and there is more than just your own personal needs and wants at play. Humans don't understand this because they are very prone to arrogance, and so we tend to establish "truths" about the Universe based on our immensely limited perceptions. This impairs our ability to see beyond our noses and understand the things that are being taught to us. The worst thing we do on a regular basis is fail to realize we are not the center of everything, but rather a spec suspended in a sun beam. I'm not even saying that I myself have the complete answer here. It's possible Apollon only gave me enough of a glimpse necessary at the time. Is it even possible for a human to have the capacity to fully understand things? Perhaps not, but based on our history, there is one thing I do know. There is no obstacle we cannot overcome.

Remember, I encourage everyone to honor their state's quarantine and safety guidelines and laws always, for this too is part of your dedication and resilience.

I pray for all nations and all people, knowing that a world of heroes will make it through.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris Aldridge.

Source: Sutphen, Dick, The Oracle Within, Pocket Books, New York, New York, 1991. Print.