How Do I Tell If It's A God, Mental Illness or Something Else?

Throughout human history, and even today, the Gods speak to us in a variety of ways. But such a claim isn't always perceived in our time as being something normal, when in fact it very much can be. Many years ago when I began seeing a psychiatrist for my depression, I mentioned to her that the Gods give me comfort and that comfort helps me battle the depression. She wasn't hostile or disrespectful, although at one point during the conversation, she asked, "But you don't hear Gods talking to you and telling you to do things, right?" I replied no, because that was the truth. The Gods have never spoken to me in a human-like voice, as my wife or a friend would. The Gods have spoken to me through my emotions, instincts, dreams, and at times, omens. I think this is probably the way they communicate dominantly with most people. Can the Gods speak to us with a human-like voice? Of course, because they can do whatever they want, but perhaps these days they refrain from it because they don't want someone being locked up for insanity when they're not. In the old days, people understood that the Gods are real. Today, many people have been taught that there's no way a sane person could hear a Deity. It's just not the case, however rare it may be.

But what if someone does indeed hear voices talking to them, claiming to be Gods? And what if that person is of sound mind, or at least appears to be? What do we make of it? How do we know it's a God talking to us or if we may be having mental health issues? For that matter, what if it's neither? Is there something sinister, like a haunting or a spirit with negative intentions? To me, the answer is simple. If it's a God talking to you, they're not going to instruct anything bad or harmful, because the Gods are always good. The Gods aren't going to tell you to kill yourself, cut yourself, hurt another innocent person, or anything which is negative or filthy. Miasma (pollution) is not of the Gods.

I think back to the ancient proverb, "If the Gods do evil, they are not Gods." Meaning that if something or someone is telling you to do evil, or is doing evil, they are not Gods, even if they claim to be. So to my mind, that's how you know. It's understanding the difference between good and evil, negative and positive, and the nature of the Gods themselves. Therefore, if you do hear a voice(s) driving you to do the bad things I have talked about, you should probably seek mental healthcare and spiritual counseling from your clergy. A good dose of both will do wonders for you.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

The Cult: Modernly Misconstrued

When most people today hear the word cult, they immediately think of those like Jim Jones and David Koresh.

But when we look back to the ancient historical concept of the cult, we see a far different picture. A cult was simply a private group of worshipers who practiced apart from the mainstream society. The Mystery Rites of Eleusis, for instance, would have been a cult, but they were just a private Order, dedicated to the understanding and preservation of a specific sacred knowledge. They believed in the same Gods as everyone else even, but they were still set apart. A cult is therefore just that, a group or religion outside the mainstream society. One might even argue that all minority religions are cults because of this definition, but minority would depend on the kind of religious society one lives in. In a Muslim country, for instance, Christians would be a cult, whereas in the United States, they wouldn't be. The early Christians of Rome were most certainly a cult. 

I'm not suggesting that people should join openly known cults. This post is merely about historical honesty and examination. In my own religion, there were numerous cults throughout history, but I have always shied away from that word in any context because of the modern stigma, even when I am just talking about historical record. So I want people to understand that some of the things we think of now as bad, were never meant to be that way. For instance, the swastika predates Hitler and the Nazis and goes back to many ancient cultures, even ancient Greek ones, as a symbol of motion and flow. But you can't use it today because of the Nazi stigma and the great harm that has been done to people under its banners. I think it's important we understand that humans can take anything and make it good or bad, it all depends on them, and I think understanding this will make us better thinkers. 

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Preordained Death: Feelings of Fate

The ancient Greeks, to a good extent, believed in Fate, as is evident in their mythologies and religious beliefs. Homer, the ancient Greek Poet, once said that no one can send Him into the Underworld until it is His time, but that when it is His time, nothing can stop it either. So the question begs, are our lives preordained in the sense that we have a time to live and a time to die? I talked with my wife about this idea briefly last night. I myself have always believed the words of Homer concerning the situation, but through philosophy, I think I have been forced to add something onto it.

I do think that most people will not die until it is their time. How many brushes with death have people had and missed it? There are lots of people in the world today who should be dead, but they're not. So it's clear that there was an aversion to the end of their lives at that point. However, we must also consider another fact. Nature always has anomalies. So when we ask ourselves, can someone die before their time? In some cases, the answer would have to be yes. Because if people couldn't die before their time, the Gods would not acknowledge such a thing as murder. A human life could not be taken unjustly if no one died until their time. So the fact that the opposite is true, shows that not everyone will make it to their destined time, whether it be because of murder or a natural cause of death. However, I do not think that's the norm. I think the vast majority of us will not die until our time, or for that matter, experience anything we are not supposed to.

But at the end of the day, I know the Gods are good, and along with Homer's words, I live my life in a state of comfort.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

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.

Plagues Are Part Of Life

No one needs to explain to anyone reading what the coronavirus is at this point. It's been blasted all over television and the internet as the latest of serious viruses to enter the United States. 

When people, especially in today's First World, hear of a new virus, or anything that disrupts daily life, it tends to send them into a panic, not realizing that our ancestors often dealt with far worse. Humans certainly didn't invent sickness. From the earliest writings of Homer, plagues and epidemics have been a part of human life. In The Iliad, Apollon (whom some may believe is a God who heals as well as sends plagues for whatever reasons), comes down from Olympos and strikes many of the Greeks with illness. In later history, the infamous Plague of Athens that took place during the Peloponnesian War and likely contributed to the loss of the city, killed anywhere from 75,000 to 100,000 people. As Sparta razed the crops and fields of the Athenians, they had to rely on foreign food imports from other areas, some of which came with bacteria that their bodies were not used to, and this is probably a most likely cause of the illness.

Things have certainly changed in our own time, especially concerning our mentalities toward plagues and epidemics. However, of course, there is a new illness among us no matter how you slice it, and we should always be on guard to never let any kind of sickness into our bodies. Not only so that we will stay healthy, but so that we don't transmit it to people with compromised immune systems, because for them, the virus is deadly like any other would be.

But the truth of the matter is that we humans have always lived with plagues and illnesses among us. We work through them and move on. So what can we today do productively about the latest coronavirus? Well, we have one big advantage and understanding that many of the ancients did not, and that is daily sanitation and medical care, which is probably why our survival rates have dramatically improved. There are many things we can do that will help and keep us safe, and also many things that will do nothing but create more problems.

Things To Do

1- Get regular checkups with your doctor.

2- Take a good bath or shower every day.

3- Wear clean clothes every day.

4- Eat and drink foods and drinks that boost your immune system.

5- Wash your hands thoroughly and routinely through the day, and every time before you eat, with warm water and antibacterial soap.

6- Use hand sanitizer throughout the day.

7- Stay away from people who you know have weak immune systems if you're sick.

8- Stay home when you're sick with any illness that is contagious. 

9- Don't go into large crowds where there have been cases of the virus.

10- Wash and sanitize your foods, house and vehicle(s).

11- Of course, don't interact with someone who may be ill.

12- Wear a mask in public.

Things Not To Do

1- Panic.

2- Hoard health products from retailers so others can't be healthy.

3- Spread fear and alarm.

4- Be constantly negative (pessimistic people die sooner than optimistic).

5- Make enemies out of other human beings.

We need to realize that being negative isn't going to change anything, but being positive and productive will strengthen us.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Thinking You're A God: Disappointment and Destruction

I've always been a person to never care what others believe, or how they see themselves, as long as they don't bother me. In other words, if they're impacting no life but their own, I couldn't care less; it's their own business and their right. However, that doesn't mean I can't still have an opinion about one belief or another. For example, I have talked about how bankrupt Christianity is quite often, but I still think Christians have the right to practice their religion. Just because I disagree with it, doesn't mean I hold malice or negativity toward the person(s).

One thing I have grown very weary of is people who think they are Gods, or that they are Gods in their own right, and they exist in many communities, but largely, they can be found in Paganism. Now I'm not talking about the belief in Divine favor. There is a difference between saying, "I am blessed by the Gods, or, I am part of the blessed creation of the Gods," and, "I am a God." The former simply acknowledges you as a worthy individual who is part of the cosmos that the Gods create and govern. The latter, however, implies that you are the God themselves, or a God individually, and therefore have the same Divine power and authority.

Not only is this just foolish and arrogant for a mortal to think, it's also dangerous. I think that once humans convince themselves that they are Gods of any sort, they end up also deciding that they are subject to no authority but their own, and can therefore do whatever they want, even to other human beings. I think it lays groundwork for great harm. Think of the story of Phaethon. He was even allegedly born of a God, but was too mortal to control the Sun chariot that he so desired to ride. In short, Phaethon wanted to take the place of the Sun God, and ended up not only dying, but nearly killing every other human around. Humans are not given Divine power for good reason. 

And even if such a person who fancies themselves a God doesn't end up doing harm to others, I gather that eventually, the Gods will give them a good lesson in humility, which is their own choice, but I would still advise against it. Consider the story of Arachne. She was a mortal weaver of amazing talent who considered herself to be even greater than the Gods, namely Athena, who taught her a grave lesson in who a God is, and who a God isn't. Literally, Athena tells us to know who is God and who is not. We must acknowledge this for our own sake. Even if the Gods do not teach us a lesson, we will end up destroying our own selves. Now yes, some of the ancient Heroes eventually became Gods, but that was after their death and their rise to that stage by the favor of the Gods themselves. In short, after their rise to a higher state of enlightenment, and some of those Heroes were already considered to be half-God in the first place due to their Divine parentage.

The biggest thing to understand, I think, is that you don't have to be a God. You are a blessed human being, and as such, you have your own distinct abilities and even mortal powers. Each being in and of the Universe has their place, and within that place, they can wield great influence in their own respect. Simply because you're not a God, doesn't mean you're weak.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

How We Know Achilles Existed

When people hear of the Tomb of Achilles, they don't realize that from Alexander the Great to Emperor Julian, and even as late as the Ottoman Empire, people have written of their visits to the site. We have multiple sources, some not even Greek Polytheistic, who testify to the existence of this structure and the remains of the Hero therein, and being that Achilles died during the Trojan War, His body would have been immediately accessible to the Greeks for burial, so there's no chance that someone far later discovered remains somewhere and interpreted them to be Achilles. Like the existence of Troy itself which was proven by archaeology, Homer's works are literally records of real places and Gods of cultures, so why are they also not records of real people? Achilles existed most certainly, and people visited His resting place well into the Common Era.

What makes the Tomb of Achilles lost today, however, is the fact that the marker is gone, as it was only identified by a pillar, and there's no record of exact coordinates. His remains lie unnamed somewhere near Troy. In other words, we'll probably never find it, and if we do discover His remains, nothing will be proof enough for a skeptical scientist. They will always find a way to deny what they don't want to accept, and always find ways to accept what they don't want to deny. Furthermore, what if there are actually no remains left? What if they have all withered away at the mercy of the elements? But what we can say for certain is that He was real.

The only general location of His resting place, which has been drawn, photographed and filmed many times, is a large mound called a tumulus, which is a man-made mound that normally presides over a burial site. Certainly not uncommon, as Greeks were burying war Heroes in mounds as late as the Battle of Marathon, long after the Trojan War. The town that was founded around or in the vicinity of the tomb, called Achilleion, was abandoned in the Hellenistic Era, leaving everything around it to fall either into the hands of ruins or bandits. However, the mound itself still remains and can be visited to this day.

Tumulus of Achilles on Video

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.