“But how…” The girl was still at a loss.
“Let me explain.” Faye settled back in her chair. “Around 3000 BCE, on the slopes of Mount Parnassus in what is now Greece, there was a place called Pytho. At this place stood a temple dedicated to the great mother goddess. The goddess was known by many names throughout the ancient world, but she was always worshipped by the people as their principal deity. They used the word Goddess with a capital G to describe her the way we use the word God. Up until quite recently, you see, most people thought that the creator of the universe was female.
“Beneath the temple at Pytho was an underground cave which the people of the region believed to be the center of the universe. This cave housed a round stone called the omphalos. The word ‘omphalos’ means navel, and it was called that because the stone was considered to be the navel of the world. It was guarded by a great serpent named Python. Contrary to what you might expect, Python was female. She was the daughter of the great goddess, and she protected both the omphalos and the oracle who dwelt at her temple. This oracle was known far and wide because of the accuracy of her predictions. She was called the pythia.
“This state of affairs continued for many centuries, but around 2200 BCE the area began to change. Do you remember those outcast tribes I told you about last time you were here?”
Cassie gave her a quizzical look. “You mean the tribes who morphed into professional pillagers?”
“Yes, quite so,” affirmed Faye. “Those tribes had figured out how to domesticate the horse and use it for warfare. They were able to expand their range of conquest, and many of them moved away from their harsh homeland. Some began migrating into Europe, down through the Balkans and on into Greece. The tribes that reached Greece were called Hellenes, and they displaced the original inhabitants who were known as Pelasgians. The transformation took a long time to accomplish. Over fifteen hundred years passed during which the Hellenes fought amongst themselves vying for more land. At some point during their perpetual power struggles, they invaded Pytho. They claimed the temple of the great goddess for themselves and rewrote the history of the place. Instead of a site to honor the goddess, the invaders said it was a site to honor their god Apollo.”
“Isn’t that the Greek sun god?” asked Cassie.
Faye nodded. “I see you know a little classical mythology. According to the Hellenes, the god Apollo fought a great battle and defeated the serpent Python. When Apollo killed Python, he threw her body into a chasm in the ground. The rotting corpse emitted fumes up through a crack in the earth. In fact, the word Python derives from the Greek verb pythein which means ‘to rot.’”
Cassie felt keen interest at those words. “That was the smoke I saw coming up through the cave floor. It made me dizzy to breathe it.”
“That’s right,” the old woman agreed. “Recent geological studies have shown that the crack in the earth at that spot may have emitted some kind of noxious gas. It might have been methane, or carbon dioxide, or even hydrogen sulfide which would have smelled like rotten eggs. At close quarters, the fumes would probably have been hallucinogenic, and these may be responsible for the strange visions the prophetess received. It was said that the air in the cavern shortened her lifespan. Once a pythia died another would rise to take her place.”
“Just like Sybil and me,” Cassie observed quietly.
Faye’s face held a troubled expression. “No one expected it to be you, child.”
“Go on. Tell me the rest of the story.” The girl’s voice was flat. “What happened after Apollo killed the serpent.”
The old woman complied. “Although Apollo and the Hellenes could do away with Python, it was much harder to get rid of the pythia. Her fame was so great in the region that the Pelasgians would have rebelled if she disappeared. The invaders had no choice but to incorporate her into their new myth. She remained at the temple which was now dedicated to the worship of the sun god. The location was no longer called Pytho but Delphi which is derived from the Greek word for “womb.” A distant reminder of the mother goddess whose home it had been before Apollo arrived. The pythia became known as the Oracle of Delphi.”
“That’s a name I’ve heard of.” Cassie registered surprise. “She was supposed to be the most famous oracle in the ancient world. People would come from all around the Mediterranean to have her tell their fortunes. That is if you believe in that sort of thing. Nobody important made a move without consulting the oracle first.”
“Yes, that’s true,” Faye agreed. “Her influence in classical Greece continued from about 700 BCE until 395 CE when the Roman emperor ordered her temple to be officially closed. It was no small achievement for a woman’s words to have such power in the overlord cultures of the ancient world.”
“Overlord cultures?” Cassie asked. She had never heard the expression before.
“It’s our term for the rootless tribes who wandered the earth and grew powerful by waging wars of aggression. Their entire way of life depended on exploitation and tyranny, so we call them overlord cultures.”
“What’s this ancient pythia got to do with me?”
“Ah,” Faye smiled. “We’ve come to the point at last.”
At that moment a distant beeping sound could be heard from inside the house. “Oh my, that’s the timer for my bread.” Faye hastily struggled to her feet. “I think we should continue this discussion inside.”
***
Cassie watched as Faye turned out the loaves onto cooling racks. The aroma was heavenly. She’d never seen a real homemade loaf of bread being baked before. Sybil and her hired housekeepers hadn’t been much for cooking. The closest they
