The Pythia and the Oracle of Delphi

The Pythia, also known as the snake woman, was the oracular woman of Delphi in ancient Greece. She would enter an ecstatic state and receive prophecies from the Earth goddess Gaia. The process involved drinking from a spring that emerged from Mount Parnissus. The Pythia's altered state of consciousness was possibly induced by methodic vapors from underground earthquake faults that released ethylene gas. The Oracle of Delphi was renowned for its prophetic insights and was visited by powerful figures, although access to the Oracle was restricted and required offerings and purification. The selection of the Pythias was believed to be guided by spirit selection rather than hereditary lineage. The Oracle of Delphi existed for over 1,700 years, starting before the Trojan War and lasting until the Christian Roman emperors shut it down in the fourth century AD.