Customer Reviews

Oracles of the Dead: Ancient Techniques for Predicting the Future

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I've been an admirer of Robert Temple ever since reading THE SIRIUS MYSTERY back in the late 1970s. Unlike Von Daniken or Zechariah Sitchen, Temple's scholarship is impeccable, and his blistering rebuttal of Carl Sagan's pathetic attempt to "explain away" the Sirius material deserves a place in -- dare I hope? -- a 3rd edition of that terrific book.

I've spent more money in the last 30+ years purchasing books that Temple mentioned in the bibliography of THE SIRIUS MYSTERY, just to check and see if he was quoting his sources responsibly, and not just making it all up. No other book has prompted me to buy ever more books than that one!

If you haven't read "THE CRYSTAL SUN" yet, go and read it. It, too, is a magnificent bit of scholarship.

Which brings us to "ORACLES OF THE DEAD". When I first read the blurb about this book -- the notion that the Journeys into the Underworld taken by the epic heroes of "myth" are based on ritual journeys taken by real people into a real place -- I just about had a heart attack. Long before Masons had their little rituals involving "death"-enactments for the purposes of some sort of initiation into a "mystery" the Ancients had sculpted a landscape meant to serve various functions both for the individual suppliant and for the powers-that-be who controlled their societies, both politically and religiously.

The world is poorer for not having become acquainted with the sites Temple discusses, these man-made landscapes of Hades. That "ORACLES OF THE DEAD" isn't being mass-produced and read by the multitudes who devour pot-boilers like "THE DA VINCI CODE" is a travesty. I wouldn't even have known about this book had I not been a fan of Robert Temple's prior work. Lucky for me that I had previously been enthralled by his thought-provoking books, and was easily willing to shell out money for a book that isn't stocked on the shelves at the Barnes & Noble in my home town.

Having read three of temple's books I allways come away with some great insights into the world and possibly the universe. He is IMO one of the best alternate historians out there. He does his work people. In this book he goes on the trail of what he considers the underworld or Hades in Baia Italy. He present a good case. But more then that he has stumbled onto what he calls the hexagonal oracular lattice. He should investigate this more as there is a great truth to the beginnings of all life in this. I give him credit for his work in this It has not been reconized by many people and those who have do not understand it. Great book with solid work done in it. Keep the good work up Robert you are coming closer to the answers you are searching for.

Many methods of predicting the future, from tarot to runes and the I Ching, can be traced to ancient cultures, and in Oracles Of The Dead: Ancient Techniques For Predicting The Future, Robert Temple surveys the Greek and Roman traditions and techniques which have carried these methods to modern times. The ancient belief in the Oracle of the Dead is considered as Temple examples mysteries associated with Delphi and other world oracles and considers different world oracular systems.

Was VERY disappointed ....reviews and title lead you to think this is a book of 'how to DO ancient oracles' ....when in essence it is a history-being-unraveled-type of book. If you are are a history buff you may like it, but I certainly did not !