Purification and Apollo

Thoughts on it's importance

Purification is the act of expelling miasma and cleaning oneself. Katharsis, the Greek word for purification, is something that makes part of every ritual and festival and Apollon, being the god of Katharsis, is an ever present God in any of these occasions.

The importance of Apollo is stressed by this facet: if he is a constant presence in literature, sports and arts, he has also a powerful side that places him on every single ritual, even if he is not called for directly. The only God that also has this honor is Hestia, Goddess of the Sacred Hearth Fire.

Apollo is also a god of truth. When His light beams us we are rid of all shadows and all truth is revealed. Removing lies, a kind of miasma, must therefore be an important process of Katharsis, perhaps one of the most important ones. It is my opinion that Apollo is a God that instills us the pure will of truth: His greatest judgment is this. If one says the truth, one is forgiven and Katharsis can take place as happened with Orestes.

Another aspect of Apollon I relate with purification is healing. Disease is a sort of miasma in which our body is invaded by alien agents, sort of speaking, which must be expelled. When this happens one is healed and a process of Katharsis must have happened. It is specially curious to note that when diseased other process of Katharsis are specially important: hygiene being the first I think of, but also the peace of mind and spirit brought by alignment with the truth and balance of the God.

Finally, there is another domain which puts Apollon in the headlights as well: music. Music made part of virtually every ritual where hymns were sung and poetry was exhibited. This not only relates Apollo to rituals, which are intrinsically connected to purification, as I can't help myself from thinking about how music affects people mood.

It is curious that sound waves can have such peculiar effects on us: some music feel us with energy, others make us cry, some yet let us peaceful and others fill us with rage. Music can be a part of a Katharsis process and it could enhance it deeply, however I don't have any knowledge that it did in the past.

Anyway, I just wrote this as a very small musing on how purification relates to Apollon and how it makes the God a very important one among the Olympians. Hope this can feed some thinking on you too.

~Miguel

To find yourself, think for yourself - Socrates