Undead_Elf, sometimes when people do research on different topics, it can be a little more interesting then just doing a search on Google. It also promotes more of a personal view on the topic. 

My issue with Google is that sometimes the sites that are listed at the top, are sites that have not been updated in months and the information is old.  Sometimes you have to really dig through some search engines to find more information or different articles and opinions. But that's another topic all to itself. lol

  I almost forgot that show is on tonight, anyone plan on watching it?

I am planning on checking it out. I actually thought it was on last night. But the show that was on was interesting enough that I completely missed Ghost Hunters.

Okay, I apologize in advance for the length of this post.

Next posting on this 2012 subject will be the Delphi Oracle. 




~The Sibylline Prophecy and Sibylline Oracles~

Okay first off, so that we're all on the same page, let's take care of a couple of questions first.

The first one being:  What or who is a Sibyl?

"The Sibyl was the name anceint Romans gave to any aged woman who could supposedly foretell the future.  The best known was the Cumaean Sibyl.  According to mythology, the god Apollo promised that she would live one year for each grain of sand she could hold in her hands.  But Apollo did not give her eternal youth, and she continued to age.
Sibyl guided Aeneas, the Trojan warrior, to the lower world to learn the future of Rome.  Later she offered to sell nine books of prophecy, called the Sibylline Books, for a high price to a king of Rome.
When he refused, Sibyl burned six of the books.  He finally paid the original price for only three.  There books were consulted in times of danger.  They were destroyed by fire in 83 B.C. "
--World Book Encyclopedia Vol. 17, 1993 Edition.

Okay so not only could a Sibyl be your grandmother, she was the weird mean one too.

"The word Sibyl comes (via Latin) from the Greek word sibylla, meaning Prophetess. Earlier...seeresses...'are known only through legend.'  Later...sibyls wandered from place to place."
"The first Greek writer to mention a sibyl, as far as we know, was Heraclitus, in the fifth century BC.  The Sibyl, with frenzied mouth uttering things not to be laughed at, unadorned and unperfumed, yet reaches to a thousand years with her voice by aid of the god.' (Heraclitus, fragment 12)"
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibyl

There were numerous Sibyls.   Most of whom were wanderers.  No source that I've found has stated whether or not such a position was hereditary or if such women were chosen by accident or fate.  Most where never really associated with a specific deity either, leading to a further speculation that many of these were truly pyshic, however that is pushing the
envelope a bit farther than I can research.

Now it's time for the second question:  What is the difference between the Sibylline Prophecies and the Sibylline Oracles?  Is there one?

"Because of the vogue enjoyed by these heathen oracles and because of the influence they had in shaping the religious views of the period, the Hellenistic Jews in Alexandria, during the second century B.C. composed verses in the same form, attributing them to the sibyls, and circulated them among the pagans as a means of diffusing Judaistic doctrines and
teaching. This custom was continued down into Christian times, and was borrowed by some Christians so that in the second or third century, a new class of oracles emanating from Christian sources came into being. Hence the Sibylline Oracles can be classed as Pagan, Jewish, or Christian."
--http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13770a.htm

"The perplexity occasioned by the frequent change of theme can perhaps be accounted for by the supposition that they circulated privately, as the Roman Government tolerated only the official collection, and that their present arrangement represents the caprice of different owners or collectors who brought them together from various sources. There is in some
of the books a general theme, which can be followed only with difficulty. Though there are occasionally verses which are truly poetical and sublime, the general character of the Sibylline Oracles is mediocre. The order in which the books are enumerated does not represent their relative antiquity, nor has the most searching criticism been able accurately to
determine how much is Christian and how much Jewish."
-- http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13770a.htm

If you take this paragraph at face value, it would seem that there is nothing left of the original writings of the real Sibyl's works. 

"The official collection of sibylline oracles at Rome was granted great prestige and was consulted at times of crisis or disaster. These oracles have been lost except in the literary attestations. The Sibylline Oracles are attested to by many early Christian authors and several pre-Christian pagan and Jewish writers. The earliest book is thought to be book 3."
--http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/%7Ewww_sd/sibor3-5.html

Okay, so there is parts of her works un-edited?  But is it the Prophecies or the Oracles that are the genuine thing or both? 

http://hellbusters.8m.com/upd8.html

Accoriding to this online source, the Oracles were written by Christian/Jewish Sibyls.  So that would mean that the Prophecies are written by the Roman and Greek.   

"The appearance of Sibylline oracles in Roman society dates back to the beginning of Roman history. According to legends,  King Tarquinius Priscus (early sixth century BC) was approached by an old woman who brought nine scrolls containing the prophecies of the Sibyl, for which she demanded three hundred gold pieces. Tarquinius, thinking the woman a fraud and despising this gift of the gods, refused to pay the outrageous sum. Thereupon the old woman burned three of the scrolls in the nearby fire, turned again to the king and asked three hundred gold pieces for the remaining six. Convinced that the old woman was mad, Tarquinius again refused, upon which the crone burned three more scrolls, again demanding the same three hundred gold pieces for the final three.
 Realizing that the woman was the Sibyl herself, Tarquinius agreed to pay the sum. The three surviving scrolls of the Sibyl were thereafter carefully preserved in the Capitoline temple of Rome as the most sacred books of the Romans. These oracles were regularly consulted by a body of ten special priests, seeking for prophetic guidance in major policy decisions. However, the Romans always recognized that they lacked the original complete collection of oracles and, consequently, that their interpretations were fallible."
--http://www.meridianmagazine.com/ideas/040209rome.html

...

Okay so let's review so far.

First thing, the Sibyls were older women.  Possibly ranging in the ages of 40 to 60 years of age.
Second thing, originally Greek and Roman prophetesses, their works were later hijacked by Jewish and Christian writers who diffused their religions beliefs into the writings and created a counter-writing call the Sibylline Oracles.   The difference being around three or four centuries of time inbetween when the Oracles was written and when the Prophecies were brought to the Roman ruler.
Third, the Roman knew that the collection they had was in-complete and falliable.    Always good when a group understands that and uses caution with their prophecies.

For a closer look to the Christian/Jewish Sibyllian Oracles, here is the following online source:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Of5Cp40izk4C&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=the+sibylline+prophecy&source=web&ots=mUlwhG1Wv
J&sig=GPOFzaCzeXjZhN1ZuoRqLnDuLxs#PPR1,M1

http://books.google.com/books?id=Zqh8ZQZqnWYC&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=the+sibylline+prophecy&source=web&ots=oiagqG4Ey
T&sig=BuKFNdox8ABf8qHzDelOCr9lt0w#PPR5,M1


For a moment, let's focus on the Prophecies.

"The books were stored in a closely guarded vault beneath the temple of Jupiter in Rome they were consulted by the Pagan college of priests . Julius Caesar gave a copy of the Books to his high priests, who were the only public servants permitted to read them . {Priestesses--by Norma Lorre Goodrich }

The books were preserved until a disastrous fire swept through Rome in 83 BC, during a Roman Civil War.  These were the first Sibylline Books.  Afterwards, the Senate under Augustus Caesar sent envoys to various oracles to collect similar prophecies, along with fragmentary remains of the first Sibylline Books they assembled a collection that became the second Sibylline Books.

They survived for several centuries until it was reportedly destroyed by Flavius Stilicho , a Roman General of German decent. [At one point virtual ruler of Rome] Copies, and fragments of some Sibylline works were preserved and have found their way into Christian Apocryphal Literature.   The Cumaean Sibyl located near the Greek city of Naples, whom Virgil's Aeneas consults before his descent to the lower world (Aeneid book VI: 10).  It was she who supposedly sold to Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome, the original  Sibylline books."
--http://www.geocities.com/nephilimnot/sybils.html

So does this mean that there is no chance of being able to read the original texts or copies of them?  From this article, it would appear that copies weren't allowed to be made of the original books.   While my online inquires led to only information on the Sibyl and her mythos, I was unfortunate in not being able to find a viable source to view the
Prophecies with.   It would seem that I would have the same luck at the library, as my search for any kind of reference to the Sibyls or their writings, turned up nothing.

With a keen wondering of how something that lacks a sizable amount of public referencing material, became associated with this 2012 phenomenon.   And with there being nothing easily findable, my personal conclusion was that the Sibylline Prophecies and Oracles were tacked on, as a means of trying to interest people who studied these, and bring them into
the fold of believeing that their ancient prophetess, predicted the Apocolpyse.

At this point, I must then conclude that these writings have no real revelance and must be place on a back burner.  If anyone knows of a book (preferrably several titles or sites) that hold actual copies of the texts that are legibable and easy to make out, please feel free to contact me with this information.