THE ORACLE I

The Oracle sits alone, among the laurels and pools,

Inside a grotto, hewn near the mouth of the cave.

She is asleep in the scent, answering all the King’s fools,

They pay her in gold, but she needs nothing to save.

Comes the Fool King, asking how to gain infinite power,

Drunk with the fever of gluttony, of lust, and of greed.

“A pestilence lies within and will quickly devour,

There is no cure for King and Kingdom when it comes to feed.”

The King became angry with this threat to His pride,

Filled with vanity, he commanded her to speak,

“Come down off your chair, witch, uncloak the lies that hide.

Scry the waters, tell me now, who are the weak?”

“Slothful, Sire”, the Oracle began to wail,

“He does not work to earn His keep nor His own wealth,

Upon a golden throne He sits, to no avail,

The envious serpent will consume Him in stealth.”

“What serpent do you speak of, woman?” He snarled.

“A sickness or some sinister threatening?”

The Witch whispered, “’tis not by anything quarreled,

Thy pestilence is the snake they call reckoning.”

The King slapped her firmly, knocking her down,

“You viper, you have cursed the innocent here.

You are the evil which crawls upon the ground,

I shall cut off your head, I have nothing to fear!”

The Oracle arose and faced the Fool King,

She stepped into the waters and disappeared,

Echoing the words, “You understand nothing!

You are the pestilence, the viper feared.”

ORACLE II.

The King sent his most faithful Knight to seek a prophecy.

The Knight dismounted his horse and entered the cave,

Certain She was a fraud entranced in hypocrisy;

Prudence be welcomed, with many a soul to save.

“Come in, Man of perseverance and strength of mind.

Your questions preceded your arrival; come nearer.”

The Oracle looked t’ward the Knight, Her eyes were blind.

He called up his courage to approach Her without fear.

Her eyes, white and sightless, surely, She could not see

The future past the mist, this trance she was under.

Yet she knew, “Enter Knight, bow and kneel before me.”

He knelt with his sword before Him, lost in wonder.

“You search for reason, compelled to ask for the King –

Who are His advocates, trusted friends at His side?

Who are His foes and what end will the battle bring?”

The Oracle stood up and spread her arms out wide.

“Look there, Knight, the chair upon which I once did perch.

Look closely, notice there are three legs there, not four.

This could be the answer to the quest you now search,

Or it could be an illusion and nothing more.”

'And, do you see it now? Look closely near the ground.

One leg is different, two short and one longer.

Perhaps this is where all your answers will be found;

Two legs are weak, yet, the other is the stronger.'

“Look, Knight, at the chair which I did once occupy.

The seat is soft velvet, it's color a scarlet red…

All the Kings men will fight with fortitude yet die,

While the King lies upon velvet and loses his head.”

The Knight looked up into her face, “May I speak?

Gracious Oracle, I implore you to explain.

Who would be our champions, strength before the weak,

Who would be our enemy and victor remain?”

She took his jaw into her hand, “Look Sir Knight, and see!

There was One who was the Greater, the Lesser was two.

The Kingdom balanced among the power of these three,

But treasonous men have debts that are now overdue.”

“Open your eyes, Sir Knight, and supply the evidence!

The Greater will become the Lesser, Justice prevails.

The Lesser become the Greater, ‘tis providence;

Where is faith, where is hope, when the righteous one fails?”

“Blessings Noble Oracle, I beg thee, save the fight.

Bewitch our enemies, save each innocent one.”

The Oracle replied, “A witch I am not, Sir Knight –

I foretell eminent truths, which cannot be undone.”

The Oracle turned, disappeared in the smoky haze.

The Knight stood and watched, then hastily mounted his steed,

Back to the King, begging Him to change his ways,

Surrender the usurpers, pray to be spared and freed.

The King, angered in his madness, had the Knight’s head,

Commanded his armies retreat ‘fore it was too late.

He, upon red velvet, a soft pillow for the dead –

And His people imprisoned for Ignorance’s fate.

ORACLE III.

The Oracle, living a life entranced in a white mist,

Bestows upon those who seek, a glimpse of their tomorrows.

The answer – cryptic - ‘fore the inquisitor is dismissed.

The madness of the cipher, from reasoning, grows and grows.

But the Oracle is not mad, she breathes the mother’s breath,

She knows with no need of knowing, is with no need to be.

Hearing the voices of those who have conquered their own death,

The deaf do not hear and the blind certainly will not see.

The King’s Knight found no meaning in the prophesies spoken.

Unable to cipher her words, he was hung the next morn,

Silencing the Oracles message, the spell now broken,

Without knowing, He cannot know He has been forewarned.

Now comes the King, angered by this insubordination,

To speak to the Oracle and command her to foretell

Of His future without the need for interpretation.

Threatened by those nearest to Him, trying to dispel.

He enters the cave, finds the Woman deep in sleeping,

Commands Her loudly, His voice reverberates, awakening

The Oracle. She shudders from secrets He is keeping;

He wants to know the names of all who have forsaken Him.

“SILENCE!”, the Oracle demands, “I know what you have done.

The Knight came at Your behest, yet You do not understand.

The battle fought has become a war that cannot be won.

You have decided your fate, now all the King’s men are damned.”

“You dare to speak to me in this way?”, His indignation

Evident and with contempt and gall the challenge was made,

She came close, “Shall I divine, for consideration?

Yes, You will interpret my words without being afraid.”

The King stood his ground with arrogance and gruff posturing.

“Yes, tell me Oracle, what fate awaits me, how will this end?”

The Oracle took her place upon her chair, pondering.

“A quake will forebode Your fall, You will lose what you defend.

Remember the children’s rhyme regarding another King,

A riddle, no doubt, to obscure the meaning of the rhyme.

The King in the riddle was insane, had no reasoning,

Ego and arrogance became His enemy in time.”

The King said nothing, He turned away from the Oracle,

Hanging his head low as he made one more inquiry,

Though He knew his questioning would seem rhetorical,

“I caused chaos, are people laughing as they fire Me?”

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king's horses and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Humpty Dumpty was an idiot spawn,

Everyone knew his mind was gone.

Four-score Men and Four-score more,

Could not make Humpty Dumpty what he was before.

Humpty Dumpty lay in a beck.

With a knotted rope around his neck;

Forty Doctors and forty Wrights

Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty to rights!

The Oracle laughed, “Confusion – is this all You can see?

You are a jealous, angry, prideful and gluttonous man,

You are lustful, and You lie in Your own stench, slothfully,

And Your greed will push You off the wall and into the pan.”

ORACLE IV

Go to the Oracle, listen to her speak –

Tis not for the faint of heart, tis not for the weak.

The future is stagnant and the future bleak.

Go to the Oracle and find what you seek.

He is unable to run, His legs too short –

He only plays the game if He sees it as sport.

One can only know what is in the report,

Go to the Oracle, she is holding court.

One leg is longer and shorter are the two –

The rich become the pauper when payment is due.

Liars are truth seekers, truth is never true.

“Seek the lie”, says the Oracle, “lies imbue.”

You already know the question and answer –

The life You live is eaten away by cancer.

“Who are You?” She asks, “Nothing but slander

Precedes You here, spoken with such candor.”

Run, little man, run, the battle has begun –

The pawns overtaking the board have fought and won.

King cornered, it is over – it is done.

Queen sits and decides His fate from her throne.

The one who was greater, the two the lesser –

Like the legs of my perch, one the transgressor,

Challenges balance, comes to me a confessor,

Tells me lies, untruths I cannot measure.

Your future, clear, vision is twenty-twenty –

The challenges made to the King are plenty.

Fade away, find the black hole where You found me.

Escape the hands of fate, search for the Key.

The Oracle knows, yes – the Oracle knows –

Confounded not by which way the wind now blows.

Torn asunder, chaste away, the winds of woe,

Baptized in Jordan, drowned in the undertow.

Nowhere to run and nowhere to hide –

This has been a bitter tumultuous ride.

You are stripped of your title, stripped of Your pride,

Swallowed in bile quicksand, quick suicide.

Tis not the end yet, no – tis not end –

Hide Your face to lies You cannot defend.

The fences are rusted and frail, will quickly rend,

Unwise to believe You alone, can mend.

Stay with me a little longer, King –

Let me show you indescribable things.

More death and destruction, this is what You will bring,

Remembered by the dirges they sing.

Inhale the steam that rises from the earth –

Now, my King, drink from the cup, quench Your thirst.

Of the chicken or the egg – which of these came first?

Which holds more power, the spell or the curse?

ORACLE V

She fell into a deep trance

Watching the demon’s dance.

Should He be given a chance,

Shall we also set the cadence?

The answer came to her as she dreamed.

Everything is diabolically schemed.

Trust us as the Banshees screamed;

The Banshees have what they deemed.

While He whimpers and whines,

Now forgetting His lines,

Waiting for heavenly signs

To affirm what He divines.

Circe will not protect Him,

Serving as prophet on a whim,

His light is now growing dim

As truth drowns when it cannot swim.

Then our Oracle, Sybil, spoke

Child of Lamia began to choke,

Her mother watched her blood soak,

When she bled Him till He finally broke.

Dodona, First of Delphic prophecy

Inhaled the mist so she could see.

Blinded by light, was never free –

The mist showed her what would be.

Many were the Seers of time,

Oft’ given in riddles and in rhyme,

The Master becomes the Mime

And vanishes beneath the Lyme.

Words used to communicate,

Can sow seeds of love or hate.

No in-betweens found to date.

He is impatient, He must wait.

The demons are circling the fire,

He will lose His life’s true desire,

A member of demon’s lust require,

Loss of the gold He would acquire.

They cackle and laugh at His fate,

He asked for advice a day too late,

He has no patience and cannot wait,

Seven vices now become eight.

The Oracles, His soul would not save,

Little men must learn how to behave!

In the presence of the Prophetess braved,

She advises Gods, not the depraved.

The insult to injury, as they would say,

Slapped one to the ground on that day.

Not one angel raised a voice to pray –

Not one forgives this arrogant display.

The other, He chose to question her worth,

Was she a fakir, not a creature of birth -

But of specters, illusions of the earth,

The stench that filled her in the Firth?

Death follows darkly, a deathly shoal,

A dark and dastardly stench of soul.

Death shall become the Master’s goal,

Far, His fall from wall and knoll.

The King shall take His fatal fall,

Off the ledge of knoll and wall –

Answering the demons worldly call,

Belongs now to no one – no one at all.

Seidhr

And they consulted the many Aiser

Requesting some clarity of mind.

Watching the smoke rise here –

Where the future seeks to find.

The others consulted hidden Vanirs

Hoping for more information out there.

Looking past the veneers

Asking the when, how and where.

Came the answers hidden in the Seidhr…

What floats is none the wiser, none the better,

What sinks, knew the way there,

Beliefs that just get wetter.

Now listen closely, do not take the boat

It will sink, all the same, everyone will drown,

The arrogant ones gloat,

It is time to put Him down.

O the lack of salvation for those who sink,

The seditious ones have lost hope and He cries.

Falling into the drink,

Swallowing their own lies.

Do not come to us regretting the choices made;

Start swimming or lose Your life in the waters.

You dissolve, yes, You fade!

Nothing You do matters.

Upon the land, run King of Lies, run and don’t look back.

Hide in dark corridors, Your soul will now weep,

You now possess the lack,

You are out of the deep.

Across oceans, You will run to stay alive, to live.

They are coming for You, King, and for Your gold.

O the life You would give,

The prophecy is told!

Thinking You have answers, sight is 20/20,

You shall never see the day of reckoning.

You who once played in the land of plenty,

The storm is coming, the skies are threatening!

All of these words were inspired by the Otheres and given to me very early this year in a day to day procession. Now, much of what is written here is known, including the reference to that "king". I assure you, the pronouns used were not well known or known at all when these were written.

Glean what you will from the warnings.