This essay uses a philosophical-hermeneutic reading of the Oracle of Delphi’s heralds to portray the mother’s voice as a failed beginning, creating an asymmetry in communication.
The ancient Pythiae, who received and transmitted the divine voice, are associated with the art of divination. In this essay, however, the reception of Mother Earth’s voice is attributed to a hermeneu- tics of listening. The Oracle of Delphi speaks from the earth’s locus, where the serpent Python, slain by Apollo, dwells. Priestesses receive messages from Mother Earth and convey them in the form of sayings, which priests and philosophers then translate and write down. The circle of communicati- on is maintained by the asymmetry of the ›mother‹ voice.
Keywords: mother voice; hermeneutics; oracle; divination; listening
https://doi.org/10.14361/zig-2025-160111