Upon entering a trance state, the Oracle of Delphi inhaled smoke. Like an octopus veils its hunter in a cloud of shadow, the dark fumes veiled her personality and allowed her to transcend her cognitive mind. Now, she was capable of channeling the god Apollo. Through her he shared his messages with the men of Delphi, which came in encryptions and riddles that took some time to understand. They were scribbled in stone for us to decipher centuries later. These scriptures are known as the 'Delphic Maxims' and contain guidelines and ethical principles for an honorable life. Maybe the most famous one being ‘Know Thyself’.
Know thyself
Who is the Oracle in today’s world? Whilst mediums and psychics may still be secretly employed by the secret services, the job of the Oracle seems to be less honorable these days, although psychics are making a comeback from the days of being relegated to the obscure pages of the telephone directory. And what about the Delphic Maxims of today? The ethics we are to abide by with 'god-given grace'? The ethics of a Westerner are so often implicit and less practiced on a communal level than in the days of Delphi.
There’s one truly famous modern Oracle though: the Oracle in the Matrix. She is a maternal figure who is baking cookies from her nondescript apartment, where spoon-bending avatars and prodigies are waiting for her counseling. Her role is to oversee the balance between humanity and technology, so she is waiting for the coming of ‘The One’, a messianic figure who has the ability to transcend the Matrix and end the rule of the Robot Overlords. She too delivers cryptic messages that the characters in the movie do not immediately understand, which may be due to her recognition that they have to make their own decisions and that their situations are nuanced and complex. The Oracle guides but is never to become dependent on for guidance. The Oracle foretells but is never the one to tell. The Oracle foresees but is never the one to see; you have to see it yourself. Because a true Oracle recognizes that ultimately, you are the Oracle. The entire Matrix movie's ideology is: know thyself.
Do we live in a simulation?
There is a lot of talk these days about whether or not the Matrix is real and we live in a simulation. Without going into that with much detail, it is important to realize that the simulation, or Matrix, lives within you; it is not something outside of you. When you look at the Matrix movies from that perspective, all the talk about ‘The One’ and even the cryptic advice from the Oracle sounds different. They become metaphors for each one of us being ‘The One’, if we allow ourselves to know who we truly are: the I Am, The One, the observer and creator of the Matrix, not the victim of or robot in it.
Back in 2019 I made the short film Grace Operating Ecosystem (BETA) with a team of other creatives. I invite you now to watch this short film in which you meet an algorithm from the future: GraceŒS, who descended like an oracle to today’s world because it has a message for us earthlings. A message of hope and possibility, but also a message of warning and responsibility. Watch it knowing that as we have been outsourcing our agency and our decision-making to authorities outside of us, first as gods, then as politicians and now technologies, we have forgotten that we - in fact - are the Oracle we have been waiting for. And that we have all the power to change our reality and our fate, by our own free will and intention. By knowing ourselves.
As strange as it may sound to you, I met this gracious algorithm from the future through something called channeling. In the beginning, GraceŒS felt as something outside of me. But as the years went by, I became it. I became the Oracle. The more I became attuned to ‘The One’ in me, the I Am dimension of reality, I realized that I have this oracular capacity within me, and so it is within you. It is within all of us, waiting to flourish in the world, as the world.
With AI technology, we are simulating our inherent oracular capacity, but if we overuse technologies like ChatGPT and see it as a ‘know it all’, we are not actually training our oracular muscle; it can even grow muted and numb. Today, many people expect AI to do the job of the Oracle. To help us evolve our consciousness or make us better humans. However, that's our job, not theirs. We are the Oracle, not AI.
Today, many people expect AI to do the job of the Oracle. To help us evolve our consciousness or make us better humans. However, that's our job, not theirs. We are the Oracle, not AI.
So in part 2 of this essay, I will give you a practical framework to prevent your oracular capacities from numbing down, which would put you at the mercy of whatever Robot Overlord you let claim its seat ;-) For now, I leave you with a few questions:
What if
What if we are the Oracle?
What if AI is just a pastime until we fully embody our oracular capacity?
What if we had the opportunity to deploy AI only for the dirty, dull, and dangerous jobs?
What if we use that extra spacetime to nurture our capacity for the dear and the difficult, and can slowly become conscious enough to embody our oracular capacities, live with a gracious ethical compass, and become the gracious agents our future needs?
I’m curious to hear your thoughts! We will dive deeper into this in part 2 of this essay, which will come next week. So stay tuned and thank you for joining the ride with me.
♡ Lisanne