Ouranos

Magnificent Ouranos, Self's powerful structure does not know of repose,

Patriarch of the apparent, from Self the cosmos originated.

Hear, self, noble progenitor, archetype and telos, helical around the spherical Earth.

Self is the place where the Gods return to stay,

And the cause of protective power that circles the cosmos as an enduring bound.

Self's broad chest and continuous circle contain fearful Ananke of Nature.

Aither and Earth, Self's multitudinous structure.

Deep blue appearance, complete with Ideas, no power can subdue.

Panoptic, creator of Cronos, and time within the cosmos.

Always blessed, God sublime, propitious to the initiate of mystery,

And crown self with a life devoted to the Gods.

Orpheus, Initiation Through Ouranos, (Libanos Offering),

New English Interpretation after Thomas Taylor, by The Editor of ClassicalPhilosophy.org, Chichester, England, 2025.

For this initiation, I have turned to paraphrase, seeking once more to recapture the spiritual path; yet in doing so, the original hexameter and later rhyme have fallen away. The dramatic intensity of a Homeric narrative style has also been softened, as I believe these changes better capture the essence of the original Orphic initiations.

The editor of Classical Philosophy.org