Miracles From Olympos

Scrummaging last night, I found two relics, forever sealed in time. It was refreshing because I thought I had lost them. It was an accident that I actually stumbled upon the two. 

They brought back to memory one of the most priceless times of my entire life, and reminded me just how much my wife and I have been through together during these last 10 years. 

After she became pregnant, she began experiencing life-threatening complications in early June of 2010, and my son had to be delivered early, 24 weeks as a micro-preemie at 1 pound, 5 ounces, with the worst chances of survival, literally. I named him Gryphon Maximus that night, which means Gryphon The Greatest. 

Fortunately, he was stabilized and moved into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU for short. The image you see on the left are the pictures that I placed on the windows of his incubator when I went up to see him for the first time. They are of Apollon and Artemis, Gods who protect children and heal the sick. A third picture of Athena (Goddess of strength) was later placed, but has since been lost. 

The original pictures were actually removed by the NICU staff through an honest mistake because they didn't realize what they were. When I informed them that they were religious to our family, they reprinted and sealed the pictures in plastic bio bags and taped them back onto the windows of his crib. What you see is 100% original from that day and through the entire time he was there, the plastic and tape still on them. 

A very short time after these pictures were put on his incubator, he began breathing on his own for hours without the help of a ventilator. He was already showing signs of unconquerable strength, and it was the Gods who always gave me peace in the knowledge that my son was going to make it. 

The baby that should have died was not only breathing on his own, he was eating and growing. All of his doctors were amazed. With each passing day, it became more obvious that he was going to grow into a full term baby and come home, and he eventually did, without even having to have a single surgery. 

One might think that even with his survival, his premature birth gave him crippling disabilities for life, but actually no, the Gods blessed him in that area as well. The doctors said he would never even walk, but today he runs and climbs, and his intelligence grows by the day. He's very smart. He may not talk a lot, but he takes in everything and knows how to get his point across. As every doctor and nurse calls him now, he's a miracle baby.

When I found the pictures again last night, it didn't bring back feelings of sorrow or fear, as some may expect, but memories of how much the Gods have blessed my family, of the amazing journey I have had with my soulmate Anastasia, and how both have changed my life forever in the best ways. 

It also reminded me that the Gods are forever and we can get through anything, and do anything, when they are with us. Even when you find yourself in a situation that seems hopeless and the most horrific, don't surrender yet. Stand up, be brave, and keep going, because even the most dismal circumstance can turn around in the end. 

The Gods can intervene and alter anything, no matter what it is. Just when you think you've lost and that the world is going to collapse, it may not end up being as bad as you expect. Wait until the final cards are laid down. Miracles still come from Olympos.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Catholic Schoolboy Sees Artemis

The year was 1984 or 1985 when John of Freeport, Illinois saw something that would alter the course of his life. He was not Catholic, or really any particular religion, but attended the local St. Thomas institution because he had no other choice, and found himself on a school retreat to the local Oakland Nature Preserve with his class on this occasion.

John is an adult now with his own house and family in Freeport. He's also a good friend of mine and invited me to his family cookout today where he told me what happened to him as a child during this time. With his permission and approval, this story has been told here, and I thank him greatly for being kind enough to give me such a treasure to share on my blog. However, he also requested that I don't reveal his last name or picture at this time due to his family issues. Things are too stressful right now for them to have to deal with any direct or abundant publicity.  

The night it happened, the hour was around 10 when John realized that, unlike his classmates, he couldn't fall asleep, so he decided to go for a walk in the woods even though it was against the rules at that particular time. Everyone was supposed to be in bed and locked down for the night. John didn't care, and he knew well enough how to work the door lock so he could get in and out, a talent that seems to be natural because, still today, John is a magnificent inventor and engineer. The moon was full and bright enough to where he could see his way around in the dark and he eventually came to rest near a creek, listening to the owls and watching the bats catch insects.

At some point, everything went dead silent, not a sound of anything. As John described, it was something that happens when a predator approaches, and he knew enough about survival to know that you don't run or make sudden movements at that point, so he remained still and observed. The first sound he heard that broke the silence was that of what was clearly a deer approaching from the nearby trail. When it came into view, John saw that it was a large buck, and stranger, it appeared to be ghostly. As John described, he could see the trees behind it. The beast looked at him for a moment. Then a falling branch echoed. The buck looked behind, looked forward again, and dashed off, leaping a great distance over the creek and heading through the woods.

Then on the same trail, came the sound of someone running. "Who the hell is out here at this time of night running through the woods?" John wondered. As the two stampeding feet came into view, he saw that they were attached to a beautiful woman in a white tunic-like gown, with long black hair, a quiver of arrows on her back, and a silver bow in her hand. She caught sight of John, stopped, and said to him, "You're not supposed to be out here." In his childhood attitude, he replied, "Yeah, but neither are you." She smiled, "I figured you'd say that." Then, she asked John where the deer went. He pointed her in the right direction and she was off, never to be seen again.

When the next day came, there was a time when John thought he had simply dreamed up the encounter while asleep in his bed, but then, he explained, he went back to the creek and the trail to see the footprints of the stag exactly where they had been, both on the trail and on the banks of the water. "I knew I didn't dream it," he said. John would eventually come to realize that he had encountered Artemis with his own eyes and talked to Her with his own voice, and She to him. "That was the first and only time I've ever physically encountered a God," he finished. 

What makes John's story even more interesting for me is the fact that I have also seen Artemis in my dreams, and we both describe the same appearance and features, without ever having disclosed them to one another beforehand. We also had the same feelings in Her presence. The fact that there is an immense peace and calmness, and equally that, while admiring her beauty, we never became sexually interested or thought sexual things. Artemis is a Virgin Goddess who doesn't like sex and doesn't want to be sexualized, and both John and I had a revelation together today when we described our encounters, because we realized that it's actually not possible to sexualize Artemis in Her presence. It never occurs to you. Sex simply doesn't exist there. It's not possible to go against a God. A mortal is completely subject to their will. During the entire time that he and I saw and interacted with Her, we admired Her beauty, but nothing sexual ever ran through our heads at all. We knew we were in the presence of a Divine Virgin at that point.

I have known John for many years, and equally know that he has absolutely no reason to lie to me about such a story. He had never even told it publicly until I posted a Facebook thread asking my Pagan friends about childhood encounters with Pagan Gods. He decided he would wait to tell me in person, but he also didn't even ask me to publish the story. I asked him if I could do so. John had no reason to tell me a falsehood, and nothing to gain from it.

I certainly thank him once again for allowing me to talk about such magnificent experiences with Olympos, and hope that Artemis visits him again.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

When The Greek Gods Saved My Son

When my boy was born severely premature at 24 weeks, every doctor expected the worst, and were clearly not setting themselves up to overtly hope for his survival. They were prepared to expect death. He had the worst chances of any child born in his condition, a 50% chance he would not make it, and a 70% chance that he would be a vegetable if he did survive. It's a grim and painful forecast when you have to think about the possibility of burying your child, or not having any room to celebrate just yet even if he makes it out of the hospital. 

I remember one of the first days I visited him in his incubator in the NICU. My faith in the Gods has always been strong. I knew they had saved me and my family in the past, so I knew I could put my trust in them again. I placed pictures of Apollo, Artemis and Athene on the windows of my son's crib. Soon after, he began to breathe on his own for a while without the help of a ventilator. Everyone was amazed. I realize now that what I saw was more than just my son breathing by himself, it was the presence of the Gods there with him. Apollon and Artemis protect infants and children, and Athene is the Goddess of Strength. Following this, I was also astounded to find a numerical sign surrounding Gryphon. He was born on the 4th, his incubator number was 4, and his mom's discharge room number was 4444. This is the number of prosperity and good fortune and none of this was in our control. It's like the Gods were telling us not to worry, that they were there.

As time went on, Gryphon grew bigger and stronger and exited the NICU after a little over 100 days with no major complications. Later in his life, he was diagnosed with a mild form of CP that made his legs tight, but that did not prevent him from walking. This baby that they said would be a vegetable or in the grave, now walks, runs, laughs, plays, goes to school, has friends and can do basic things for himself. And even though his CP cannot be cured, it is in such a state where it can be treated and improved.

Gryphon has always been one of my proofs that the Gods are real. All I need to do is look at him, remember all that's happened and all he's accomplished. Everyone loves him. He's brought so much light to the world and happiness to everyone around him, and especially to me. I find so much inspiration in him and his story. He was simply meant to be here; it wasn't his time to go.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris.