What does Wisdom of the Ancients mean? According to the Collins Dictionary, Ancient Wisdom is “pre-Christian knowledge, philosophy and beliefs.” That is two words where the definition encompasses an enormous plethora of combinations and confusions. Some knowledge will have stayed the same, like Helios rises and sets, and that humans need food and water to survive, and other philosophies and beliefs will have morphed into (way too) many since the contrived and cobbling together of the (very many) appropriated images and metaphors to create ‘Christianity’ in the early centuries of the CE.
Wisdom of the Ancients refers therefore to humans as the focus, it is the wisdom of ‘them.’ Seagulls, earthworms, limpets, snails, lions, beavers, mountain goats, whales and spiders have Wisdom of the Ancients and Moderns, because there is no division in time for them, other than how to deal with the modern human behaviour. There is no Collins Dictionary definition of Wisdom of the Ancients (Collins being a factual and historical publishing house with fine post WWII offices in 13-14 St. James Street, London W1, just as the other real publishers also had houses round about so folks could meet and discuss. Internet screens are not based on anything of any real substance, including this one). When a modern human refers to Wisdom of the Ancients, it is therefore a contrived term, a new-agey kind of catch all for high and divine mystical knowledge derived from any tradition you want it to, regardless of your own culture, ethnicity (genetics of the parents), factual knowledge of those other cultures from having spent time on the ground, or how often you might change your mind and pick and mix another one.
That short rant over, and having clarified it to itself, this blog post will start again, using the better term of ‘Knowledge of the Ancients.’
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