“NAVEL OF THE EARTH” Vs. “PILLARS OF HUMANITY”

So, I’ve recently published “Navel of the Earth: the ancient wisdom of Delphi”, which is an Englsih translation and commentary on the Delphic Admonitions. “Pillars of humanity”, published in 2013, is also a translation and commentary on the Delphic Admonitions; which begs the question: what is the difference between the two and which one should you get?

To answer the later, I would have to say “both”. Because how else is a struggling writer supposed to feed three dogs, a homicidal parrot and a depressive goldfish?

On a more serious note, let me start by saying that “Navel of the Earth” and “Pillars of humanity” are not by any stretch of the imagination the same book.

They only share a common theme – yet the material contained therein is entirely different.

“Navel of the Earth” is, by far, a more complete and thoroughly-researched work than “Pillars of humanity”. It contains a selection of 120 of the most principle Delphic Admonitions while “Pillars of Humanity” contains a translation of all 148 of them, found in various sources, many of which are merely repetitions or rephrased versions of previous admonitions.

“Navel of the Earth” was written with a more strict scientific approach in mind, utilizing a multitude of references from classical literature to illustrate each commentary. “Pillars of humanity”, in all honesty, began as a blog post which got freakishly out of hand (size-wise) and, therefore, is written in a more subjective style with the references often coming from what I could remember off the top of my head.

“Pillars of humanity” does not contain the appendix with the admonitions written in ancient Greek due to a technical glitch / problem of communication with the publisher. “Navel of the Earth”, on the other hand, does have it, and in good polytonic order nonetheless.

“Navel of the Earth” has a much lengthier introduction, touching upon many fascinating and mysterious aspects surrounding the long history of the Delphi temple complex, its Mystery School and theological traditions propagated there.

Last but not least, “Navel of the Earth” is available in print format (trade paperback) which, in my experience, makes it far easier to leaf through and return to the passage of your choice for future reference: a feature quite essential in this sort of book.

In some ways, you may consider “Pillars of humanity” as the “quick version” or “summary draft” of “Navel of the Earth”. Both works have their merits and weaknesses, depending on what the reader is hoping.