Three primary symbols occur throughout the story of The Golden Vine. (There are others, but we think you'll have more fun uncovering them for yourself.) Each primary symbol appears three significant times, each one of them a major turning point in the story. The three symbols are also associated with colors, which represent specific forces or virtues.

In the layered symbology of The Golden Vine, colors and symbols are also linked with the three oracles that Alexander visits. All three oracles actually existed, providing cryptic prophecies that common people and kings alike struggled to understand.

The oracle at Dodona
A temple dedicated to an ancient Earth goddess that was later consecrated to the Greek god Zeus, the Dodona oracle was tended by priestesses that always went barefoot so as not to lose contact with the earth, which they considered to be the source of their power. Prophecies were conveyed to the priestesses by means of enormous bronze jars that caught the breeze, and by the whispering of the wind in the giant oak trees that surrounded the temple compound. The Dodona temple was located near Epirus, the home kingdom of Alexander's mother Olympias.

The Delphic Oracle
The famed oracle at Delphi, like Dodona, was ancient before the widespread worship of the Greek gods. The channel of divine wisdom at Delphi was a woman given the title Pythia, after the great serpent deity worshipped at the temple before it was consecrated to the Greek god Apollo. The Pythia was a trance medium, carefully selected by the priests of Delphi to channel the voice of the temple's deity. Her trance is thought to have been induced by vapors emanating from a chasm in the earth, a feature of the temple complex from its inception.

The oracle of Zeus-Amon at Siwah
Considered to be a twin of the Dodona oracle, Siwah was also a place more ancient than the patron god celebrated there during Alexander's era. The ritual at Siwah was elaborate: a strange idol, golden and in the shape of a stylized navel, was brought with great reverence into a round chamber. The walls of this chamber were covered with hieroglyphics (faithfully reproduced in The Golden Vine), the cipher of the oracle. The idol was situated in an immense golden boat, which was lifted up onto the shoulders of the temple acolytes. The bearers claimed to feel a specific pressure on their shoulders, causing them to turn the boat, like the needle of a compass. As it turned, the front of the boat pointed to specific hieroglyphs on the walls of the chamber, and a message was constructed by arranging the symbols in sequence, rather like a giant Ouija board. The honor of receiving prophecies from this oracle was reserved for the highest nobility; when Alexander visited Siwah, he had just been crowned the Pharaoh of Egypt.