Everyday as I browse social media, I come across endless amounts of inspirational quotes. Marilyn Monroe, Henry David Thoreau, John Lennon, the voice actors from Rocket Power: their words have lasted through the years and continue to influence the hearts and minds of young people from all reaches of the internet. But there is one amalgamation of words that has stood out to me as the most prominent, the most life-changing, and the most powerful.
I heard them for the first time as I stood outside the Letter Letter Letter fraternity house. It was my first night of college and I heard that there was going to be an engaging lecture at around 11:47 P.M. at this particular fraternity. The advertisements for the lecture stated that it would center on the parallels between ancient mythology (Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, etc.) and contemporary mythology (superheroes, Star Wars, global warming, etc.). This, being a topic that makes my heart beat faster than a june bug on a Mississippi racehorse, sounded engaging enough to bring me out on a Friday night.
However, my excitement abated when I arrived at the door to find an individual with a very cool hat standing in my way. His hat was nice, but his face was mean; I didn't know what to think of him! Walking up to him, notepad in hand, I asked him why I couldn't get into the lecture. "Who do you know here?" was his response. Those words, like a gatorade-tipped dart, pierced my heart and altered my electrolyte levels. Initially, I thought the doorman might be a positivist who rejected the idea that mythology can useful or beneficial in any context. After further thought, however, I realized that this particular fraternity had a notorious and strict no-positivism policy.
But suddenly, it dawned on me. This young man with the cool hat…he was the lecturer! The five words he uttered from his mouth, I soon found out, were passed down over millennia from an ancient order. It is said that when Hercules begged Apollo for forgiveness, the oracle of Delphi looked Hercules in the eye and whispered "Who do you know here?"
Where did I find this myth? That's not relevant; just know that it is said. Ever since the atonement of Hercules, this mantra has been used to invoke the god(s) to whom one prays. Researching further, I discovered that many cultures and belief systems developed this word combination independently. How neat! Interestingly enough, a few months ago I was passing a Buddhist monastery in Thailand and I saw them bowing in prayer. And yes, as expected, every single one of them was chanting Who Do You Know Here? over and over and over.
Upon my return to the U.S., I began using the invocation myself…and boy does it work! I've said it to my parents, friends, enemies, baristas. I won't try to convince you that it works, but I will tell you a brief story about my experience with it.
A few weeks ago, I returned to the fraternity house from which I had been turned away. My hands were trembling and my heart was pounding, yet I pressed onward. A different frat star stood in the door this time, but he wore the same hat I had seen two years earlier. When I tried to enter, he said the words I had been expecting, but this time I responded differently. After he repeated himself twice, I let out a great sigh. Then, pointing to his heart, I opened my mouth and said, "Who do you know here?"
