Shamanic Wisdom in the Pyramid Texts: The Mystical Tradition of Ancient Egypt

Naydler, Jeremy

ISBN 10: 0892817550 / ISBN 13: 9780892817559

Published by Inner Traditions, Rochester, 2005

Size: 8vo 7 3/4 - 9 3/4". xiv + 466pp. Binding firm, spine creased. Edge marked. Occasional creasing to page corners. Damp staining to lower margin of prelims. Covers slightly creased. Profusely illustrated. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilogram. Category: Magic, Paranormal & Occult; Egypt; Ancient (BC); Religion & Theology. ISBN: 0892817550. ISBN/EAN: 9780892817559. Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 64511. Seller Inventory # 64511

Synopsis:

A radical reinterpretation of the Pyramid Texts as shamanic mystical wisdom rather than funerary rituals

• Reveals the mystical nature of Egyptian civilization denied by orthodox Egyptologists

• Examines the similarity between the pharaoh’s afterlife voyage and shamanic journeying

• Shows shamanism to be the foundation of the Egyptian mystical tradition

To the Greek philosophers and other peoples of the ancient world, Egypt was regarded as the home of a profound mystical wisdom. While there are many today who still share that view, the consensus of most Egyptologists is that no evidence exists that Egypt possessed any mystical tradition whatsoever. Jeremy Naydler’s radical reinterpretation of the Pyramid Texts--the earliest body of religious literature to have survived from ancient Egypt--places these documents into the ritual context in which they belong.

Until now, the Pyramid Texts have been viewed primarily as royal funerary texts that were used in the liturgy of the dead pharaoh or to aid him in his afterlife journey. This emphasis on funerary interpretation has served only to externalize what were actually experiences of the living, not the dead, king. In order to understand the character and significance of the extreme psychological states the pharaoh experienced--states often involving perilous encounters with alternate realities--we need to approach them as spiritual and religious phenomena that reveal the extraordinary possibilities of human consciousness. It is the shamanic spiritual tradition, argues Naydler, that is the undercurrent of the Pyramid Texts and that holds the key to understanding both the true nature of these experiences and the basis of ancient Egyptian mysticism.

About the Author: Jeremy Naydler, is a philosopher who has for many years been interested in the religious life of ancient cultures, receiving his doctorate in religious studies at the University of Kent, Canterbury. He is the author of Temple of the Cosmos: The Ancient Egyptian Experience of the Sacred and Goethe on Science. He lives in Oxford, England.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Shamanic Wisdom in the Pyramid Texts: The ...
Publisher: Inner Traditions, Rochester
Publication Date: 2005
Binding: Softcover
Condition: Good
Edition: First Edition.