Daemons And Spirits In Ancient Egypt

This book is about the weird and wonderful lesser-known ‘spirit’ entities of ancient Egypt –daemons, the mysterious and often fantastical creatures of the Egyptian ‘Otherworld’ – and the closely related spirits of the dead, which together conjure the excitement of all things otherworldly. Daemons and spirits are generally defined in Egyptology as creatures not of this world, which do not have their own cult centre, and both groups are frequently listed together in protective spells. This volume explores the general nature of daemons and spirits in ancient Egypt and discusses a selection in more detail: it uses artefacts from Wales’s important collection of Egyptian objects at the Egypt Centre at Swansea University, in which are to be found a dwarf daemon with sticking out tongue; several guardian daemons of the Otherworld; creatures who are part snake and part feline; spirits of deceased humans; and a Greek satyr Silenus, companion to the wine god Dionysus.

A mosaic of details and charming tales, an intriguing portrait of life in the oldest of civilizations.

The two primary elements were those of darkness and light: Sut was the power of darkness, Horus the power of light. In one representation the two elements were imaged by means of the black bird of Sut and the white bird, or golden hawk, of Horus. Thus we can identify two elemental powers, as old as night and day, which are primeval in universal mythology; and these two powers, or animistic souls, were divinized as the two gods Sut and Horus with the two birds of darkness and light, the black vulture and the gold hawk depicted back to back as their two representative types or personal totems. from Elemental and Ancestral Spirits, or The Gods and the Glorified It goes unappreciated by modern Egyptologists, but it is embraced by those who savor the concept of a hidden history of humanity, and those who approach all human knowledge from the perspective of the esoteric. Gerard Massey 's massive Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World first published in 1907 and the crowning achievement of the self-taught scholar redefines the roots of Christianity via Egypt, proposing that Egyptian mythology was the basis for Jewish and Christian beliefs. Here, Cosimo proudly presents Book 3 of Ancient Egypt, in which Massey explains how the original elemental spirits of early humans were transformed into deities, and how the concept of a soul developed from animalistic representations of natural forces. Peculiar and profound, this work will intrigue and delight readers of history, religion, and mythology. British author GERALD MASSEY (1828 1907) published works of poetry, spiritualism, Shakespearean criticism, and theology, but his best-known works are in the realm of Egyptology, including A Book of the Beginnings and The Natural Genesis.

Provides definitive coverage of the ancient Egyptian gods, mythological figures, religious cults, priesthoods, and esoteric practices and beliefs

First published in 2005. This expansive and fascinating treatment of ancient Egyptian mythology and its influence on the traditions that followed from it includes explorations of sign-language in mythological representation, totemism, fetishism, spirits and Gods, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and Egyptian wisdom in the Hebrew Genesis. Readers will enjoy the wealth of information offered by Massey, as well as his clear and readable style.

For millennia, people have universally engaged in ecstatic experience as an essential element in ritual practice, spiritual belief and cultural identification. This volume offers the first systematic investigation of its myriad roles and manifestations in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East. The twenty-nine contributors represent a broad range of scholarly disciplines, seeking answers to fundamental questions regarding the patterns and commonalities of this vital aspect of the past. How was the experience construed and by what means was it achieved? Who was involved? Where and when were rites carried out? How was it reflected in pictorial arts and written records? What was its relation to other components of the sociocultural compact? In proposing responses, the authors draw upon a wealth of original research in many fields, generating new perspectives and thought-provoking, often surprising, conclusions. With their abundant cross-cultural and cross-temporal references, the chapters mutually enrich each other and collectively deepen our understanding of ecstatic phenomena thousands of years ago. Another noteworthy feature of the book is its illustrative content, including commissioned reconstructions of ecstatic scenarios and pairings of works of Bronze Age and modern psychedelic art. Scholars, students and other readers interested in antiquity, comparative religion and the social and cognitive sciences will find much to explore in the fascinating realm of ecstatic experience in the ancient world.