Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
When I returned from my first trip to Egypt in May, 1998, I voraciously read everything I could get my hands on. Before I read Serpent in the Sky, I had viewed John's emmy-award-winning documentary, so I was prepared for excellence in thinking and new ideas about ancient Egypt. Although John West writes with great flair and articulation, his summarizing of Schwaller de Lubicz was tough going. West makes some good points of his own, but some of de Lubicz's theories are too esoteric for me. West acknowledges he's not a mathemetician and much of de Lubicz's theories are based on sacred geometry, and was beyond my scope as well. I found that the quotations on the sides of the pages detracted from the main body of work. It's very apparent that West thoroughly loves ancient Egypt and has devoted many years to study, discussion and leading tours there. I had the good fortune to be with him on a second tour to Egypt in Nov, 1998. I enjoyed the foreword by Robert Masters regarding Sekhmet, as I had some extraordinary experiences with Sekhmet myself both while I was in Egypt and when I returned. All in all, I would recommend reading Serpent in the Sky. John still leads tours to Egypt.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
John Anthony West has done the world an enormous service with this bold, brilliance, beautifully written and thoroughly engaging book. He extends the work of Alsation philospher and mathematician, R.A, Schwaller de Lubicz, making it not only comprehensible to the lay reader, but the only plausible explanation for the grandeur and magnificance of ancient Egyptian culture. West is anything but a New Age flake, and he takes some fairly tough-minded positions on the absurdities of modern scholarship. Yet he has the advantage over most orthodox Egyptologists in that he can (a) write -- and write superbly -- and (b) he has a sense of humor, which makes even his most vitriolic attacks on those who persist in ascribing the monuments of Egypt to a race of egomaniacal barbarians the work of a rational giant in a world of Lilliputians. His grasp of the entire sweep of Egyptian history is extraordinary, and his ability to render even the most complex accounts of Pythagorean geometry or symbolism in the hieroglyphs is something every would be academic should take notes on. Besides all this, the book is magnificently illustrated on every page. Without any question, this is one of the best books I have ever read.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The only readable account of Schwaller de Lubicz's esoteric masterpiece "The Temple of Man". With enormous erudition, great style and commendable lucidity, West makes this very difficult work intelligible to the general reader. There's also a chapter on his own theory on the age of the Sphinx.
OK, so he does rant on a bit about the Church of Progress, but some of us happen to share his views!
A must for anyone interested in the esoteric (NOT New Age!) legacy of Ancient Egypt. Those intrepid souls intending to scale the Everest of Schwaller's Temple of Man are recommended to take this guided expedition to base camp first.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
John Anthony West begins with a rant about modern western rationalism, the sort that is usually an attempt to justify shaky logic later on. Fortunately this doesn't materialise, but while the author is extremely well read on Egyptology, (and quotes his sources, which makes a refreshing change from other authors), he has an annoying habit of spouting off on subjects he knows nothing about. One of these is evolution. Anyone who agrees with his charicature of evolutionary theory, should read Stephen Jay Gould immediately. Few if any evolutionary biologists nowadays associate evolution with "progress", and certainly not with "human progress". Complex ("advanced") organisms evolve into simple ("primitive") organisms just as often as the reverse happens. The idea of human beings at the top of the evolutionary tree was an arrogant flight of fancy which died out (among biologists at least)early this century. No one claims that the early E! ! gyptians had "just descended from the trees" as he facetiously claims. Fully modern humans had already existed for the best part of a million years before Egypt arose as a civilisation. A reference to "Neolithic hunter-gatherers" betrays the author's ignorance of human history. Neolithic people have, by definition ceased to be hunter-gatherers. Once West gets onto the subjects he understands, the book improves immensely. His interpretation of Egyptian beliefs and culture, makes a lot more sense than those of any other authors I have read. The refusal of most scholars to examine anything but the most obvious religious symbolism in Egyptian writings, and the consequent tendency to dismiss most Egyptian religion as gobbeldygook is rightly condemned.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Koriel Tannhauser
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
If you are familiar with the work of Schwaller de Lubicz you definitely should read this book. In fact you should probably read this book before you read "The Temple of Man" by Lubicz, as this is a perfect complement of the other book. While reading this book, you can clearly see that author was heavy influenced by his work - but in this case, and I can't really blame him for that (even if you don't know anything about Schwaller de Lubicz, you will after reading this book)..
The author suggests that the Egyptian civilization was a legacy, not a "developmental" creation - and is trying to prove the existence of another great civilization, millennia before the Egyptian one (to put it in simple terms: Egypt didn't "develop" its "civilization", but inherited it from someplace/someone else). At this point he is of course suggesting "Atlantis", but in his own words he doesn't connect it with specific place or location but explain the "concept of Atlantis" as "existence of a civilization sufficiently sophisticated and sufficiently ancient to give rise to the legend".... Read more ›
The author suggests that the Egyptian civilization was a legacy, not a "developmental" creation - and is trying to prove the existence of another great civilization, millennia before the Egyptian one (to put it in simple terms: Egypt didn't "develop" its "civilization", but inherited it from someplace/someone else). At this point he is of course suggesting "Atlantis", but in his own words he doesn't connect it with specific place or location but explain the "concept of Atlantis" as "existence of a civilization sufficiently sophisticated and sufficiently ancient to give rise to the legend".... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
E.A.James Swagger
John Anthony West has pioneered an alternative research approach to Ancient Egypt, in a prolific manner with this book. Read more
Published 1 month ago by E.A.James Swagger
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shemsu-Hor
I have waited a long time to find a writer who combines great clarity of thought with an equal knowledge of his subject. I am indebted to him.
Published 1 month ago by Miss J E Harris
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not for the faint hearted
I would not call this an easy read, but do hang on in there it is well worth it. This is a well researched and consolidated body of work based on the work of an ignored academic. Read more
Published 3 months ago by F. M. Taylor
5.0 out of 5 stars
this guy rocks
Over the years I have acquired quite a number of books about Egypt but this without doubt is the best informed - drawing heavily on the work of Schwaller de Lubicz - but unlike the... Read more
Published 14 months ago by H. W. E.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good, bad and ugly
"Serpent in the Sky" is primarily concerned with popularizing the otherwise inaccessible work of R.A. Read more
Published on 14 Jun 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended
Though not an easy read, this book is quite rewarding. It makes a nice companion volume to Graham Hancock's "Fingerprints of the Gods."
Published on 3 Mar 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
A really good read.
Having recently studied about the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians, I found the book well researched and agree with the author's theories. Read more
Published on 24 Sep 1998
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