Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A translation of Schwaller de Lubicz, but not a light read, 21 Feb 1999
By A Customer
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.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well researched but occasionally flawed, 17 Jul 1998
By A Customer
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. The speculations about the sphinx are true testable hypotheses, and this is one of the book's high points. Other explanations are also considered. While one theme of the book is the mathematics manifested in Egy! ! ptian architecture, it avoids "pyramidology".
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buy it Now!, 22 Feb 2000
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.
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