Mythology, Cosmology, and Symbolism of Ancient Egypt

9142464869?profile=originalEgyptologist Dr. Edmund Meltzer had a predilection for ancient things and the distant past from a very early age. His long and illustrious career includes work in Egypt as a site supervisor on an important archeological excavation, as well as being a researcher, teacher, fellow, journal editor, professor, and tour lecturer.

When it comes to history, mythology, and archetypes, there are many variations of the fundamental idea of death as a precursor to rebirth in ancient Egyptian religion and symbolism, Meltzer notes. The sky-goddess Nut, often shown on the inside surface of the coffin lid, arching over the dead body, was believed to be instrumental in bringing about the person’s rebirth just as the newborn sun emerges from the womb of Nut every morning. In the Osiris myth, the death and dismemberment of Osiris precedes his reintegration and resurrection as the king of the Underworld. The tomb itself is fraught with significance. It is liminal space, a part of both this and the other world.

C. G. Jung as well as his colleagues, Marie-Louise von Franz and Edward Edinger among others, all explored aspects of Egyptian cosmology and symbolism from a depth psychological context. In a recent written exchange with me, Meltzer makes psychological correlations to the profound religious and spiritual traditions of ancient Egypt, which includes an exploration of magic, ritual, alchemy, language, hieroglyphs, and the dynamics of divine-human relations –as well as the link between ancient Egypt and its modern-day iteration.

Read the the full interview here

ABOUT THE HOSTS/PRESENTERS
BONNIE BRIGHT, Ph.D.,(Founder of Depth Psychology Alliance), is a Transpersonal Soul-Centered Coach certified via Alef Trust/Middlesex University, and a certified Archetypal Pattern Analyst®, and has trained extensively in Holotropic Breathwork™ and the Enneagram. She has trained with African elder, Malidoma Some'; with Transpersonal Pioneer Stan Grof; and with Jungian analyst, Jerome Bernstein, among others.Her dissertation focused on a symbolic look at Colony Collapse Disorder and what the mass vanishing of honeybees means to us both personally and as a collective. Bonnie’s path to soul began with a spontaneous mystical experience in 2006, and she continues her quest for awakening each day with a sense of joy, freedom, and gratitude at the magic afoot in the world.

JAMES R. NEWELL, Ph.D., MTS, (Director of Depth Psychology Alliance) earned his Ph.D. in History and Critical Theories of Religion from Vanderbilt University (2007), and holds a master's degree in pastoral counseling and theology from the Vanderbilt University Divinity School (2001). James is also the director of the Depth Psychology Academy, offering college-level courses in Jungian and depth psychology. James has spent much of his working life as a professional musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist with interests in jazz, blues, folk, world, and devotional music. Since his youth, James has worked with a variety of blues greats including John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, Jr. Wells, Hubert Sumlin, Big Joe Turner, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and others.