One of the most fascinating and brilliant researchers and alternative historians, on the ancient Egyptian world, simply must be John Anthony West. His work has truly revitalized many people’s understanding of ancient Egypt, a subject which is often clouded by the uninspired and often dim witted theories of the modern-day quackademics in the field of Egyptology.

West is well known for his work with actor Charleton Heston and geologist Robert Schoch on Mystery of the Sphinx; a documentary which details his theory that, due to evidence of water erosion on the Sphinx, this monument must be thousands of years older than is currently believed by the academic Egyptologists. He also made a fantastic documentary called Magical Egypt, which is a Symbolist view of the ancient Egyptian world.

This alternative perspective, espoused by J.A. West, operates under the premise that the ancient Egyptians can do a far better job of telling their own history, in their own words, than the contemporary researchers. These academics largely ignore the Egyptian writings as fanciful myths and fail to grasp the true meaning of many of the temples and artifacts they study. Read the rest of this entry »

This video features John Anthony West speaking at a conference; it only recently became available on the web. The video was excerpted from a conference called Return to the Source : Rediscovering Lost Knowledge and Ancient Wisdom.

In the lecture, he explains his theories on ancient Egypt, detailing the manner by which his truly independent perspective was developed: his influences, experiences and how his understanding of symbolist Egypt evolved over the many years of his career.

Architecture does in stone what music does in sound; in other words, its visual vibrations that are affecting us. We’re inside the symphony, as it were, when we’re inside a sacred space. We’re being affected emotionally by the vibrational nature of that particular building.

So when we go into an Egyptian temple, we are resonating to its harmonies and proportions and so-on. The great sages of the past understood that each of the cosmic principles, which are the gods as it were. The gods are not some strange animal headed beings, they are the embodiments of cosmic principles and those cosmic principles are inextricably related to certain interplay of numbers which give rise to geometry, harmony, proportion and measure.

When you know the secrets of the numbers and secrets of the principles, you are able to produce a building that will evoke within the emotional center of the beholder, that particular principle.

–John Anthony West

The artifacts and monuments of ancient Egypt have a significance that goes far beyond the “funerary” meaning that is conventionally applied to them. Many great temples, such as the Temple of Luxor, actually represent the growth of man in four dimensions; they also represent the growth of the Universe through time. One of the most interesting aspects of the Luxor temple, is how it shows the mathematical relation between Human and Universe.

When you look deeply into the story in the words of the ancient Egyptians; and you take them at their word, instead of the word of an outside “academic” observer, you see a completely different perspective of these people and their culture.

The symbolist interpretation of ancient Egyptian history is a rich and vast web of intricacy, which creates a true understanding of what this culture was trying to accomplish.

Their goal was not to preserve their physical bodies for all of time; instead it was to become attuned to the divinity within themselves, by living a life in touch with divine principles. Then they will have significantly enhanced their awareness, so they can move towards higher forms of being in the after-life.

The following is a selection from Magical Egypt, a documentary by John Anthony West, in which he unravels the mysteries of ancient Egypt and the Mystery Schools, from a symbolist perspective.

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The psychic reading, given in 1932, on the Sphinx and Great Pyramid at Gizeh, is one of the most fascinating readings about the origins of the ancient world. There are many perplexing mysteries concerning the construction and purpose of the monuments of ancient Egypt and South America.

Atlantean origin of these peoples seems to explain the sudden appearance of great monuments and high culture in both Egypt and South America. It seems highly unlikely that the people there, who had been living in mud brick huts, could advance to a higher level of mathematical, architectural and esoteric understanding than our own culture with no antecedent steps of development. Read the rest of this entry »