Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt Kindle Edition

I thoroughly enjoyed this book... and when I say thoroughly I mean THOROUGHLY! I will absolutely never think about numbers the same way again. No joke--reading this was genuinely life changing for me in that regard. Although I lingered on the number sections for a particularly long time, I found the rest of the book just as interesting and well written. West sorted through some rather dense stuff and presented the information in a very concise and thought-provoking way. This is a gem that I know I will pull off the shelf time and again either to reference various sections for their relevance in other lines of research or just to enjoy in its entirety. To put this review in a fair context, I am interested in all things ancient, with a special emphasis on Egyptian culture and art, but I am often left unsatisfied with mainstream Egyptology. I tend to be open minded when approaching new material, but I am also the academic type who follows up with additional research into sources that are used etc. I am still spiraling down that rabbit hole...but I am really enjoying the journey. I rely heavily on reviews but rarely write them, so I hope I have helped a fellow review-guided shopper to take the plunge.

An invaluable body of knowledge. West carefully and meticulously (and humorously) details a revisioned model of ancient egypt. The symbolist and esoteric approach can be attributed to the mathematician, philosopher and studying alchemist, R.A Shwaller de Lubicz. A man who's work never came to be appreciated or even challenged by mainstream academia...which is truly shameful. West brings Shwallers ideas to a layman audience so that these concepts can be digested more easily. As West says "Shwaller is meant to be srudied, this book is meant to be read". I did both and will continue to.. this book is worth many many reads.Our systems of science (which JAW coins "The Church of Progress") painfully fails century after century to acknowledge outside perspectives and ideas that contradict the orthodox view. Egyptology being amongst the most dangerous of all established ideologies of science, is dogmatic and fearful of any ideas disrupting their timelines and beliefs. Just look at Zawi Hawass (the most famous man in Egypt) and his knee jerk and zealous attitude and you'll understand what I mean.For amateurs and perhaps scholars and advanced thinkers, appreciates of Egypt, this book could serve as a critically important, highly readable source of wisdom and understanding. It doesn't take a genius to understand these things.. it only takes ones head to be removed from the sand.RIP JAW, may his work influence our generation so that we can carry this message into a more meaningful future.. without people like JAW, true heretics to the establishment, our brains and hearts would be buried in ideas that violate our purpose here on earth.

An excellently responsible ...and academically successful formulation of esoteric wisdom.I found this theory extremely possible and powerful, I am sufficiently convinced that the ancient considerations found within the pages of SERPENTS IN THE SKY validates S Lubicz's efficiency during his campaign in Egypt's mysterious culture and architecture is unparalleled, and I am very surprised that more academics haven't yet invested more stock in his hypothesis... absolutely dumbfounded by modern status quo of nearly all universities and foundation. Either they DO know and are guilty of conspiring to hide the truth for some bizarre reason which would shock the Hell out of civilization (of which I am 100% certain, hint : "ASTRONOMICAL CYCLES !"), or worse still, they really are blissfully unaware and ignorant of the CYCLE itself, which in any case... It is up to the individual to discover how and what to believe for themselves. John Anthony West deserves great credit for creating such a eye opening experience of our ancestors innermost thoughts, feelings and epiphanies. "... This calls for Wisdom...", "Let Those with Eyes and Ears..." , (See and Hear)... the Voice of mother Ma'at/Shekinah, and Father/One/Ein Soph !

This book was written by what I call a “True Believer”, and I have no problem with that. I was originally fine with West’s non-conventional approach to things. Being a Mystic myself I know that things have to be looked at in a way different from the conventional; sometimes that is necessary. This is the way to discover the real meaning of things.The author does not believe that Egyptian hieroglyphics should be interpreted literally, but rather symbolically; and he draws a parallel to Pythagoras’ concept of the symbolic meaning of numbers.The author maintains that the wisdom of Egypt is a carry-over from a prior, lost civilization. Perhaps!If you are seeking to read about “Egyptian Wisdom Literature”, this is not the book for you. West seems to beat around the bush for ages before getting to the point. When he goes on to criticize 20th-21st Century art and artists (and I’m one myself), he has overstepped his bounds and doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I must also mention that he makes several mistakes. I won’t enumerate them all here, but they multiply as I make my way through the book.Later sections in this book are better written (he seems to finally be getting to the point), but it is too late. It takes him forever to get to his main arguments.I was searching for “Egyptian Wisdom Literature”, as I said (little, if any, of it appears), and this just wasn’t it. Even if he’s right, and he probably is, he wanders all over the place before getting to his point.It took until p172 to get to a reasonable argument, and it doesn’t matter that I eventually agreed with him. A book explaining S. Lubicz’ findings in simpler terms would have done more good.I do want to say this: as an artist I can testify that the current head of the Sphinx is small and out of proportion. It just doesn’t look right.

I was really disappointed by this book. I have always been a great admirer of John Anthony West whom I have always found intellectually challenging and highly articulate whether or not one agrees with him or, indeed, other "alternative Egyptologists". However, the book is incredibly confusingly laid out with the text being constantly interrupted with quotations from other writers which do not seem to have much relevance to his writing which, of itself, heavy in style. Actually, I am inclined to agree with much of his analysis of the Egyptian's symbolist philosophy and their union of all forms of learning. I also am inclined to agree with analysis put forward by people like Robert Bauval and Graham Hancock. The issues that I wold like to see addressed are "why";"what the impact was on Egyptian society";"why if they had a superior form of knowledge, technology, society and so forth did alternatives - essentially the same as our own - triumph" and "why them as opposed to other early civilisation such as the Hindus Valley?"By the way, if this is supposed to be an intelligible exposition of Schwaller de Lubicz's pioneering work, goodness knows what Schwaller's text is like. Obscurantism does not help the cause.

Poor print quality and photo reproduction. Looks like a photocopy of a previous edition. Typical print on demand quality which should be stipulated in the description to save customers wasting their time. Returned. Hoping to track down a previous edition of this scholarly work.Star rating is for the content.

John Anthony West has pioneered an alternative research approach to Ancient Egypt, in a prolific manner with this book. The beauty of `Serpent in the Sky' is that he delivers both the mainstream and alternative viewpoint side by side in the book, through factual and anecdotal articles. The reader is in the driving seat all the way as no provocative ideas are forced, instead a well thought out presented case with all the facts from both sides are there to choose from. This psychologically intuitive approach leaves the reader very satisfied. West also does a great service to the work of R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz, something that will most certainly stand the test of time.E.A. James Swagger, author of `The Newgrange Sirius Mystery' and `The Megalith Acoustic Mystery'.

This is a triumph. Schwaller de Lubicz clearly understood the Egyptians better than anyone perhaps with one exception, JA West. This man's dedication to recalling the knowledge of the last great civilisation must not be forgotten. Buy it, absorb it and let it guide you on the path of enlightenment.

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 clumsy, sometimes unintelligible translations of Scwaller by the VandenBroecks, 'Serpent' is written in beautiful, clear English. A real gem.