Dusseldorf/1-egypt.rtf
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1. Ancient Egypt, 2500 BCE

All references in t his section are to (West, 1995).

We take seriously the possibility that ancient Egyptian cultural began around 10,000 BCE. Thus, tentatively, we may regard it is the Ur source for the soul concepts of the Western Esoteric Tradition, including the Greek and the Indian roots. We began our story of the history (as opposed to the prehistory) of the soul in 2500 BCE, with the Great Pyramid of Cheops.

"This world is alive in its entirety and infused with divine spirit." [p. 46]

Spiritual elements or bodies: the ba, ka, and several others.
Ba, or soul, is "the animating principle, the vital or divine spark that vivifies all sentient creatures."  [p. 63]
Ka, the double, is 'the power that fixes and makes individual the animating spirit that is ba." [p. 64]

"If during life on earth, the ka has degenerated to the point where it has been divested of all virtue, of everything truly human, then it does not reincarnate, and the ka disperses into the various lower animal and vegetal realms. ... It may be this understanding that lies behind the curious doctrine of metempsychosis in which the deceased may be reborn as an animal or even a bush or tree." [p. 64]

The recent studies of the pyramid of Cheops, and the pyramid texts, give an idea of the journey of the soul in the reincarnation process.

"After death, the Pharoah's soul was said to become a star, to join with Orion in the sky." [p. 452] Alexander Badawy determined in 1964 that the two shafts cut 200 feet from the King's chamber to the surface were aimed at the Pole star, and Orion, in the year 2600 BCE. And according to Robert Baumol, the two shafts from the Queen's chamber were aimed at Orion and Siriius in 2450 BCE. [p. 453] The supposition is that these shafts were to facilitate the journey of the Pharoah's soul after death and internment of his body in the pyramid, to its home in the sky.

Reference

West, John Anthony, The Traveler's Key to Ancient Egypt, A Guide to the Sacred Places of Ancient Egypt, 2nd edn. Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 1985/1995. RHA: DT60 W54 1995.

This is a comprehensive summary of Egyptology from the new perspective.