The Serpent Myths of Ancient Egypt author: William Ricketts Cooper IBIS Press/Nicolas-Hays, Inc. distributed by Red Wheel/Weiser LLC 2005 ISBN #0-89254-139-3 William Ricketts Cooper was one of the founders of the Society of Biblical Archeology, and also served as its secretary. The Serpent Myths of Ancient Egypt was presented as a treatise to the Victoria Institute in the late 1800's, and was the first of five books authored by Mr. Cooper. The current issuing of this work includes the discussion that followed his presentation, remarks by Dr. S. Birch, M. Renouf, M. Lenormant, S. M. Drach and other Egyptologists, as well as an index. The focus of this book is on the serpent myth and ideology of ancient Egypt, especially as it applies to the Ritual of the Dead. In many ways this is a specialized topic, of interest only to those who delve into Egyptian mythology in general, or serpent mythology in particular. However, it will also appeal to those of us interested in symbolism, religion in general, ceremonial magic, and Western Hermeticism. To give you an example of how this book can fit into anyone's life, I will show you how it applies to me. The first serpent related symbol for me is the Caduceus - the staff entwined by two snakes that is the symbol for the medical profession. Not only did I work in the medical field (as a laboratory technologist), but I spent over ten years in the U.S. Army working in this field, where the Caduceus was part of my military insignia, and therefore my daily life. The next strongest symbol for me comes from Western Hermeticism - the serpent surrounding the Orphic egg. Here the Orphic egg symbolizes inert matter, vivified by the demiurge. Along this line we also have the image of the serpent with its tail in its mouth - a symbol of totality, of endings and new beginnings. As Mr. Cooper relates this image, all things generated by Divine Providence in the world undergo a corruption into it again. The serpent also figures strongly in my early religious training - as part of the myth of Adam and Eve, and the Garden of Eden. It was interesting to move on from this point and see how, in Egyptian mythology, the serpent is seen as both protector and destroyer. Throughout this small (85 page)book, there are illustrations (126, to be exact!) of the serpent myth and symbology from inscriptions, papyri, and museum collections. Many of these illustrations will be things that the reader has seen before, in whole or in part, so they are not hard to connect to. There is a full listing in the beginning of the book as to what each illustration represents, and what page it can be found on. The first illustration is of the deity Amun-Ra, showing the goddesses Mersokar and Eileitliyra in the form of snakes on either side of the doorway. Mr. Cooper goes into the three serpents that appear to have been particular to Egypt and North Africa: the venomous Naja, which was assumed to be the emblem of divine and sacro-regal sovereignty; the Asp, a small and deadly viper; and a large and unidentified species of coluber, which was associated with spiritual, and occasionally physical, evil. The illustrations of winged serpents were of great interest to me, as they represent not actual creatures, but the active and passive properties of the divine in one single impersonation. There are many more symbolic illustrations, such as the one featuring Krishna entangled in the folds of the great serpent Caliya, who is biting Krishna's heel. Here we see, in symbolic form, an incarnate deity waiting for divine assistance from Indra to enable him to overcome the enemy. The material in this book is well presented, and easy to understand. It may take some time to go through, as the ideology may or may not be familiar to the reader, but the end result is a grounded understanding not only of serpent mythology, and the attendant ancient Egyptian beliefs, but of the thought processes of the individuals undergoing these studies at the time this book was written. (Mr. Cooper was a fabric designer and home missionary before he became an amateur Egyptologist.) At the end of the book is an Appendix with the names of serpent and serpent-formed Egyptian Deities, along with English translations of the epithets applied to the various serpents in the Ritual of the Dead. This is followed by the discussion that took place after Mr. Cooper's presentation to the Victoria Institute. Here is where we get a "real world" feel for the material, as if we were part of the audience. A good example here would be the very first question that was asked (by Rev. J. James): "I should like to ask Mr. Cooper one question: In what character is the Ritual of the Dead written - in hieroglyphics, hieratic or demotic?" No, I won't tell you the answer - it is better that you read the information for yourself! I found this book to be a good addition to my library, a good representation of material from this time, and a good reference source. © March 2005 Bonnie Cehovet Personal Lifestyle Reading - I offer a Personal Lifestyle Reading using Tarot that looks at past, present and future influences in your life, at the energies that are currently available to help you along your path, and at those energies that are appearing as challanges. My goal is to offer you insight into your decision making process, as well as tools that you can use to both better understand your path and make conscious, choice centered decisions. Home Personal Empowerment links Personal Empowerment articles View My Guestbook Sign My Guestbook Graphics by Art for the web