2nd in our series on symbolism from the annals of the AUM Esoteric Study Center.

Notice the dates on these pages from my artist’s sketchbook journal: July 25, 1969, with further notes made in October of 1970. This research appears on the LIGHT bus Woodstock VW Bus, but was developed even further in my next two works, the Apocalypse Mural and the Lord’s Prayer Mural, both at the Johns Hopkins University. The Apocalypse was recently renovated and is open for viewing daily, and at 2,700 square feet, it has to be entered into to be believed. However, this 360 panorama tour of the mural prepared by Hopkins in 2015 is pretty amazing in its own right.

I was, and still am, fascinated by alphabets of all kinds (including alleged alien alphabets like the ones summarized in Nancy du Tertre’s terrific book, How to Talk to an Alien). At this time I was immersed in the study of Egyptian Hieroglyphs found in the Book of the Dead. On the left side page are my drawings as I tried to grasp the foundation of the alphabet. The page on the right shows me trying out a few sentences.

There are so many reasons to believe that the establishmentarian academics in Egyptian antiquities have not translated all the hieroglyphic language accurately. One thing is for certain: there are higher levels of meaning than the standard textbook versions, and for a refreshing look at an extraordinary new way of translating the sources and meaning of Egyptian symbols, I strongly recommend Jonathan Meader and Barbara Demeter’s book Ancient Egyptian Symbols: 50 New Discoveries.
More about the Apocalypse Mural here.