The mythology of ancient Egypt occupies a somewhat prominent place in certain esoteric circles. The subject is vast but here we will only briefly summarize popular beliefs and various modern esoteric claims as seen through Laura Knight-Jadczyk’s and the FOTCM’s findings.
There seems to have been an Egyptian renaissance starting in the mid 19th century. This was heralded by books such as Helena Blavatzky’s Isis Unveiled, the rise of theosophy and other new interest in the occult. Also, hieroglyphic writing had been deciphered recently, in 1828 and there was a generally high level of archeological interest in Egypt.
Against this backdrop, Aleister Crowley received his Liber Legis in 1904 through the mediumship of his then wife in Cairo, after conducting rituals in the Great Pyramid. This book claiming the coming of the Age of Horus is among the more blatant expositions of the philosophy of service to self.
Somewhat later, Rudolf Steiner wrote about Egyptian mysteries, pointing out that the spirit which guided the ancient Egyptians was making a new appearance on the world stage. This was seen in the increased materialism coupled with rapid advance in technology. After all, the Egyptians were highly materialistic, as symbolized by their preservation of the physical body after death, for one thing.
Somewhat later, the well known synarchist R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz lived in Egypt for 15 years, studying the temple sites in situ. He became the grandfather of modern alternative Egyptology. This alternative Egyptology suggests that the pyramids are far more ancient than the mainstream estimate of 4500 years, instead a figure of 12500 years would be closer. Much speculation focuses on the layout of the pyramid complex paralleling the Orion constellation and other matters of astronomical alignment.
At present, Egyptian ideas have their own, somewhat surprising following, as documented in the book The Stargate Conspiracy.
Accomplishments of the Egyptian culture seem generally overrated in popular discourse. Otto Neugebauer in his classic work on exact sciences in antiquity dispels much of this myth. While Many civilizations contemporary with Egypt made many advances in astronomy and mathematics, Egypt was relatively stagnant. Also Egyptian art shows little change over the millennia, except maybe for the fluke of Akhenaten. The pyramids remain a major accomplishment but it appears that these could be much older and not directly tied to ancient Egyptian culture as generally known. Maybe much of the fascination of Schwaller de Lubicz and other synarchists with Egypt lies with the fact that the Egyptians could maintain a closed theocratic society with little change for an astoundingly long time, probably even much longer than reported in conventional history.
In terms of mainstream history, much of ancient chronology is based on Egyptian chronology. The Egyptian chronology on the other hand is based on little more than assumption and a need not to rock the academic boat, as explained in depth in Secret History. We do not have sufficient space for restating the arguments and the reader is referred to the source.
Isaac Newton is known to have had a hand in establishing the conventional chronology of history, also including Egyptian times, generally revising dates to being more recent than previously thought. if there is a falsification of history for the purpose of control over man’s tradition and mental model, then falsification of Egyptology is a fulcrum on which the rest of the edifice lies.
Egypt’s influence on esoteric culture is seen throughout Western occult tradition. The book, The Zelator, is one source which discusses this. The archetype of the slain and risen god is seen in the Egyptian myth of Osiris, which according to many was the archetypal template for the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Also genesis from an act of creation by a singular god or source, as well as reincarnation are found in Egyptian tradition.