Walk Like An Egyptian

An excerpt from Walk Like an Egyptian, Ancient Faith, Modern Mind:

Corner Mythology

Sigmund Freud did not like to talk about it. Carl Jung called it the Self and identified this unifying function at the center of the human psyche with soul-like qualities, even as he shied away from actually calling it soul. Whichever term you use, it is that bit of yourself at your core that feels permanent -- you, to the best of your ability. Your Self also knew how to grow you into an adult, conscious human being from strings of molecules.

The language of the Soul/Self is a language without words. Soul/Self existed before words and will continue to exist when all words are spent. Thus to understand your own inner Self -- and for that Self to understand you -- a firm grounding in mythological metaphor is necessary. Myths are not historically true in the sense that we mean history, rather myths are metaphors for the greater reality behind all truths. Learn to recognize and understand mythological metaphor and you will get to “see around the corner” to a larger worldview. Metaphors are doorways to the dimension of mind.

A powerful example of this rules in the modern world -- today’s computer programmers are the direct descendants of shamans, magicians, witches, wizards and epic heroes of every era and nation. Magic must be studied and learned, taught by masters, memorizing the jargon of the spirits and elements. The education takes years. Magic works by precise recitations of words in a precise setting, with the mage’s tools and equipment precisely in place.

The computer programmer must study and learn from masters, memorizing the jargon of machine code and algorithm. The education takes years. The wonders which the computer has brought us, from weather tracking to Super Mario Galaxy and Avatar, are all accomplished by the use of precise recitations of codes applied to the appropriate equipment.

(Yes, that is why you have that secret craving for magic. Your Soul/Self is proud of the real magic you perform at the computer every day and wants the proper metaphor to let you know that about yourself.)

The computer is a modern metaphor for our understanding of ourselves. Each of us is born the way a computer comes into the world: you were born with the same basic hardware as everyone else, variations provided by brand and model. Your DNA is your serial number. Knowing it helps speed up diagnostics. Once born/manufactured, you acquired your software and your “bells and whistles” from your parents/end users, your environment, education and society. You “upgrade” yourself through learning and through the experiences of your life.

This metaphor can be carried out into considerable detail. It has already become a template for biological research. Computers are, after all, wholly of human creation. We made them in our own image.