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How the wisdom of the ancient world was encoded for our enlightenment today
Admittedly, I’ve come late to Laird Scranton, his new work Primal Wisdom of the Ancients: The Cosmological Plan for Humanity (Inner Traditions, US $16.99 / UK £12.99, August 2020), being the first book of his that I’ve read — and impressive it is in its scholarly scope, profundity and sanguine expectation.
Now, since 2002, the author of ten books in the field of ancient mysteries, metaphysics and cosmology, Scranton is an independent software designer whose research was sparked in the early 1990s by the mythology and symbolism of the Dogon people of Mali, West Africa; his first book was The Science of the Dogon (Inner Traditions).
He went on to pursue in-depth studies of ancient myth, language and cosmology worldwide, finding synchrony across many cultures where various aspects of original knowledge survived. In fact, he has dedicated his life to the study of African, Egyptian, Vedic, Chinese, Polynesian and other cosmologies, having been seized by the mystery of why so many ancient cultures share remarkably similar philosophies and religious symbolism.
Explanations offered by various commentators over the years have included the ‘collective unconscious’ of the human race, the globetrotting activities of surviving culture bearers of a preceding lost civilisation…
