The Secret Lore of Egypt Its Impact on the West Translated by
David Lorton Alchemy, astrology, and other secret sciences have
Egyptian roots, and films, popular fiction, and comic books
frequently draw upon Egyptian themes. Rosicrucianism, Mormonism,
and Afrocentrism all share Egyptian-derived elements. Modern-day
esoteric endeavors find an endlessly renewable intellectual
reservoir in ancient Egyptian culture, Erik Hornung believes,
and are almost inconceivable without Egypt. Although such
persistence assures Egyptosophical ideas an extraordinarily
widespread impact, the field of Egyptology has largely
overlooked this phenomenon. In The Secret Lore of Egypt, Hornung
traces the influence of the esoteric image of Egypt, especially
as it is manifested by the god Thoth, on European intellectual
history since antiquity and finds it reasserted even today in
the United States. From Gnostic writings and Romantic poetry to
Freemasonry and the Theosophist movement, Egyptian deities re-
emerge in ever-surprising guises.