I am especially excited to announce the publication of my newest book, The Ancient World-Wide System: Star Myths of the World, Volume One (Second Edition).
This latest volume constitutes a greatly expanded and completely revised version of Star Myths of the World, Volume One, which was published in 2015. Weighing in at 912 pages, it is nearly twice as long as the original version of Volume One, and brings to bear completely new perspectives and insights that I have gained since writing the first edition (perspectives and insights gained during the process of writing Volumes Two, Three and Four, as well as Astrotheology for Life and Ancient Myths, Ancient Wisdom, not to mention more than 300 additional blog posts and dozens of additional videos).
It is safe to say that this is the most comprehensive examination of the ancient system of celestial metaphor underlying the world's myths that I have written thus far. You can check out the Table of Contents, selections from various chapters, and the Index (approximately 80 pages all together) in the "Books" section of my primary website, here.
Among other aspects of ancient myth, this volume explores:
Celestial foundations for myths from ancient Egypt, ancient Mesopotamia, ancient India, ancient China and Japan, and the cultures of Australia, Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific.
Celestial foundations for the stories surrounding the life of the Buddha.
Celestial aspects of the Tao Te Ching and the accounts of Laozi.
Connections between myth-patterns found in numerous cultures, including stories of the "baby cast adrift" or the "unsuccessful retrieval from the land of the dead."
Celestial foundations for the patterns of the special "handbag" or "bucket" seen in artwork from ancient Mesopotamia as well as from the Olmec civilization of Central America (as well as on Pillar 43 of Enclosure D at Gobekli Tepe).
Celestial foundations for the avatars of Vishnu found in the ancient Sanskrit texts of India.
Evidence that the "termite mounds" mentioned in the myths of ancient India and the sacred stories of Aboriginal Australian cultures have their celestial original in the same important constellation in our night sky.
Undeniable artistic connections between depictions of deities in Mayan codexes and depictions of deities from cultures such as ancient Greece and ancient India, and evidence that these deities are all connected to the same constellation in each case.
Discussion of the possible esoteric meaning that these ancient myths intend to convey to our understanding, and the reason this message is still so vitally important to us in this very moment of our lives today.
In the conclusion of this volume, I write that:
I could of course have divided this present volume into a number of shorter books, each examining for example the myths of a different continent, but in doing so I felt something might have been lost: the ability to present a very broad sweep of myths from literally around the globe, and to see again and again certain patterns and oicotypes emerging which argue very strongly that the world's ancient traditions all belong to a single amazing system . . .
827 - 828.
I hope you will agree that this comprehensive tour of ancient myths from around the world provides the best possible introduction to the ancient system of celestial metaphor that informs the ancient sacred stories given to our ancestors in remote antiquity around the globe, and the most comprehensive introduction to the other volumes which follow this one in the series examining the Star Myths of the World.
Below is a new video I made to introduce The Ancient World-Wide System. Please feel free to share with anyone you know who is interested in these subjects, or who might benefit from this information: