CHAPTER II.

THE EGYPTIANS, CHALDEANS, DRUIDS, ETC.

After considering the existence of the doctrines of Reincarnation among primitive peoples and its traditional presence among the vanished civilizations of the past, we find ourselves irresistibly carried original: "borne" toward that ancient land of mystery—the home of the mystics and occultists of the past—the land of Isis, the home of the pyramid builders, the people of the Sphinx. Whether these people were the direct descendants of the inhabitants of destroyed Atlantis—the home of the Ancient Wisdom—or whether they were a new people who had rediscovered the old teachings, the fact remains that when we trace back any ancient occult or mystic doctrine, we find ourselves gradually led toward the land of the Sphinx as the source of that hidden truth. The Sphinx is a fitting symbol original: "emblem" of that wonderful race; its sealed lips seem to invite the deepest questions, and one feels that there may be a whispered answer drifting from those tightly closed lips toward the ear that is prepared to hear and receive it. And so, in our search for the origin of Reincarnation, we find ourselves once more confronting the Egyptian Sphinx, as we have done so often before in our search for Truth.

Despite its obviously prehistoric origin, many have claimed that metempsychosis metempsychosis: the movement of the soul from one body to another after death was born in ancient Egypt, on the banks of the Nile. India disputes this claim, holding that the Ganges, not the Nile, gave birth to the doctrine. Be that as it may, we shall discuss the Egyptian concept here among the ancient lands that held the doctrine. In India, it is not a thing of the past but a teaching that is in full bloom at the present time, and which is sending its subtle influence original: "odor" to all parts of the civilized world. Therefore, we shall postpone original: "defer" our consideration of India’s teachings until we reach the modern stage of the history of Reincarnation.

Herodotus, many centuries ago, said of the Egyptians: "The Egyptians were the first who proposed the theory that the human soul is immortal original: "imperishable", and that when the body dies, it enters into another body that is ready to receive it. When it has completed the circuit of all created forms on land, in water, and in air, it once more enters a human body born for it. This cycle of existence for the soul takes place over three thousand years."