Our African Unconscious: The Black Origins of Mysticism and Psychology (Edition, Revised of the African Unconscious) — Mysticism

Our African Unconscious: The Black Origins of Mysticism and Psychology (Edition, Revised of the African Unconscious) — photo 1

Our African Unconscious: The Black Origins of Mysticism and Psychology (Edition, Revised of the African Unconscious) — photo 2

Our African Unconscious: The Black Origins of Mysticism and Psychology (Edition, Revised of the African Unconscious) — photo 3

📖 Have you read this book?

Your review can inspire others to read it

🌌 Mysticism

Our African Unconscious: The Black Origins of Mysticism and Psychology (Edition, Revised of the African Unconscious)

Name: Our African Unconscious: The Black Origins of Mysticism and Psychology (Edition, Revised of the African Unconscious)
Price: 22.99 USD
Availability: OutOfStock
ISBN: 9781644113967

✍️ Edward Bruce Bynum, Linda James Myers

Reader Score

4.6

(1 review)

$22.99

Temporarily out of stock

Currently unavailable

This book is sold out right now. Leave your email — we'll let you know if it comes back, and you'll get 10% off any book today.

In stock now — readers of this book also loved:

Soul Making: The Realization of the Mystical Life

★★★★★

4.6

Gillette, Douglas M

Soul Making: The Realization of the Mystical Life

$22.99

Masters of the Living Energy: The Mystical World of the Q'Ero of Peru

-14%

★★★★★

4.6

Wilcox, Joan Parisi

Masters of the Living Energy: The Mystical World of the Q'Ero of Peru

$22.99 $27.00

Meditations on the Soul: Selected Letters of Marsilio Ficino

-25%

★★★★★

4.6

Salaman, Clement

Meditations on the Soul: Selected Letters of Marsilio Ficino

$22.99 $31.00

The Lost Art of Resurrection: Initiation, Secret Chambers, and the Quest for the Otherworld (Edition, New)

-54% 🔥 Bestseller

★★★★★

4.8

Silva, Freddy

The Lost Art of Resurrection: Initiation, Secret Chambers, and the Quest for the Otherworld (Edition, New)

$18.95 $42.00

The Gospel of Thomas: The Gnostic Wisdom of Jesus

-41%

★★★★★

4.6

Jean-Yves LeLoup, Jacob Needleman

The Gospel of Thomas: The Gnostic Wisdom of Jesus

$16.99 $29.00

★★★★★

4.6

LeLoup, Jean-Yves

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

$16.99

📚 WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT

This revised edition posits Africa as the foundational source for all human spirituality, psychology, and civilization. Edward Bruce Bynum introduces the "Oldawan" as the ancient African soul, correlating it with the collective unconscious. Drawing on archaeology, DNA research, and depth psychology, the book reveals how the biological and spiritual roots of religion and science emerged from Africa. It explores these profound origins reflected in contemporary societal dynamics, American foundational thought, and our global psychospiritual landscape, transcending modern ethnic divisions.

🌌

Mysticism

Praise for this book

“The author of this book does a very comprehensive and compelling job of revealing the all too often neglected role that Africa played in the earliest stages of humankind's development. And that would not be just in regards to the fossil record evidence, but also our very humanity, of the emergence of civilization itself - that while Western thought tends to emphasize how civilization was spawned from the Greeks…”

— Alternative Perceptions Magazine

🏛 Inner Traditions International 📅 2021 📖 480 pages 📔 Paperback ISBN: 9781644113967

Fun Fact

This revised edition is a vital, paradigm-shifting work, masterfully re-situating humanity's psychological and spiritual origins within Africa. Bynum's synthesis is compelling. Readers seeking light academic engagement or purely spiritual guidance might find its dense underpinning challenging. For those prepared for a deeply researched, transformative exploration of our collective psyche, this book is an indispensable contribution to cultural psychology and esoteric studies, boldly challenging narratives.

📝 Description: Our African Unconscious: The Black Origins of Mysticism and Psychology (Edition, Revised of the African Unconscious)

Reveals how spirituality and the collective unconscious of all of humanity originated in Africa - Examines the Oldawan, the Ancient Soul of Africa, and its correlation with what modern psychologists have defined as the collective unconscious - Draws on archaeology, DNA research, history, and depth psychology to reveal how the biological and spiritual roots of religion and science came out of Africa - Explores the reflections of our African unconscious in the present confrontation in the Americas, in the work of the Founding Fathers, and in modern psychospirituality The fossil record confirms that humanity originated in Africa. Yet somehow we have overlooked that Africa is also at the root of all that makes us human--our spirituality, civilization, arts, sciences, philosophy, and our conscious and unconscious minds. In this extensive look at the unfolding of human history and culture, Edward Bruce Bynum reveals how our collective unconscious is African. Drawing on archaeology, DNA research, depth psychology, and the biological and spiritual roots of religion and science, he demonstrates how all modern human beings, regardless of ethnic or racial categorizations, share a common deeper identity, both psychically and genetically--a primordial African unconscious. Exploring the beginning of early religions and mysticism in Africa, the author looks at the Egyptian Nubian role in the rise of civilization, the emergence of Kemetic Egypt, and the Oldawan, the Ancient Soul, and its correlation with what modern psychologists have defined as the collective unconscious. Revealing the spiritual and psychological ramifications of our shared African ancestry, the author examines its reflections in the present confrontation in the Americas, in the work of the Founding Fathers, and in modern Black spirituality, which arose from African diaspora religion and philosophy. By recognizing our shared African unconscious--the matrix that forms the deepest luminous core of human identity--we learn that the differences between one person and another are merely superficial and ultimately there is no real separation between the material and the spiritual.

📑 What's inside

Figures Foreword to the 2021 Edition by Linda James Myers, Ph.D. A Note from the First Edition by Allen E. Ivey Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Diaspora, or the Great Dispersion
Prologue: The African Origin of Human Consciousness
Waves of Hominids and Their Stock
Diaspora into the Ancient Americas
The Rise of Civilization: The Egypto-Nubian Legacy
The Emergence of Kemetic Egypt and Its Contact with Other Peoples: Asia, Mesopotamia, "Olde Europe," and West Africa
The Diaspora into the Americas during Early Civilization
The Dark Ages and Medieval Europe
Dispersion, Genetics, and the Mother Tongue
Summary
2 The African Unconscious
Oldawan: The Ancient Soul
The Nature of the Unconscious
Some Basic Tenets of the African Unconscious
Summary
3 The Roots of Modern Science and Religion in Ancient Egypt
Medicine, Mathematics, and Astronomy
The Rise of the Modern Religions in Ancient Egypt
Contemporary Science and the Ancient Ideas of Fire and Energy
4 Kundalini and the Spread of African Mysticism
Kundalini and the Religious Traditions
Kundalini in History and Science
History and the Neters of Egypt
The Bodily Perception of the Living Current
Psychoneurology and the Solar Logos
5 The Osirian Complex
To Bind Them in Myth
The Family of Human Myths
The Osirian Myth, the Osirian Journey
Implications of the Osirian Complex in Culture
Summary
6 The African Religions in Their Diaspora to the West
Roots in Kemetic Egypt
West African Religions in Their Diaspora
Ethnic Diaspora to the West
Ifa, the Unconscious, and the Implicate Order Storehouse Memory
A Science of Divine Communion: The Psychospiritual Dynamics of Embodiment or "Possession"
The West African Psychology of Religion
Mediums, Diviners, and Their Forms of Spirit Possession
Training and Initiation
Summary
7 Freud, Judaism, and the Limits of Psychodynamic Insight
The Jews of Ancient Egypt: Three Theories of Origin
Jews in the Americas
Familial Patterns and the Cognitive Style of Psychodynamic Thinking
Root Techniques of Psychoanalysis and Mysticism
Insights of Psychoanalysis
Some Parallels between Jewish Mystical Thought and Ancient Kemetic Egypt
Summary
8 The Present Confrontation in the Americas
The Milieu of Race in the New World
Reflections of Black Imagery in the New World
Nurturing Images of Blackness in Eurocentric Cultures
Menacing Images of Blackness
Blacks' Perceptions of Whites in the Americas
The Seeds of Black Spirituality in Slave Religion and Philosophy
Our African Unconscious as Expressed in the Work of the American Founding Fathers
9 The Rudiments of Kemetic Philosophy in African/Indian Yoga Science
The Serpentine Symbol and the Solar Consciousness
Yoga Discipline, the Living Darkness, and the Light

Showing the first 60 entries.

💎 Expert review

“

💎

Esoterica Books editorial team

Occult literature desk

Bynum and Myers present a bold thesis linking Africa to the collective unconscious, drawing on diverse fields like archaeology and genetics. While intellectually stimulating for those open to transdisciplinary approaches, it may not suit readers strictly adhering to conventional academic historiography or those skeptical of mystical interpretations of biological data. The text demands engagement with complex psychological concepts alongside historical assertions. It is best suited for scholars and enthusiasts willing to explore the profound origins of religion and science from an African-centric viewpoint, rather than casual readers seeking straightforward historical accounts. The revised edition updates these provocative ideas for contemporary discourse.

✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

📖 Why choose it

📖

Why this book is worth reading

Readers deeply interested in the intersection of archaeology, DNA research, and depth psychology will find this revised edition profoundly illuminating. It offers a compelling framework for understanding how the ancient African soul, termed the 'Oldawan,' serves as the foundational source for all human spirituality and civilization. Those seeking to transcend modern ethnic divisions and reconnect with humanity's shared psychospiritual landscape will gain valuable insights into the biological and spiritual roots of religion and science. This book is essential for anyone wishing to explore the primal African wellspring that underpins our global consciousness and American foundational thought, providing a unified perspective on our collective psychological heritage.

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Esoterica Books —

⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.6/5

★★★★★

If you seek to understand the profound, often overlooked African foundations of human spirituality, psychology, and collective identity, this book is essential. It challenges conventional narratives, offering a deeply integrated perspective for those interested in ancestral wisdom and our shared…

Reader rating

4.6

Based on 1 reviews

Esoterica Books editorial team

Bynum and Myers present a bold thesis linking Africa to the collective unconscious, drawing on diverse fields like archaeology and genetics. While intellectually stimulating for those open to transdisciplinary approaches, it may not suit readers strictly adhering to conventional academic historiography or those skeptical of mystical interpretations of biological data. The text demands engagement with complex psychological concepts alongside historical assertions. It is best suited for scholars and enthusiasts willing to explore the profound origins of religion and science from an African-centric viewpoint, rather than casual readers seeking straightforward historical accounts. The revised edition updates these provocative ideas for contemporary discourse.

❓ Frequently asked questions

While drawing heavily on academic disciplines like archaeology, psychology, and history, Bynum's accessible prose makes complex ideas understandable. It bridges scholarly research with profound spiritual insights, making it valuable for both specialists and general readers interested in human origins and consciousness.

Bynum takes Jung's concept and provides a specific, ancestral origin point, arguing that the collective unconscious is not merely a universal human phenomenon but is directly rooted in the "Oldawan," the ancient African soul. He gives a deep cultural and historical grounding to the idea.

📖 Who should read this

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

African Origins of Consciousness

Bynum meticulously traces the genesis of human consciousness and psychological structures back to ancient Africa. He posits that the very framework of our collective mind, including what Jungian psychology identifies as the collective unconscious, finds its primal blueprint in the continent’s earliest human societies and spiritual traditions, the "Oldawan."

Humanity's Shared Deep Roots

The book powerfully argues for a universal human experience rooted in African heritage. It leverages DNA research, archaeology, and historical analysis to demonstrate that all modern humans, irrespective of race or culture, share a profound spiritual and biological lineage stemming from Africa, influencing our sciences, arts, and spiritual quest.

Modern Psychospiritual Reflections

Bynum explores how this ancient African unconscious manifests in contemporary global society. He examines its influence on current social confrontations, the philosophical underpinnings of historical figures like the American Founding Fathers, and the broader landscape of modern psychospirituality, urging a re-evaluation of our shared heritage.

📜 Historical context

This work builds on depth psychology, particularly Jung's collective unconscious, by re-centering its origins. It critically engages with Eurocentric historical narratives, offering an Afrocentric counter-narrative that insists on Africa's seminal role in developing our spiritual and psychological infrastructure. It challenges long-held assumptions within psychology and cultural studies, providing a vital corrective lens.

📚 Glossary

Oldawan
Depth Psychology
Collective Unconscious

📔 Questions to reflect on

How might acknowledging an "African unconscious" shift your understanding of global history and contemporary social dynamics?
In what ways do you perceive elements of a collective human consciousness in your own life or spiritual practices?
Consider the impact of a world view that actively re-centers Africa as the origin point for human spirituality and psychological development. What new questions arise?