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Reginald Muata Ashby, D.D.'s
"Mystical Mythology"

As a quiet thinker and life-long learner who is fascinated by the mythologies of ancient Egypt, India and Africa, lately AIHT graduate and adjunct faculty member Reginald Muata Ashby has become more and more of an educational traveler.

For instance: after joining AIHT’s summertime alumni reunion in Chicago, Reginald spent several more days immersed in cultural anthropology at two world renowned museums: studying early Near Eastern civilizations at the Oriental Institute, as well as the Field Museum’s vast exhibit on the ancient Americas.

From there he visited Central America with his wife and spiritual business partner, Dja Karen Ashby. Dreaming of relocating from the frenetic opulence of Miami “to find a simpler way to live and honor our planet,” the Ashbys have lately felt drawn to the environmentally-conscious pura vida (“pure life”) of Costa Rica. For now, their U.S. classrooms include Florida, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

As cofounders of the Sema Institute, their popular multi-cultural lecture series has taken the Ashbys to schools and churches across America and to the Caribbean, United Kingdom, Egypt and Africa. Both teachers are “cultural creatives” who previously owned and operated a veterinary hospital in the Virgin Islands.

Having researched, written and produced approximately 40 books through their scholarly press—on nutrition, yoga, mystical Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism, plus scholarly exploration of The Egyptian Book of the Dead, sustainable politics and economics—their diverse spiritual topics jump off the page and come to life through experiential workshops that include drumming, dance, chanting and yoga.

As a young adult it was The Power of Myth, a PBS series from the 1980s featuring Bill Moyers and the late Joseph Campbell, that sparked Reginald’s passion for studying and teaching the universal truths of the world’s great religions. His ensuing years of independent research embraced the origins of yoga philosophy and Christian mysticism in ancient African and ancient Egyptian religions.

“Through research and educational travel, I have developed what’s considered an innovative way of understanding Egyptian myth and mystical philosophy in order to approach it as a living tradition that can transform and lead a person to achieve the goal of our ancient masters, spiritual enlightenment. Having studied Indian and Egyptian cultural mythology and philosophy, in exploring the notion and purpose of their ancient writings I find strong resemblances within yoga philosophy, Vedanta philosophy and Buddhism.

“Many people do not realize that the discipline of yoga involves a vast philosophical understanding aside from physical exercises. Nevertheless, the popular name recognition of the word ‘yoga’ represents a deepening public awareness, as seen in one of our early texts, Egyptian Yoga: The Philosophy of Enlightenment. Next summer the Sema Institute is hosting a 10-day Egyptian Yoga Tour, which combines daily yoga practice with a five-day cruise on the Nile Dream plus an unforgettable exploration of pyramids, temples and mystical palaces.”

For more information: www.egyptianyoga.com