Contenu du sommaire

The scarab in ancient Egypt : Origin and meaning of the symbol From its morphological and biological characteristics, it is shown how the beetle "Scarabaeus sacer" has been associated by the ancient Egyptians with the sun and the earth. Then, its identification with Osiris is proposed. The scarab would have been his model due to its ontogenetic development, passing through a nymphal instar, motionless and deadlike, which the adult comes from as it were ressuscitating. Like the scarab-(Osiris), men too had to suffer a stage of death, similar to its nymph (mummy), preparing for a solar resurrection. It is on this idea of victory on the death, of triumph of the Order, which they were passionately interested in, that the Egyptians organized their whole religious system.

The double designation in the « Phaedo » The double qualification of the "psyche" in the refutation of Cebes' objection (105 d-e) highlights the conflict between a philosophical and religious conception derived from presocratic tradition and the innovating intuition of platonic thought. It also shows the slow emergence of a new form of expression which will find its first formulation in the analysis of the "Phaedrus".

Hindu temples et priests of the Goddess A study of the present situation of brahmin priests in a Hindu temple leads one inevitably to broader problems, concerning the role and status of Hindu priests, their relationship with the authorities who control the temples, and, more generally, to the problem of religion and power in the Indian-Hindu context. The priests studied here are those of the Goddess, an aspect of the deity especially near to the Hindu devotee. The cult of the Goddess has always been very important in India. Some of its recent developments are of especial interest since they illustrate the remarkable vitality and resilience of hinduism, and show how its symbols can operate as an integrating factor within the broader process of change in modern India.