I encountered the following paragraph in Pennick's book about Alphabets when doing some background reading for Ogham study.
Historically, it was from the Phoenician script that Greek originated. But modern research on human perception may provide us with another possibility, one embedded deep within our own human consciousness. Modern neurophysiology has identified phosphenes, geometrical shapes and images that are present subconsciously in the visual cortex and neural system. These are present in all humans: they are described as entopic (sic), being visible when the eyes are shut. They can also be seen when the consciousness is altered by some means: during meditation, in trance, or in hallucinations induced by fatigue, illness or drugs. Geometric shapes related to letters are often perceived in the early stages of trance.
These states of consciousness are the domain of the shaman, the human who treads the thin line between life and death in her or her quest for enlightenment.
--- p.5, "The Secret Lore of Runes and other Ancient
Alphabets", Nigel Pennick, Rider, 1991. ISBN: 0-7126-3963-2 Go to Amazon
If this is true, then it is possible that the origins of script lie in internal perception rather than in an arbitrary construction of a symbol system (alphabet) used to describe pictorially or phonically.
I did some resesarch on this and the results can be found here: http://silverwolf.batcave.net/Ogham/Phosphenes.html.
Fascinating stuff!
Slán
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