Luxor, the Temple of Man
In 2019, I finally made the pilgrimage to Egypt I’d been wanting to do for twenty years. The trip awakened my soul (“ba” to the ancients) and has changed me forever. In this series, I share the spiritual, artistic and personal encounters that were Egypt’s gifts to me. Through them, I hope you too can feel her mystic, magnetic draw.
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The sun was setting as I entered the Inner Sanctuary of Luxor Temple.
I’d been emotional since arrival. The immensity of the massive Ramses II statues at the entrance had overwhelmed me — just as he’d desired. There was no doubt of his greatness in my mind. But in his stone face was also a curve of the lip and softness of the eye that spoke of love—for his people, his country and me, his guest. I had fallen prey to the same sweet expression that had enchanted locals, explorers, historians and tourists for over three thousand years.
Beyond the pylons was a giants fairy-garden of wonders. To walk through the columns and statuary, was to follow the footsteps of every pharaoh of Egypt. This was the Temple of Man, where he was brought closer to god. Pharaohs were baptized, coronated, wed, and birthed here throughout dynastic times. This was the most sacred of places. And the inner sanctuary was intended only for the initiated.
Today, the sacred places were flooded with tourists and Luxor was no exception. I tried to hide from the crowds, ducking into the hallways as they exited. Waiting patiently for a moment alone in the rooms. They were fleeting but attainable. I closed my eyes, gently laid a hand on the wall and tried to let myself be open to the energy and history of the place.
Feeling what we cannot see
I suddenly realized I was nauseous, like a motion sickness. How long had that been going on? I wasn’t sure, but it was a dull, growing ache.
Now, I’m a fairly experienced ghost hunter, having been to many a haunted place and “met” a significant number spirits over the past ten years. My tool of choice is a simple maglite flashlight (the kind that can twist on and off). I think the spirits find it easy to manipulate, turning it on and off to answer yes or no questions.
Ghost hunting has also helped me to be more a-tune to what I can only describe as my “spiritual sense.” There are a few key feelings that I’ve come to trust as telling me that there’s energy present. Most commonly I’ve gotten a cool, goose-bumpy feeling at the base of my skull that grows numb and climbs the back of my head. 9 times out of 10, it’s indicated a presence that has been confirmed by the manipulation of the light. Only a very few times have I ever felt nauseous, and I believe it was an indication of extremely intense energy.
I was pretty sure the growing nauseousness I now felt was a reaction to a dense, busy energy I’d been feeling since we’d arrived in Luxor that morning. It’s intensification, as if I’d approached the nucleus.
Meandering my way around the ante-chambers, I came upon a room with many larger scenes. A famous one depicted the pharaoh and a goddess holding hands in a sweet, amorous tribute to the ultimate act of creation. As I reached out to brush my hand along the raised limestone reliefs that had been carved so many millennia ago, the hieroglyph inscription tattooed on my inner forearm tinged with a subtle burn. It went on for about 120 seconds, intensifying then fading to a dull tingle.
To be honest, I’d been hoping for a sign.
Though wasn’t exactly an obvious one, I had been whispering in my head and into the dark corners since arrival that I wanted to be initiated. That I knew they were the keepers of a sacred wisdom and I was ready to learn—to be awakened. And however they might be able, I welcomed anything they were willing to share.
I have five tattoos, all Egyptian, on my body. Each honors a different concept of Egyptian belief and symbolism that I identify personally with. The inscription of this particular tattoo translates to “re-born of light” and it’s the only one that speaks to rebirth or awakening.
Perhaps I was being given a sing afterall.
Descending the golden spiral
As we headed back to the bus I kept turning around to gaze back at the temple. I just couldn’t get enough. Nausea or no, I would have happily stayed for hours.
We boarded the bus and I bee-lined to the back to be alone and continued to stare out at the floodlit first pylons and mammoth statues as they issued thier silent call, inescapably alluring.
The great symbolist scholar, Schwaller de Lubicz, spent almost fifteen years documenting and deciphering this temple in the late 50's. His findings revealed the geometric mathematics behind Egypt’s famed architectural harmony. They had phi, the golden ratio, from which pi and Pythagorean mathematics is derived. They understood and applied the natural harmony of number in all temple architecture. Anyone who stands before Luxor could have no doubt of their mastery of this absolute.
But you don’t have to understand the engineering to feel its impact.
It was like a magnetic pull I couldn’t tear myself away from. The weight of it hit and I broke down in tears. I couldn’t hold them in. My heart was bursting and it was all I could do to hold back the sobs as I hid from my fellow tourists in the shadows of the back of the bus. Had it just been the excitement? My ecstasy of finally visiting a place I’d dreamed about my entire life? Or had there been many more forces at work here; spiritual, numerical, astrological harmonies that combined to channel an energy we know nothing about.
We pulled away and I tried to collect myself, but our sweet tour guide noticed. She asked if I was ok and I smiled. I’d been given a glimpse of the power of this sacred place. I knew I’d be back one day.
