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~Valley of the Kings, Luxor and Karnak~
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THE WHITE CHAPEL OF SENUSRET I, KARNAK OPEN AIR MUSEUM
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~ VALLEY OF THE KINGS, LUXOR AND KARNAK
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~ LUXOR AND KARNAK ~
We hired horse carriages for the quick trips between Luxor and Karnak, and tried not to get triggered when one of the drivers raised his agreed upon price after the ride. He said it was extra for the horse! It was a mostly ludicrous yet serious attempt to get more baksheesh, or money, from us. Our tip would have probably been more than what the driver demanded from us, so, feeling a bit uncomfortable, we gave him what he wanted and were glad to complete the process quickly. I hope the horse got the extra money.
Karnak was rich and expansive. The massive complex was built, and rebuilt, over a span of almost 1,500 years. At almost a mile long, it afforded us an empowering anonymity. When I paused to wonder about a structure or artifact, I simply looked for a nearby group with an English speaking guide and quietly moved closer to them for my answers. Our time at Karnak was the best of both worlds.
We deeply absorbed the beauty and majesty of the obelisks and courtyards, temples and statues, pylons, chapels, and sacred lake. We meditated by the ceremonial lake’s waters, as elegant sacred ibis skimmed the surface in an honoring of their revered ancestors. Sadly, ropes and boundaries kept us from directly connecting to the water, so it never felt right to perform a Water Healing Ritual at Karnak. I felt our isolation from the water represented the isolation the commoners of Egypt faced at the temples, where priests and Pharaohs practiced exclusive rituals that separated them energetically from their followers.
We were almost magnetically drawn down a small gravel path toward a hastily written sign that marked the entrance to Karnak’s Open Air Museum. An array of seated Sekhmet statues lined the entrance, and beckoned us to approach. We entered the outdoor museum for a small fee, and a guard immediately attached himself to us. He liked to point things out to us, and we had to work to have some private time without him. He seemed inclined to focus on likenesses of the fertility god Min, an extremely ancient deity depicted as a man with a large, erect reproductive organ! He was bothersome, but somehow endearing in his apparent sincerity, though he seemed to imply by his secretive manner that we were getting amazingly personal treatment and couldn’t share our experience with others. He was acting like he had opened the place just for us!
The reconstructed alabaster temples in the Open Air Museum are some of the oldest structures of Karnak. They made a huge impact on us, and we were mesmerized by their resonance as we toned within them. Even though sometimes without ceilings or roofs, the frequencies were picked up and broadcast through the buildings, and our bodies, in a strange and mystical way. The finely etched walls of the room-sized alabaster temples carried a healing vibration that elicited joy and wonder in us. We experienced a great initiation within them.
TONING IN THE ALABASTER TEMPLE, OPEN AIR MUSEUM, KARNAK
We attended the English version of the Karnak Sound and Light show one evening, and although it proved extremely hokey and melodramatic, the energy of the great temple at night was indeed magical. We ignored the show, and connected to the land and structures around us. It actually might have been less intrusive to have gone on an evening when another language was spoken.
We did appreciate experiencing the energy shift as night closed in at the temple. We were completely transfixed by the silhouette of the columns and buildings of Karnak subtly illuminated by the night sky’s backdrop of stars. The lake’s water reflected them softly, an echo of the golden stars painted upon the many ceilings of the great temples of Egypt.
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