The Hypostyle Hall at Karnak is one of the architectural wonders of the world, and there is much else there that is both emotionally and spiritually moving, as well as intellectually revelatory. If Luxor is The Temple of Man, Karnak is the Temple of Organic Creation and the Hypostyle Hall symbolizes this with its double banks of 9 x 7 gigantic columns.

We spend the morning relaxing on the Hadeel, and generally arrive at Edfu in the afternoon. Here we come to another great masterpiece. Edfu, the best preserved temple of the ancient world, due to the Greeks who rebuilt the temple above a more ancient temple below. Edfu is consecrated to Horus of Behdet; that is, Horus in his specific role of avenger of the murder of his father, Osiris. Horus (or Heru) can be viewed as a symbol for the illumination of the fully enlightened initiate and the hero’s temple is appropriately macho and martial with many intriguing and important lessons to convey.

In the afternoon, we visit the double temple of Kom Ombo, consecrated to the duo of Sobek, the crocodile (Death as a cosmic function) and Horus, the Elder (Return to the Source as a cosmic function). Beautifully sited on a bend of the Nile, but now photogenically ruinous, Kom Ombo was in its day a healing temple and hospital. We will point out where the ancient initations once took place here and initiates had to overcome fear by swimming with crocodiles. Afterward, we return to the Afandina and sail to Aswan, generally arriving in late afternoon.

Depending upon the crowd situation, either an early wake-up call to visit PHILAE TEMPLE early, or we wait till it (hopefully) empties out at lunch. If the latter, we can sleep in, and around 10 AM go to the UNFINISHED OBELISK at the ancient granite quarries, where a planned, half-excavated 1200 ton single block of granite failed to make it out of the bedrock.

Here we get a good taste of Egyptian technology in action, and we believe we can explain here what is next to impossible to convey anywhere else in Egypt: how with very simple tools the Egyptians managed to accomplish what is practically impossible to accomplish even with modern machinery — but even so, plenty of mysteries remain.

Then on to PHILAE TEMPLE, consecrated to Isis in her role of Mother of Horus (the Christians changed her name to the Virgin Mary, but she’s Isis, like it or not). Philae is on an island in the middle of the Nile (now it’s the lake backed up behind the British ‘Low Dam’ built in 1904.) Quintessentially feminine, it is one of the most beautiful and moving sites in all of Egypt, despite the relatively inelegant quality of the Ptolemaic relief work and the wholesale, but telling selective defacing. It’s here that the transition of the ancient Egypt doctrine of Immortality segues almost seamlessly into Christianity in front of our eyes.

Enjoy the nile as we sail to Abu Simbel!

We generally visit Abu Simbel itself at dawn, when it is least crowded and when the morning light strikes the enormous statues of Ramses most spectacularly. After a leisurely visit of the site, we take our bus back to Aswan and from there, board a mid-day flight back to Cairo. By then it is late afternoon, and we return to the Mena House Hotel in Giza. The evening is free.

In the morning, we have a 2 Hour Private Great Pyramid Meditation Session. We follow the foot steps of many initiates across various traditions first descending until we reach the original passageway where we’ll begin our ascent until we reach the King’s Chamber. The Great Pyramid can be viewed as sonic machine. We will engage in sacred chanting and toning to open all chakras, energy centers, as the final initiation into the Greater Mysteries. Over the last few thousand years, the Great Pyramid has become the Supreme Temple of Initiation, and we will connect with all the great souls who have been there. This is for many a profound, life-enhancing experience. It is rare that anyone comes out of this unmoved.

After breakfast at the Mena House, we take a bus into central Cairo for a visit to the Egyptian Museum.