When we got out of the car at the Sphynx a group of girls started squealing and running towards me. There was much jostling and giggling, as they almost fought each other to touch me, kiss my cheek and offer theirs, in return.
"What did I do?" I asked Mohammed.
"They think it good luck to be kissed by someone blonde, or someone old," he told me. "They very rare poeple here!"
A bit like chimney sweeps then!

I was amazed to see the Sphynx.
There are many theories about who, and what, and why....
Some years ago I read about a whole alien space-ship under there, or halls of records. Who knows? The new tomb just discovered in the Valley of the Kings is the first major find for 80 years. Whatever there is, will only be found when we are ready to find it.

My own feeling is that there is information there, though it may not be physically available. As someone who can attune to energies I felt its energy as soon as I came near to it but, when I was there the area around it was cordoned off, so I couldn't get close enough to obtain a clear impression.

Inside tombs I have attuned and felt so much wisdom, so many loving spirits step out of the walls, that I was quite taken aback. I suppose it stands to reason, as the drawings and paintings were done by artists who poured their spirits into their work, as well as their love for the person for whom they were making the tomb.

One of the things I noticed while in Egypt was "The Package Tour." At several points throughout each week I noticed some of the tourists from the flight,arriving in large groups in their coaches and told they had a very strict time-table to adhere to. They marched around the temples, trying to hear the tour-guide, glancing at the walls. I was glad to be there with a small, tailor-made group, all of us there with a sense of purpose.

To be able to browse, to meditate, to sit down and sketch was a true privilege. As most of us on the trips were healers, we made the most of opportunities to share our respective therapies and gifts. Our own tour guide was excellent, sensitive to our desire to have quiet time in the temples, and happy to answer our questions and provide fuller "lectures" in the hotel.

Due to the heat, we did most of our exploring early in the day, returning to the 4 star hotel for lunch and an afternoon of group-work, and then r&r beside the pool. Darkness fell quickly. Upon realising the sun was about to set, by the time we had readied our cameras it had dipped out of sight completely.

Our evenings were also full, as the town seemed hardly ever asleep. Shops and restaurants stayed open well into the night, as did the museum and the Temples, for the evening Sound And Light shows.

At the start and the end of the day you can take a balloon flight from Luxor's West Bank and float over the town, over the villages as far as The Valley of the Kings. As many of the homes have no roofs, you can see into the houses in some places.
The contrast along the Nile is always amazing; within the irrigated area all is lush and green, until the desert suddenly dominates, its dry sand abruptly putting an end to all traces of growth.

An afternoon floating on the River Nile is sheer bliss!

In Ancient days the Nile was revered, for she was acknowledged as the life-force of Egypt. Without the annual flood which brought fertile silt to its banks the nation would have starved. The rites in the temples reflected this knowledge, many of them relecteing the divine balance of male and female, priest and priestess, pharoah and queen.

For the modern inhabitants who live in the farming communities little has changed over thousands of years. When boats pass by the children rush to the water's edge in delight, shouting and waving. In their robes and sandals,they could be from any time in history; whole families work together to ensure their survival, tending little herds of goats, fields of crops, fishing or washing clothes in the river.

It is almost humbling to see how happy they are, but maybe they are more fortunate than us. They exist close to nature, enjoying the heat and the light of the sun, eating healthy food...it may be a hard life, but it is honest and happy.

The first Temple I visited in Egypt was at Luxor, at sunrise on our first day. The Avenue of Sphynxes stretched out behind us, originally as far as Karnak, as we stood to take in the Obelisks and huge statues that faced us.
The peace, the serenity that I felt as I wandered around the temple were so intense that now, just writing about it, I feel its warmth embrace me. Travelling as a group organised by Sacred Ventures, there were many opportunities for meditation and attunement, and our first took place almost upon arrival at the temple. We all stood in a circle, eyes closed, and started to tone in unison.
As a channel of Pure Consciousness through sound, I was soon at one with the group and with the place, as we toned together. This set an energy that remained with us through the week, a bathing in sound which was cleansing, healing and liberating We moved through the complex in our own time, reuniting periodically for further meditations.
The pictures on the walls were stunning; I had never before considered their size, or their textures; they were huge! Towards the back there is a "Birthing Room," which was another place we felt an urge to share some very powerful toning, clearing our energy fields for the process that would last the week. Visiting such sacred places leads to great changes within; at the end of any day we are a different person to the one we were at the start, but visiting these energy sites accelerates our journeys of growth, causing profound and wonderful shifts of consciousness.

(Sacred Ventures are Contactable on 01424 734090)