LUXOR TEMPLE – APOTHEOSIS ON THE NILE

The Solar Courtyard of Amenhotep III shines in the darkening dusk light.
The Solar Courtyard of Amenhotep III shines in the darkening dusk light.

Luxor Temple stands at the southern end of the Avenue of the Sphinxes in the center of the City of Luxor. Along with Karnak, Luxor Temple rates as one of the most popular visitor sites in Egypt. The temple (Ipet Resyt or Southern Opet to ancient Egyptians) became dedicated to Amememopet, “Amun in Opet”. This particular form of Amun-Ra was specific to this temple, especially tied in the idea of royal ka or the spirit of kingship entering into a king’s body at the time of his coronation. Evey year the Opet Festival took place in which the king visited the Luxor Temple in order for the royal ka to be ritually reborn, reconfirmed and re-energized.

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MAGIC AND RESURRECTION AT ABU SIMBEL

Baboons hold court above the entrance facade at Abu Simbel.
Baboons hold court above the entrance facade at Abu Simbel.

Far to the south, not far from the border of Egypt and Sudan, lies one of the greatest monuments surviving from the New Kingdom and its most prominent pharaoh, Ramses II. The magnificent temple complex erected here at Abu Simbel demonstrated the power and supremacy of Egypt over Nubia lying to the south. This became the most extravagant of all of the many building projects the great Pharaoh commissioned over his long life.

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KARNAK – TEMPLE GLORY ILLUMINATE THE BANKS OF THE NILE

Light from the chariot of Amun-Ra dominates the magnificence of the Great Hypostyle Hall.
Light from the chariot of Amun-Ra dominates the magnificence of the Great Hypostyle Hall.

Waset to ancient Egyptians and Luxor today, Thebes is best known probably for its Greek name – not to be confused, of course, with the city-state in ancient Greece. Thebes in upper Egypt also served originally as a city-state. The city developed into the ascendant city of all Egypt around 2000 BC. Armies from Waset went forth to reunify the country at the end of the First Intermediate Period – 2125-2010 BC. Today’s armies are tourists from all over the world seeking to recapture some of the glory of the ancients.

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CAO ĐẠI – UNIVERSALISM IN THE NEW WORLD

6PM service at the Great Divine Temple in Tây Ninh.
6PM service at the Great Divine Temple in Tây Ninh.

My introduction to the Cao Đại faith, probably like a lot of others from the Euro-American world came through the book The Quiet American written in 1955 by Englishman Graham Greene.

“A Pope and female cardinals. Prophecy by planchette. Saint Victor Hugo. Christ and Buddha looking down from the roof of the Cathedral on a Walt Disney fantasia of the East, dragons and snakes in technicolour.”

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ST. NAZIANZ – UTOPIA FOUND IN A CATHOLIC GUISE

The Old Church in about 1910 in St. Nazianz. wisconsinhistory.org IMG 39406.
The Old Church in about 1910 in St. Nazianz. wisconsinhistory.org IMG 39406.

Research 19th century American communal utopias and you will not find any normally with relationships to the Roman Catholic church. An unfortunate oversight by the many researchers who cleave towards the free love of Oneida, the ethnic communes of the Amana, Bishop Hill. The Catholic-based commune of St. Nazianz, Wisconsin needs inclusion into the American versions of heaven on earth.

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GREAT PYRAMIDS OF GIZA – REMAINING WONDER OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

The three great pyramids of Giza with towers of Giza and Cairo beyond.
The three great pyramids of Giza with towers of Giza and Cairo beyond.

It is amazing to hear how many people dream of seeing the pyramids. While they are worthy of a visit … a journey? After having spent a couple of weeks along the Nile, if not for a visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum – literally next door to the last remaining of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – the wonders of further south near Luxor are where I would set my sights upon. But the pyramids are impressive – especially when you consider their age – and worth a visit if you are in Cairo. Coming to Egypt, I recommend you visit the Memphis necropolis at Saqqara and Dashur first, however, to give you a little sense of how the pyramids developed from much simpler burial tombs and where they went after the Great Pyramid era ended with the end of the Fourth Dynasty.

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BOOK OF THE DEAD AND OTHER EGYPTIAN MAGIC IN THE NIGHT

Scenes from the Fourth Hour of the Amduat show Ra's progress through the Underworld.
Scenes from the Fourth Hour of the Amduat show Ra’s progress through the Underworld.

There is no single source for the various myths, allusions, gods, goddesses and religious practices found in the almost four thousand years of ancient Egypt. The foundations of Egyptian belief are found on temple walls. A few papyri roll that survived the many centuries and within the thousands of funerary tombs of royals and those not-so-royal.

Rituals, processions and magic spells always played significant roles in the carrying out of the varied practices ruling the life – and afterlife – of the ancients. Similar to what one finds in medieval Christian churches, paintings helped to tell the stories to those illiterate, which numbered most people. But the stories, rituals and spells also lay inscribed on the walls of the tombs and temples. Here, we can gain a more complete idea of belief systems in place. One of the most important aspects of Egyptian religious practices centered around death and the belief in an afterlife.

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JORDAN FINDS CATHOLIC REBIRTH IN THE WOODS OF LINN COUNTY

Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes in Jordan. The simple chapel belies a complicated past.
Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes in Jordan. The simple chapel belies a complicated past.

1903 was a significant year in France for the Catholic Church. The church officially separated from secular government – catholic schools were no longer public schools, public monuments could not be religious in nature, and no taxes would go to the church. While there was not the level of anti-clericalism seen during the Revolution, that spirit still remained. Several religious orders became pressured to leave France for Canada or America. So the story of Catholicism in Jordan gained a second chapter.

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SAQQARA NECROPOLIS – OLD EGYPTIAN KINGDOM REVISITED

Looking north at the Step Pyramid of Djoser at the Saqqara Necropolis.
Looking north at the Step Pyramid of Djoser at the Saqqara Necropolis.

Egypt was first united into one kingdom around 2950 BC under the rule of King Narmer – also known as Menes. He might have had a couple of predecessors coming close to uniting the country, but most scholars give Narmer the nod as becoming Egypt’s first pharaoh – though that title only utilized much later. Narmer came from the city of Abydos located about 15 miles north of the great Qena bend on the Nile. The city lay in a wide area of rich agricultural land on the west bank of the river. It was also the take off point from the water to a main caravan route leading to the oases of the Western Desert making Abydos an important communication center, as well.

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EGYPTIAN BASICS – to the Land of Pharaoh we go

Camels, pyramids and the burgeoning metroplex of Cairo beyond.
Camels, pyramids and the burgeoning metroplex of Cairo beyond.

Egypt, the Land of Pharaohs and Pyramids. The Nile continues to attract visitors in large number ever since Napoleon “visited” in 1799. He, as we are still today, was moved by the sheer ancientness of the land – “From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.

As a destination, Egypt winds up on many people’s bucket lists. It certainly appeared on my wife’s. She had been enthralled by the ancient civilization back to her days as a young teen-age student. So, even though the Nile did not show up in my bucket – even if I had one – I agreed to accompany her on a trip celebrating one of those decade birthdays.

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