What an absolutely spectacular event. On Nov 25th 2021, Egypt celebrated the restoration and reopening of its ancient “Sphinx Avenue” with music, fireworks, and a dramatic recreation of an ancient Egyptian religious procession. For me, it’s incredible to see, because it recreates what a ceremony of the Religion of the Sun would have looked like (though with some modern-day artistic license) in its ancient heartland in Egypt.
Here’s the video of the procession starting at my favorite part (which starts at 1:42:29).
Ancient Egypt is perhaps the most famous sun-worshiping civilization in the world. Its religion, so centered around the sun, stretches back to the very inception of its civilization, which some argue dates to around 3,000 BC, but I argue, is much older.
In my book The Ancient Religion of the Sun, I compile the ancient Egyptian texts and histories that indicate the Religion of the Sun was established in Egypt as far back as 40,000 BC; I believe its most ancient ruins are what survives of the central heartland of the ancient Religion of the Sun, and is the place from where it spread across the world.
That’s why what’s happening in Egypt today is so remarkable. Egypt has embarked on an initiative to restore, celebrate, and bring its ancient sites back to life, and in doing so, has become a shining example to the world. I believe what’s missing from so many ancient sites is a recreation of the ancient ceremonies of the Religion of the Sun that took place within them, along with a renewed understanding of their true meaning.
The procession reenacts the ancient annual “Opet Festival,” in which the statues of the Father God Amun-Re (identified with the sun), his wife the Mother Goddess Mut, and their Son Khonsu, would be carried along the Sphinx Avenue, from the Temple of Karnark – the largest in the world – to the temple of Luxor. It was here then, where the marriage of Amun-Re and Mut was celebrated, along with the “rebirth” of the pharaoh as their son, which was timed with the yearly inundation of the Nile and thus enacted the renewal and return of life to the land.1
This trinity of Father, Mother, and Son, we find in so many traditions of the Religion of the Sun, represents the three fundamental forces of life and creation. The rebirth of the pharaoh represented the birth of the Spiritual Son/Sun, which on a deeper level, happens not only in the world, but also within someone who is spiritually prepared, and was part of the hidden, initiatory knowledge of Egypt.2
Stretching 1.7 miles / 2.7 kms, the Sphinx Avenue is flanked on either side by 1,057 sphinx style statues. It was called “the Path of God” as it was the path the statue of Amun-Re took each year. It’s believed Luxor Temple and the Sphinx Avenue were built especially for this procession, and like so many other ancient sites, people have speculated they’re much older than currently thought.3
In case you missed it (as I did!) here also is the broadcast of the relocation of the remains of numerous ancient Kings and Queens of Egypt – ceremoniously officiated earlier in Egypt this year, in another awe-inspiring spectacle.
Here are some of the comments I’ve seen in response, and I couldn’t agree more:
AstroTheGamosian
It might be a childish fantasy of mine, but I would love to see a revival of these ancient cultures and religions (not just Egyptian, but Greek, Roman, Babylonian, and others, as well). I genuinely hope that this event sparks renewed interest in such a revival.Maria Lopez
Since I teach ancient civilizations to my students here in the US, I was so excited and happy to see this! Amazing!! Can’t wait for my students to see this. It was so beautiful 🤩!!Jimbah Borja
Why am I crying😭😭😭It was superb,magical,historical and the glamour of glorious past of human history:)Congratulations Egypt❤️❤️❤️Gilmara Benevides
Incredible. The Brazilian people congratulate the Egyptian people for this great event, worthy of all humanity.Minhaj Arifin
First of all to all Egyptians my best wishes and congratulations on this magnificent new city and brilliantly delivered event! You brought history to life. At times it felt as if the ancients had returned on this magical evening going about their ceremonies in their own splendid manner, unafraid, confident of their majestic place on this planet. After thousands of years, you threw a party and they the ancient ones showed up! They spoke clearly with the sounds of the incredible orchestra and once again all our hearts were beating to the sounds of those magnificent drums! The monuments were glowing happily, they smiled at the respect you gave them. How precisely and wisely your artists spoke that night, how beautiful, enchanting were the sopranos, how unified and in harmony were the players of violins and those stringed instruments; so grand yet so intimate, the sounds of the flute came as a friend who accompanies you to new undiscovered lands. Our spirits vacationed with the ancient ones, we were one. Thank you.Ahmed Hammam (tour guide at Luxor) interviewed by NBC News
“Tonight I will be witnessing one of the greatest events that has ever happened in my lifetime.” Hammam said that witnessing the restoration of the Avenue of Sphinxes after years of effort was “like a dream.” “Today will be a day we will talk about for a hundred years to come. I hope everybody will enjoy it. Not just here in my hometown city, but in the whole of Egypt, and the whole of the world as well.”
Thank you, from my heart, to all those involved in making these beautiful celebrations possible.
Meaning of the Karnak and Luxor Temples, the Winter Solstice and Opet Festival
My husband Mark has written about the meaning of the Karnak and Luxor Temples in his book (which I helped co-author) The Ancient Path of the Sun.
He explains how the main axis of the Temple of Karnak is aligned to the winter solstice sunrise. It is dedicated to the Father God Amun and his wife, the Mother Goddess Mut, and symbolizes the union of Amun and Mut, and the resulting birth of their Divine Son into creation as the rising sun on the winter solstice. The ancient Egyptians built Karnak as a representation of where Amun first brought forth creation. It is the macrocosm.
On the other hand, the Temple of Luxor is the microcosm. It is laid out in proportions that seem to correspond to a human body (as discovered by R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz). Depicted on its walls are scenes which show the Mother of the Pharaoh being spiritually impregnated by Amun, and then giving birth to the Pharaoh as a Divine Son. The Pharaoh’s Mother is said to be the earthly representation of the Mother Goddess, and the Pharaoh of the Spiritual Son/Sun as Horus (Khonsu, who was used as the Spiritual Son in the Opet procession, seems to have later replaced Horus).
The procession of the triad of Father, Mother, and their Son, carried along the avenue from Karnak Temple to Luxor Temple.
The procession bringing the divine triad of Father, Mother, and Son from Karnak to Luxor along the Sphinx Avenue may symbolize these three forces coming from the place of first creation (enacted at Karnak), into a person and the world (enacted at Luxor). On a deeper level, the “rebirth” of the pharaoh, celebrated at Luxor during the Opet festival, symbolizes the Son incarnating within a person, and is timed with the beginning of the growing season in Egypt (which started around September) – showing how the Spiritual Son/Sun brings life to the world.
It enacted something extremely sacred. In essence, it symbolized bringing what is above, to what is below. Bringing the divine forces from the temple of first creation (Karnak), to the temple of man (Luxor). Bringing the forces of the divine above, into a spiritually worthy person, and thus into the world below.
Footnotes
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opet_Festival
- Mark Atwood with Lara Atwood, The Ancient Path of the Sun
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_Sphinxes
Hi everyone, I noticed people were sharing about the recent solstice, so I want to add my own experience. I had the amazing fortune of visiting Stonehenge for winter solstice sunrise this year in addition to Glastonbury Tor the day before. It was possible because Stonehenge was opened on December 22nd, which is the first sunrise following winter solstice. The celebration at Glastonbury Tor (and most others to my knowledge) happened on sunrise closest to the winter solstice, which was the day before. The atmosphere at both places was amazing. The sun rose in its full glory at Stonehenge, which was very impressive. I made a basic recording of Stonehenge atmosphere:
Stonehenge winter solstice sunrise atmosphere (short): https://youtu.be/7cqzEROJ6mE
Stonehenge winter solstice sunrise atmosphere (long): https://youtu.be/GhsoIMKBNFs
Both places are magnets for pilgrims to come on those days. The result is a group of people many of whom see each other for the first time. There is little organization other than location and time. Celebrations move according to what people bring. Druids bring their own dress, prayer and mantra (at Stonehenge). People gather around songs and around fires. Fires were only set up at Glastonbury (in portable metal pits, probably brought voluntarily). Songs happened everywhere.
When a woman or group of people start singing reasonably well, people who are not doing anything in particular join in. Circles get created naturally around singers like this. Multiple such circles can (and often do) happen at once. They start out small and may grow to even become the dominant circle of an event. I have seen this happen at Glastonbury and at Stonehenge. They happen naturally when a group of people brings something catchy to a disorganized space. I recorded parts of more popular songs that were performed at both places to give you an idea of how they went:
Stonehenge Song Ai un Dunda: https://youtu.be/zFzhKePcTiA
Stonehenge Song about land: https://youtu.be/hrYtgTxWJQ8
Glastonbury Spirit of the Earth: https://youtu.be/dBO61O-57Sc
Glastonbury We are Rising Up: https://youtu.be/eQAOPYCZ18E
The women at Glastonbury were really interesting. The atmosphere they created had a strong sense of friendship, and something about them being women gave it other qualities too. After the event I asked the one who seemed to be leading about how they organize and what made her do it and what made her take initiative. She said when she first came to Glastonbury she saw a bunch of people who were disparate and she thought someone should so something. This was what she did and others joined in year after year. From personal observation it’s not obvious why anyone can take charge without authority. However, people who do take charge well impact the event a lot, not least of all because by default a party atmosphere seems to happen.
As time went on party songs dominated. Party songs were there from the beginning, it’s just that after a while people who had other kinds of songs finished and they were all that was left. They seemed very much out of place to me, especially at Stonehenge. The stones had an atmosphere to them and a party did not seem in tune with it.
About the atmosphere of the stones: I watched sunrise from within the outer enclosure of stones. After sunrise I took a step out of the circle and immediately felt very different, a bit like at a fair, so much so that I took a step back right away. At the inner circle the atmosphere was different still, but it was very busy for me to tune into it. Some of the large Trilithons had a presence to them I thought was very impactful when I was aware of them.
Some notes about my videos:
1. Please forgive the quality – it’s a simple phone camera that is not meant for anything more than basic video. I did not plan to take any videos, but wanted to share what I saw at the events.
2. While the celebrations and ceremonies were somewhat private, in both places international news agencies turned up and made their own recordings and photos. You may be able to find some from Getty Images and from Ruptly, and possibly from others.
Thank you for sharing Aleks, very nice to hear your firsthand account about what was going on at these 2 places. Also interesting how you managed to tap into the power of the stones, sounds very magical. :-)
I find it very heartwarming to see how much people feel drawn to these places, and how much they want to do something on the solstices. The only problem is that the exact spiritual meanings and proper rituals of the Light have been lost, so people just try to improvise something in a disorganised way. Hopefully, with more and more meanings being re-discovered and applied (also thanks to Mark and Lara’s work), these celebrations can become more and more meaningful.
I wanted to communicate the sense you describe, Lucia. Many people come to the places of old, but few know what to do there. There are some who know a bit of what to do, but few are active. For example, the druid bards know how to sing and records of songs of old exist, but I did not see a single druid bard perform one song of this kind. I know things like this exist in other places of Europe, especially Eastern Europe, and to give credit where it’s due, I also know that more serious ceremonies are held at less prominent sites than Stonehenge.
I think it’s a loss genuine things are not happening at a place like Stonehenge. The stones bring strength, but as they are not used appropriately their energies go amiss. It is possible for groups of people to prepare activities and perform them at the stones. For example, ceremonies, or dances, songs, or other. You need little (if any) permission to do so, and there does not appear to be any discrimination on who can do what, so if the activity is well done and suits the occasion it could potentially do very well. This is why I highlighted the Glastonbury women as an example. Coming out of Stonehenge I was also thinking of what I could bring to it next time.
It’s lovely to see a ceremony of light being celebrated on a grand scale once again! I wish everyone a happy and peaceful solstice time, however you celebrate it.
Unbelievable ceremony!
It is itself a big inspiration!
What a fantastic show to watch! Thank you Lara so much for sharing it! It is great to witness a procession done in an ancient style,though with some modern adjustments to it. You would not believe how much watching it has brought my spirit up since the term “religion of the sun” has been something that has gone out of my mind for a while unfortunately,due to some dramas going on in my personal life involving a dispute between me and my neighbors where I really no choice but to spend all of my energy just to deal with that. During this period of time my mind has been filled with much stress,anxiety and concerns over what might come in the near future,and there’s no doubt that those things have caused tons of negative emotions in me which I have a hard time to cope with. Being overwhelmed by the dramas that are affecting me in this world, I have recently lost my will to continue my spiritual journey towards the Sun. I have completely forgotten about the research that I vowed to do,as well as the spiritual practices that I used to do as part of my daily routine. Until recently I haven’t even dared to look up at the sun once,simply because I don’t have as much interest in it as I used to. I tried to remind myself about the spiritual path that I was meant to walk,but the burden in the material world which I have to face at this moment is just too heavy to bear. I could feel that things in my life started to turn for the worse in a significant way since the beginning of the fall,and as days got shorter in my part of the world,so did the darkness in my personal life. I don’t really understand the exact reasons for what I’m going through, but I do believe that everything in life happens for a reason and this is something that I must go through in order to grow and develop as a human being. And I believe that I was being further affirmed of this because of a dream that I had back in November when I heard a voice that said to me “There will be something you must go through during this half of the year,it will slowly push you off your limits until the shortest day of the year comes. ” I’m not sure as to what the last part of the sentence means,as I don’t even think the shortest day of the year has arrived yet. But so far what that voice said regarding what would be happening to me during the past few months have indeed been occurring in my life. And I do feel it’s kinda a shame that I have given up on my spiritual development due to what may be a test from the universe that has put upon me. This video that you shared is definitely the thing that I need at this particular moment,which is reconnecting me to the realm of spirituality which I slowly drifted away from recently. It served as a reminder to me as to why I am where I am,and what I was meant to do. I have made up my mind while watching the show that I was going to pick up myself and continue on the spiritual journey that I was walking before I became overwelmed by the dispute going on between me and my neighbor. After all,my friend could get herself out of a really bothersome breakup with her ex, there is no way that I cannot survive what’s been happening with me now. And it would make even less sense if I gave up on my spiritual development altogether for this reason. I would say that this video was really helpful to me in terms of lifting up my spirit and encouraging me to keep on walking the spiritual path. Thank you again Lara for sharing this amazing video,and I cannot describe how much it has helped me at this specific moment.
I’m so glad Emily, fight on! I hope you look to the sun on the solstice, for though the light is small, it will be returning and is all powerful.
Thanks for sharing what your going through Emily. We all face tough times. Great that you are going to push forward with your spiritual development. Never give up!
The tough times can be a wonderful opportunity to learn.
I hope the upcoming Solstice is a really peaceful & meaningful one for you.
Hey Emily, nice to hear from you!
I was wondering how you and Lingling were doing… It sounds like your life path is indeed mirroring that of the sun right now. :-) But how amazing you have been forewarned of this, and therefore can be certain that all this is for your learning, and hopefully you come out of this much stronger and wiser! I am actually also going through a difficult period right now, and can relate to your feeling of upliftment and joy upon watching this video. It really sparked some light inside of me, and inspired me to do some specific spiritual practices, together with looking more deeply into some aspects of the Ancient Egyptian religion.
BTW, the “sea dances” and the whole scene at about 1:39:39 of the video reminded me of the expressive Chinese classical dances I like to watch sometimes. :-)
Wishing you a lot of strength and continuous guidance from the Spiritual Sun!
Hi Emily,
I’ve been reading your comments here and really admire your inner strength and connection to the spiritual realms, and the research mission on the religion of the sun that you have taken up. Nice to meet you :)
For me it’s been really difficult too lately where the struggle relates to letting myself and others down and it’s been weighing on me heavily. Even just yesterday I was failing and feeling dark about it, but when I read your comment last night I felt uplifted and inspired to try better. And this morning I felt that I was a bit above the surface, and not submerged in the chaos so much, first time in a long while. We did the winter solstice ceremony indoors because of bad weather and I fell asleep afterwards. In a lucid dream I saw a reddish golden sun shining through fresh green tree branches. It was the most sublime summer time in the dream when it’s actually the depth of winter! But the sun seemed to exude a gentle peace and beauty, giving me hope and encouragement. I know that I have all the power within that I need to rise above the dark thoughts and feelings that were keeping me in a loop and making it difficult to come out of it. I guess I always knew it was there but felt too down and weak to make use of it until now. But I’m alive and I have this life, and the old adage is so true that as long as there is life there is hope, because every day is a new opportunity, and I want to honour it by fighting the darkness.
Wishing you all that you need to keep going! Happy Solstice!
Hello Emily, it’s nice to know that you’ve managed to find your way back. Disputes of all kinds can be such a terrible distraction of what really matter. As you’ve mentioned, I also find it very helpful when I’m struggling in certain situations to look at the others who are facing much more difficult times in their lives. I remember when I was travelling/surfing through Morocco and other third world countries and meeting people who had very little and so much hardship in their lives, and it made me realise how my life was not so bad. Wishing you much strength to stay strong on your focus of the spiritual Sun.
Hi Everyone,
Thank you so much for all of your uplifting greetings, it is very interesting that I have been involved in a discussion with my neighbor on how this issue could possibly resolved in the past few days,and we just happened to came to an agreement on the say of winter solstice,and the issue which caused the dispute between us in the first place is expected to be resolved slowly from now on,it is likely that the issue will be completely fixed by next summer(not sure if it will be fixed on summer solstice,but the expected timing is indeed something worthy of noting here). So I guess I could say that I’m halfway through on fixing with issue. On the day of solstice I gazed at the sun,and could really feel its energy which I haven’t really tried to experience in a while,and I clearly felt super-enpowered by that. Also just wanted to mention I had dumplings on winter solstice as that is part of my tradition. And it has only become evident to be now that Chinese people do celebrate solstices and equinoxes,and Han Chinese from different parts of the country even do it in different ways. I have been able to learn about bits and pieces of those different local cultures and customs from the people that I’ve met,and it turns out they all have their own unique ways of celebrating solstices and equinoxes. But they all think of those celebrations as nothing more than traditions passed down from their ancestors that was formed as a result of finding out when to plant and harvest crops…and have forgotten about the possible spiritual implications behind those celebrations. That should be where my discussion about the religion of the sun with them come in,but I haven’t been able to do that because I just felt so torn apart by the period of darkness I’ve been going through in my life. Now I’m even regretting that the friend whom I had dumplings with on winter solstice actually told me a lot about how the place where she’s from celebrate solstices,and I didn’t even take any note of that! Now all I remember is that they do some kind of weird dances when the sun is right above their heads at noon or something…but had I written down the information she provided me,that should have been really helpful to me in terms of my research.
Hi Emily,
It is interesting what you said about Chinese people celebrating the solstices and equinoxes, but with the meaning being obscure… It seems to me like an effort might have been made in the past, to blur the meaning of the important Chinese celebrations and festivals, so people don’t know anymore what they are celebrating and why.
Like for example the famous Torch Festival of the Yi/Nuosu people of Southern China looks to me like a profound celebration of light and fire, and would make sense for it to happen on the summer solstice, but it in fact happens at the end of June of the Chinese lunar calendar, which corresponds to August of the Gregorian calendar. This makes me think that maybe somebody in the past cleverly switched the dates to lunar calendar instead of solar, blurring its meaning and weakening the timing. Anyway, its just my own, personal “conspiracy theory”. :-) The reasons they give for this celebration today does not sound convincing either, supposedly “to celebrate how the Yi people warded off some evil spirit who tried to destroy their crops in the past”… Here is a short excerpt of a more modern celebration of this festival, it feels so powerful and beautiful too, especially the view from above from 0:23 to 0:26, where one can appreciate seeing all those circles of light with a fire in the middle, arranged in a circular way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw4va2RUp68
That’s very interesting to hear about such widespread solstice and equinox practices in China, especially with a special dance at noon, which sounds like it could have quite a symbolic origin. It seems that the sun was central to the original religion of China, but the understanding of it’s true spiritual meaning became lost over time. I hope you get to find out more about these traditions in the future.
PS: It seems that Lingling is undergoing some tough time in her life too,she was packing up,getting ready to make her move near Sanxingdui where she could further her research around that area,but before long she suddenly got some problems with her health and her plan of moving to the Ba Shu region had to be postponed. For privacy reasons I will not reveal the details regarding her but she has gone to the hospital many times already,and she is just not in the right condition to travel. This may come as a shock to many people but really no one was expecting this to happen to her. I have been trying to cheer her up over the phone every now and then,doing my best to lift up her spirit. I would love to meet her in person but her condition is contagious,so I can’t really get too close to her:( Now all we can do is making prayers hoping that she will get better soon,and who knows,maybe this could be a test for her too(She never told me if she had been forewarned of this or not,so I’m not sure)
I’m sorry to hear about Lingling’s health! Please wish her a full and speedy recovery from me. It sounds like it is something passing, and that it’s just something she needs to go through and will recover from. As long as she keeps her faith in the light, I am sure she will be guided and that she will be helped in her inner journey.
What challenges your friend Lingling has had to go go through! At first her personal life got a blow, now she has been stopped from moving by this sickness, having to stay in hospital even without a possibility of visits… She has been in my prayers, please give her some virtual hugs from me! Wishing her a lot of spiritual strength and a super speedy recovery!
Hi Emily.
Thanks for writing down your personal happenings so honestly all this time. I believe you are sincere about your goal and have been in efforts towards it also, therefore your story at times becomes like a reflective mirror of the greater external factors/energies at play, on people who are trying to do something for light (and on humanity as whole even perhaps), that are outside of our control. To be honest I’ve been surprised at the extent to which we are subject to what the divine sees as suitable for a time period, though they surely base that on some greater cosmic plan/cycles which they move in accordance with. Anyway there seems to be a lot of that going on right now particularly, putting a limit on what we are able to do or wished to, and I guess we need to surrender to such divine will too, and not for example push ourselves to our own detriment, but rather protect the little light that is there. May Lingling receive a lot of divine care.
I have good hopes for 2022 actually. That there’ll be space for the build up of good works.
A truly beautiful and phenomenal ceremony, like a ray of light into this world. Thanks for sharing Lara.
Wishing peace and joy to all for the upcoming Solstice.
I can relate to many of the sentiments people have shared in this thread. The ceremony was beautiful, unexpected and moving. The care that went into all the fine details was surreal and an absolute joy to watch, especially when you pair it with the deeper meaning of what the temples and the ceremony represent. It really does feel like it touched upon something sacred and ancient that was long forgotten but now has been carefully revived and preserved at such a crucial time for humanity.
What a spectacular ceremony and a beautiful temple – the lights and singing seemed to have brought life to the ancient passages, columns and statues. Reading your explanation added much needed understanding to be able to more fully appreciate the spectacle. Thank you for sharing Lara.
Thanks a lot Lara for posting this ceremony and celebration. It’s unbelievable to see a whole nation focus on a celebration of the Religion of the Sun like that.
The entire production was incredibly well done. Dances were so gentle and beautiful that I was paying attention to how different moves are done, and what they communicate. I think you can communicate a lot through dance and movement and I find it inspiring to learn to communicate to the divine like this. I had wondered whether dances and moves were authentically ancient Egyptian, but alas it is unlikely as too little record remain of those from the deep past. My uneducated impression is that there were mediteranean European influences in the older looking ones.
It is very interesting how in today’s times of suppression of human qualities we see rise of old ways of worship of the old gods.
I was going back over the Kolbrin yesterday, looking for references to the secret order of the Twice Born, and re-read Yvonne Whiteman’s article about them. In the Kolbrin it says they used hidden initiatory rooms beneath the Temple of Karnak, and actual sub-floor rooms matching the description given in the Kolbrin have been found there. It seems they were the ones behind the symbolism of the Opet festival, as they write “The worship of The High God and the knowledge of the Sacred Mysteries” was “kept hidden by the Enlightened Ones and the Twice Born.” This knowledge was “behind” and “veiled within” the public forms of worship. No wonder the ceremony is so meaningful.
I looked into my notes, yes, it is very clear that there was a secret initiatory order working in Luxor and designing those temples…
In the Temple of Karnak, the common people were able to access only the first chambers, the interior temples 3, 4, 5, 6 were accessed by the priests as they advanced in their work, and the most sacred chamber number 7 was accessed only by The High Priest (and the Pharaoh, as he/she was the mediator between the Humans and the Divine). So the light of the winter solstice was going first to the High Priest, then to priests, and finally to common worshippers, and then towards the Nile River (and towards the Temple of Hatchepsut on the other side).
George Gurdjieff and Shwaller de Lubics described the Temple of Luxor as “The Temple of Man”, but my tour guide had no idea about it… very knowledgeable man with a lot of experience, yet not knowing it.
It is actually not really obvious at all that it has the teachings about the Microcosm. Something that I found interesting, was that the first chambers of the Luxor Temple next to its entrance have very clear references to the feet and to the knees, but then as you go in, the symbolism becomes much more hidden/subtle/esoteric. The teachings deepen as you go further inside the temple, they become more and more profound, so it is clear that there were some initiates designing them and then working there.
As for underground chambers, there is one in Dendera in the Temple of Hathor… fortunately, it preserved the carvings and they are very mystical and profound. This is the place where you just want to sit, study, meditate…
Seeing all that, yes, it certainly makes sense that the ceremony of Opet Festival was also designed to contain deep spiritual wisdom, but given in layers/symbols.
Thank you Lara! There is so much in Kolbrin that only becomes apparent after a deeper and careful reading, coupled with personal spiritual experience, as you have done. How amazing indeed…. Its veiled within history revival/tourism today, but still, it was done! The 3 forces have been carefully and ceremonially brought from Karnak to Luxor and that’s it. :-)
I read a few things today relating somewhat to things seen in the ceremony. Information of a more general type relating to the temple and rituals, but interesting to me. Here are some paraphrased parts.
‘Within a temple many layers of structures formed a fortress to protect the statue of a god contained within the innermost sanctum.
Special priests would wash in the sacred lake at the temple of Karnak, shave their body and dress in clean white clothing — in order to be pure before the god Amun-Ra. Karnak Temple was vast and the god was hidden in the innermost shrine. In the darkness there priests would burn fragrant incense and chant hymns of praise (the Egyptian word for incense means ‘to make divine’.) A specially appointed priest would wash and dress Amun-Ra’s statue, and offer food and pour water and milk to the gods (libations.) When this daily ritual was completed the priests would sweep away their footprints as they left the chamber.’
Nice to imagine for a moment what that sacred chamber would feel like.
‘Specific places in Egypt would have a god sacred to them. Of these gods many belonged to families, often in sets of three known as triads. (Like the Theban triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu.) Amun, as a god of the city Thebes, became the most important ‘King of the Gods’ when that city became the capital, and he was associated with the sun god Ra. Carried in model boats these statues of gods were at times carried to visit ‘family’ in their respective temples.’
‘The structures serving this route were impressive. The processional road lined with sphinxes reached a grand gateway called a ‘pylon’, which symbolised the horizon and the sun’s eternal renewal. Tall flags waved at the entrance. Inside, the floor’s inclination went up as you went in deeper while the ceilings lowered, there housing the god’s shrine.’
At Karnak the general public could generally not enter and would go to places just outside the temple for their prayers to be heard. Quite something to think about what Lara wrote and that beyond the public priests there could be another layer of an esoteric brotherhood, who lived the mysteries for real within themselves…
On gods as statues. While keeping the pitfalls of idolatry in mind at the same time I’ve also come to see a beneficial side of having ‘images’ of divine beings. In one case out of my body I was in front of a carved statue of a divine being, but could feel that being manifesting through it as if present.
I can imagine how such a procession carrying the statues of gods would be an impactful thing to people of that faith.
Thank you Lara for this great find. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect at all before watching it. But it was incredibly surreal. I really found some of the chanting / almost mantra like hymns and the drums really powerful and beautiful. Seeing the lady carrying incense, the lovely white, red and blue clothing, the show of lights and shadows playing, illuminating the stones and especially the 3 boats. I couldn’t get enough of them truly.. i wanted to keep looking at them moving through the path of gates and ancient majestic standing stones, it was like a ‘divine peekaboo’ so to speak – hard to explain the feeling and put into words, but it was like in plain view but then they were hidden from view and then reappearing, again and again as they took steps forward among the stones and gates. You knew they were going to appear and reappear.. Yet somehow every time I got a glimpse of them it was surreal feeling. And then there was the obelisk with all its beauty and engraving.. I can’t explain it but I got teary several times at watching what was sometimes just a few seconds of footage.. I need to rewatch it a few times as I’m sure I missed many details. But imagining this type of reverence, attention to details at other ancient sites in the world being re-enacted would be amazing. Inty Rami comes to mind as another example. But this procession really was stunning.
Wow, incredible!! There were times in the video when I thought they were real scenes from the past. Definitely, I’ll watch it with my daughters too, they will love it. And what a coincidence as my little daughter gave today the term homework about Ancient Egypt which it took us almost 2 months to deliver it. Thank you for sharing Lara. So excited about that event.
Thanks so much for sharing Lara. Wow so refreshing to see a celebration such as this proceed in these times of doom & gloom.
It was a complete breath of fresh air and echoing someone else’s comment , it really brought history to life. I’m sure there have been countless celebrations of the spiritual sun in that ancient temple.
I’d love to see it again with subtitles, hope that is an option one day.
Thanks again, great to see such a meaningful & symbolic celebration, should be headlining news in MSM.
This was a truely beautiful spectaclue to see – the ancient monuments being brought back to life. How beautiful the Egyptian people are.
I am constantly in awe of the deep symbolism that you Lara and Mark bring to light through your books and reading about this progression ceremony was no different.
This ceremony is so rich in meaning and the way the Egyptian people have beautifully recreated this is an act of divine worship. Thanks so much for sharing with us.
What a thing to witness. Very moving indeed. That comment written by Minhaj Arifin is so well expressed – I felt they described the experience of watching this so rightly and with such spirit and reverence. I’m grateful you’ve put this on our radar, Lara. Hopefully this spark of light will have its ripples felt in many hearts all over the world.
That was magnificent! Wow!
Amazing ceremony, and I echo others’ sentiments.
I wish there had been subtitles in the video. Thankfully there are translations online, e.g. https://nilefm.com/undefined/article/8507/translations-of-ancient-egyptian-chants-played-at-sphinx-avenue-event-revealed
The cynic in me says their number one motivation for the ceremony is to boost tourism (one of Egypt’s largest sectors). Even so, the result was quite a powerful statement.
But even if their primary aim is just to boost tourism, it’d be great if they did it annually. They could do other festivals and ceremonies too – people would surely love to visit to witness them.
However, I’m skeptical of how tolerant their society would be for more and more ancient Egyptian ceremonies and festivals. The history of Islamic Egypt isn’t one of peace, tolerance, and freedom.
Anyway, to see this happening at all is a good sign. Maybe it will be a catalyst for the future and greater freedom of religion in Egypt. Freedom to live, move around, and practice your religion is so vitally important to life, yet sadly seems to be stifled more as time goes on.
I had those cynic thoughts myself Jon and more watching the audience of this performance and Indeed the whole project and presentation is developed by the ministry of tourism.
The performance reflected the ancient Egyptian past which by no means relates to that of nowadays of course and this reflection happen to be of the Light which is quite fortunate.
Watching the people with the double sabers looked like Jedi to me 😊 and the lyrics and music fit so well that made me want to add more of these into my solar ceremonies. Also the timing wouldn’t be better to give a boost for the upcoming solstice, so thanks to Lara for bringing this up.
Yes, it’s a shame that such ceremonies usually only find funding if it’s for the benefit of tourism.
I do feel though, from reading the comments, and seeing the care that was put into it, and how it meant so much to the people who were involved in the restorations, that it meant more than your average tourist display. When was the last time people cried at a national tourist promotion? :-)
It also felt like a celebration of an achievement of the Egyptian people. The Sphinx Causeway has been out of use for at least 2,000 years.
I read comments from the Egyptians themselves too, and it really meant something to them to see the greatness of their ancient heritage presented so magnificently to the world. In many ways, I feel like the change in the way the world sees these ancient sites needs to start with the people who are their custodians. The Egyptians need to change the way they see the ancient past, with much more respect, and I think these events have done a lot towards that.
I could say the same about any country. I feel quite appalled at how some of the sites in North America and Europe are left ignored and lifeless. I remember looking for a site in North America and stopping in at a gas station to ask for directions. To my surprise no one I asked had even heard about it, even though they lived right near it, and I asked Americans of both European and native ancestry. It seems North America has a much longer way to go than Egypt.
That is so true. Where I am in Europe, ancient sacred sites, many of them sun-oriented are scattered everywhere, and they keep finding new ones. For the last summer solstice I looked up a few with striking alignments, but in the end we couldn’t find them. They usually don’t give detailed descriptions online in order to prevent robbers from going and digging for treasure I guess. We asked some locals about one that should have been close by but they hadn’t heard of it.
Some regions here feel strong with mystical energies and very ancient looking ruins all around. Some people do visit the more well-known sites for spiritual purposes and even for ceremonies. But what I’m trying to say is that there is such a strong feeling of spirituality here and the ancient past feels so close but most people aren’t aware of it and these sites remain abandoned on the whole. There is also a beautiful local variation so that most sacred sites we’ve been to are different from the others. What a great opportunity it would be for the local communities to maintain, protect and appreciate them and their uniqueness.
I have wondered about that too, Jon. Namely about how much opposition and hatred would arise, if they decided to do these ceremonies (and similar ones) on a regular basis, even if just for a tourism purpose. I have already seen some negative comments like that, even though they seem to be a minority for now. The “tourism reason” may actually be a good one in this time and age, as many people may be able to tolerate these authentic ceremonies for the sake of profit. I mean, the Light may be masquerading under the cloak of tourism, just as the darkness is masquerading under the cloak of pop music. :-D
I totally agree with you, Lucia! When I saw this ceremony for the first time I have instantly felt that this is a message or an omen from the gods communicating what is to come. We have seen on many occasions how the entities from the other side use people to express their dominance so in the same way this ceremony has expressed the presence of the gods. At least that is my feeling.
Your comment Lucia reminded me a bit of what happened with Snorri Sturluson when he was writing the Prose Edda. This is a very rough / summarised explanation of what happened, but Snorri felt that the ancient art of poetry was being lost, along with the Norse mythological understandings behind the sagas and wanted them to be retained. But he was writing in a very Christian society, who would probably have been hostile if he had depicted the stories as occurring to gods. So instead he depicted the stories as being about real people from long ago / the ancient ancestors of people at that time, which was much more palatable to the authorities. If he hadn’t done that, it’s possible that the Prose Edda may never have survived, which is one of few main source texts for Nordic mythology that exist.
Maybe ceremonies for “tourism” in Egypt is a similar thing today as you said.
You picked it Jon.
Looks like they are going to revive it as an annual event with dates set ahead of time for tourism purposes.
https://nilefm.com/life/article/8531/luxor-s-opet-festival-to-be-revived-as-an-annual-event
Its amazing to see such a large scale esoteric ceremony. Makes one wonder what they would of been like in their purest form back in the day.
Wow… this is amazing news. Maybe it is the start of Egypt being brought back to life.
I was quite taken back by such a great celebration. Truly that was a brilliant performance from the Egyptians. I found this event to be a major step forward in the revival of ancient spiritual Sun wisdom, and it sparked hope within me in times of great hardship in our world. Thank you Lara, much appreciate all the hard work.
Lara, thanks so much for sharing this with us. You are absolutely right when you said: “I can’t believe how such light has come through in such dark and desperate times. Incredible how the Divine finds a way”.
I reflected on your statement after watching the ceremony – need to watch again and again – and totally agree with you. Watching the ceremony immediately made me think that I was part of the ancient past and I was part of the ceremonies that took place back then. How incredible that this Light is being able to emerge like this during a time where we are forced into unrelenting darkness. It is a miracle, it is truly magical. But I think above all it does offer us Hope – something that I sorely need at present as I am sure as many others, it is a difficult time and if we are not careful, we can easily get caught in the trap of negativity that is so characteristic of the Darkness. Thank you and may this new Light spread Hope and Love to the entire World!
This was a fantastic ceremony really refreshing to see something like this as opposed to the more common displays we tend to see around today that tend to be, hidden or just in plain sight, with more demonic influences. I really hope this message spreads and starts to radiate more through out the world, that the light can start to shine more and more in this world that seems to be consumed by darkness, that people can start to wake up and finally see that there is another way rather than what we are being sold
Thanks for sharing
I have re-watched this a few times now, can’t seem to get enough of it! So magical and emotionally charging. <3 There were so many beautiful moments in the procession, and beautiful views, like the ones from above (drones footage?)
The most amazing moment for me though, was the culmination passage from around 1:49:14 to 1:50:50, as the barques entered the Luxor temple, and then kept passing all those giant statues of the Gods inside, everything beautifully illuminated, it felt like a communication was taking place, and the procession was welcomed by the Gods…
The music and the chorus was astounding too, it actually reminded me of the chorus in the Polovtsian Dances from the Russian composer Borodin, which I like very much.
It also made me wonder if the Divine is orchestrating the events here, in the physical dimension, with people not necessarily being fully aware of what’s taking place. Many people seemed to feel it, but thinking they were just being touched because their history is being revived. But there were also comments from people who were not Egyptians, but were very touched too, to the point of tears. And when I think about it, I am also not fully aware of what’s going on here, but would really love to hope that it had a deeper meaning in the higher dimensions, and that its a beginning of something wonderful…
Truly an amazing feat of re-creation and organization! It is just astonishing how much beauty has been portrayed in these events and on such a grand scale. It is a worthwhile breather out of the current times and an invitation for people to keep searching and understanding the hidden messages of our spiritual ancestors.
Wow – glad you shared this. I had no idea.
The level of effort and care that went into the ceremony was remarkable. At many moments it really did transport me back to an ancient time, when an event like this would have expressed a civilization’s deepest values. An amazing thing to consider.
There was a Bollywood-type movie I watched recently, set in modern times, where an Indian man living in America returned to his native village in rural India. During his time there, the village held a festival which included a ceremony depicting Ram rescuing Sita and defeating Ravan. Although much more humble than this Egyptian ceremony, I still found it quite moving both in itself and in how the whole village was gathered to watch and participate. The deep meaning of the ceremony was central to their culture and lives and brought everyone together.
Like Vadim mentioned, it’s interesting to contrast this to the typical large-scale pageantry we see today. A Super Bowl half-time show was the closest equivalent thing I could think of, and the contrast couldn’t be more stark. They are just there to entertain (to say nothing of the darker undertones often present) and lack any kind of transcendent purpose.
It makes you realize how many modern societies have lost that cultural thread that can tie people together and connect them to something timeless and bigger than themselves.
So definitely very encouraging to see the Egyptian people bringing their heritage back to life. Hopefully an inspiration for other countries as well.
Hi Justin, I was wondering if you would mind sharing, which Bollywood-type movie you watched, and where it can be seen? As Christmas is approaching, its always good to have some spiritually-themes movies on hand!
Hi Lucia, sure – the movie was called Swades: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367110/
It’s available on Netflix and perhaps elsewhere as well.
It’s basically about how the man returns to India for family reasons and then needs to navigate which culture he really belongs to.
I often prefer the big historical epic type movies :) but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this one.
Sounds good to me, thank you Justin!
Hi all again… :-O
Inspired by Lara’s mentioning of the “Order of the Twice Born”, I have revisited the corresponding article by Y. Whitman, where she writes about the topic, clarifying some obscure topics from the Kolbrin ( https://grahamhancock.com/whitemany9/). While doing that, I also found out she has released 2 new e-books with the material from her articles, which is wonderful! I feel like she has done such an enormous and undervalued (for now) work to bring this ancient text to life and to try to explain at least some of its hidden meanings to the general public, linking it with archaeological, genetic and other discoveries.
Anyway, what mostly caught my attention in that article were her attempts to locate the different “Houses of the Hidden Places” mentioned in Kolbrin, or the sacred initiatory spaces within temples, where the so-called Hibsathy rituals, or rituals to become the Twice Born were carried out. According to Kolbrin, there were, at one point in time, many of these “caverns of initiation” opened at different places, but also there were times when many of them closed, due to the low spiritual state of humanity. Nevertheless, she managed to make some informed guesses where some of these places may have been located, based on her study of different archaeological works and authors. And one of them, as Lara mentioned, would be within the Karnak temples complex. Interestingly, she located this place at a currently abandoned and inconspicuous structure near the sacred lake, called “Edifice of Taharqa”. Also amazingly, she found out it is located at the very centre of the Karnak complex, by drawing two intersecting diametric lines from the corners of the complex, with this edifice being in their exact crossing point. In this way, she says, this initiation chamber would form the “heart” of the complex. Here is the image she adapted by drawing those red lines: https://grahamhancock.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/whitemany9_html_da9c9615c686c459.jpg
So after reading about this, I went to see what else was available online about this mysterious structure, and I found two interesting carvings in this structure, which may refer to the “death and resurrection” ritual of the Twice Born. The first is a relief of a “recumbed body” (of the initiate?) on the east wall of the structure, which can be seen on the image “D” at the bottom left corner of this page: https://www.meretsegerbooks.com/pictures/M3397b-05.jpg?v=1496383657
And the second one is an illustration of the two goddesses Isis and Nepthys raising the solar disc, with the Anubis-style dogs depicted at both sides: https://www.meretsegerbooks.com/pictures/M3397d-13.jpg?v=1579942671 (from the book of R.A. Parker and others, called The Edicie of Taharqa)
This illustration reminded me of what Mark writes in his book The Ancient Path of the Sun about the roles of these two goddesses (together with Anubis) in the resurrection of the spiritual candidate…
Anyway, I hope I am not seeing too much into this, but I really got inspired to explore these two temples now, especially Karnak, and have been watching all kinds of drones footages, old illustrations, as well as Google Maps to learn about this complex more in depth. For example here is a nice model of the Karnak Complex, where you can see very clearly the “Edifice of Taharqa” as a “box” on the left side of the sacred lake within the walled complex: https://i.redd.it/98o0j2tt7nd01.jpg
Great finds Lucia. Yvonne Whitman is doing a wonderful work, and the things she finds keep indicating that the Kolbrin is indeed an authentic text. I personally think it is one of the most important books in the world, and should be studied by numerous experts in their field.
It was very emotional to watch this! Everything was so perfect! I imagine the gods were guiding every move they made. I have read about the astronomical events that are happening right now and it seems something extraordinary is really going on behind the scenes not only on a large scale but also within. It is obvious that your and Mark’s work is directly linked to this and other remarkable events.
Truly incredible! Who could have thought this day would come!
Just the amount of resources, planning, and preparation that has gone into this is astounding. It made me think how if around the world such wonderful ceremonies were being performed at ancient sites on the solstices and equinoxes, with this level of loving dedication and effort and so many people and talents coming together and putting forth their best. How it would change the world.
Imagine how it was in the past – whole nations turned their efforts to these ceremonies.
The very thought of that is just remarkable. What a wonderful place we could become, what wonderful energies we could generate if this is something we could all contribute to!
That is hard to imagine. Thinking of it makes me realise how far away societies today are from that. But seeing the end credits roll for five minutes it is like any full-length movie, though still a small team when compared to a whole nation. So if only some hundreds of people can accomplish this…
I think even on a mundane level it would give people such a sense of direction and purpose, a framework that in itself would save so many that are now hopelessly lost in darkness. An awareness of and appreciation for our heritage, a sense of belonging, and unity. A living way to practice our native religion and spirituality. A way for strength from the light to reach people at large.
Such power in that procession…! certainly the performance carried over what once was in the past and awakened something mighty here again now.. Makes me thirst for more of that. I’d only briefly viewed the video previously, so I appreciate you highlighting it and giving an explanatory introduction here. I watched it properly a few times now and it’s really amazing and a lot of insights can be gained from it. One thing, It’s clear just how much effort must’ve gone into this, from the biggest preparations all the way down to a dancer’s one single movement! (makes one’s efforts feel but humble :- ).) However what I considered was that each person must’ve extracted personal things by partaking in this ceremony dedicated towards something of good. It makes me think how much of ‘human effort’, in our dark time, goes to waste. Imagine people had again found purpose and that human energy was directed into such projects. It would be another world.
@Vadim. That is beautiful. Thank you.
Thank you very much Lara for sharing this. The video looks very nice, but after watching it, immediately a thought came to me of how it would be, if the awakened masters of the Religion of the Sun, like Osiris or Anubis, were the “directors” of this ceremony. That’s something I would really love to see!
What a majestic enactment of the ancient festival, and a great way to make a grand opening of this beautiful avenue! After reading your explanation Lara, about the spiritual meaning of Karnak and Luxor temples, I am amazed that something like this has been enacted in this time and age, and in such a spectacular manner too. And even though the designers of the ceremony may have not known about the deeper meanings of the Religion of the Sun, the ceremony still carried many symbols of it (maybe they based it on the ancient descriptions of the Opet Festival?), which seemed to give it a lot of power. I also loved how they used the colours most prolifically used on the ancient Egyptian paintings: turquoise, gold, white and red. And those light-swords were amazing too, very symbolic and also added a lot of light movement to the ceremony.
It also made me realise again, the power of a well enacted ceremony. As Vadim mentioned, those evil ceremonies of the Illuminati-type that people are being fed today via the pop culture have a completely different vibe. This ceremony of the Sphinx Avenue opening, even if maybe not profoundly esoteric in its enactment, still carried so much light in it, that those evil performances pale in comparison. It made me realise again, the power that Light has over darkness, and that if darkness seems to have the upper hand today, its only because the Light has been artificially suppressed. If it was allowed to shine, I believe the whole world would be transformed…
This was amazing to watch. Such an uplifting and elevating experience that I did not expect to feel under the dark times of the pandemic weighing down on us. It was a pleasure to see the performers, who “unafraid & confident” (as Minhaj Arifin beautifully wrote in their comment) showed us the magnificence of this spectacular religion, an homage and appreciation to the glory of the divine, and the messages it left for humanity.
No doubt the Sphynx avenue was made for such ceremonial proceedings. The statues glowed in appreciation to such reverence, as opposed to the crowds of tourists it may be accustomed to. A long time re-awakening from its slumber. The whole earth must have shaken. I can see now how such events can have huge hidden impacts to the rest of the world. Like Vadim said, a relief to see ceremonies of light outshining those of the illuminati.
May we all go forth, unafraid and confident, reviving from slumber the once great and holy ways of our ancestors, who were never afraid, and knew truly what they loved, and what they were after.
I can’t believe how such light has come through in such dark and desperate times. Incredible how the Divine finds a way.
Thank you so much for sharing it, I had a similar feel of ‘the stones being brought back to life’. After watching it, I really wanted my parents to see this ceremony too, and they were really amazed by it. I explained to them the context and some symbolism, and they started to see the Ancient Egyptian culture with completely different eyes…
For me it is also personal a bit, as I remember being in those temples about 10 years ago and using prayers and visualizations, trying to ‘see through time’ and connect with the magic of those sites at ancient times, trying to understand the vision of Hatchepsut, trying to understand the intent of the builders of the temples of Karnak and Luxor…
And the Sphinx avenue was in such a horrible state, I saw the workers trying to restore it (almost 3 kilometers!) and it looked like a desperate task.
And yet, they succeed!
I could not hold my tears when I saw those ancient sites being brought to life with these beautiful artistic performances that preserved some original symbolism, and were so different from a typical Illuminati type of event that we keep seeing in the West.
I must say I cried when I watched this ceremony too. Seeing something so sacred and meaningful enacted again moved me deeply. I was amazed to see how many other people cried too (from what they wrote in their comments). It’s so interesting it has evoked this response in so many people; something very remarkable has happened.