Early morning, after breakfast, we boarded the coach for our first day’s adventures. Every morning, I asked a different person in the group to choose a word from a purple velvet drawstring bag.

The chosen word acted as a window or lens through which we experienced the events of the day and/or it described, instructed us, or in some way connected us with our experiences. The word that first day out was WONDER. It was such a perfect descriptor for the start of our great life-changing Egyptian Odyssey adventure!

As we headed toward the Giza Plateau, there was lots of nervous and anticipatory chatter about what the day could bring. Our first stop was a sight that most people have seen in photographs but relatively few people have seen in person– the three pyramids that make up the Great Pyramid Complex.

That’s when it really hits you, “I. Am. Standing. In. Front. Of. The. Great. Pyramid– In. Egypt!” We all gasped in awe and time kind of stood still. Oh, WONDER, indeed! As Rina explained the history of the Great Pyramid to us, it wasn’t lost to anyone in our group that in less than two weeks, we’d be inside that Great Pyramid, making our way to the King’s Chamber.

We had fun taking pictures of the pyramids, of ourselves at the pyramids, of each other at the pyramids. Yep– we were pyramid giddy! Here is where I really began to see the Odyssey-ites, still near strangers to each other, begin to come into conscious awareness of their soul’s rememberance of who and what they were to themselves and each other.

We moved on from the pyramids to another part of the Giza Plateau where, for those who wanted to, camel rides were being offered. This was an exciting opportunity for most of the Odyssey-ites. Not me, though, or Jinan, another member of the group. We realized we both thought the same way about it– did anyone ask the camels how they felt about the rides? It was fun watching the others, though, as they were guided onto the camel’s backs. For the most part, they were like little kids, giddy with excitement. And I have to admit that when I saw the riders heading for the horizon and back towards the Sphinx and the pyramids, my spirit was having a moment of nostalgic de-ja vu, remembering when I was part of a caravan crossing the desert sands as I headed for the pyramids so many lifetimes ago.

As we stood watching the riders and their camels, Jinan turned to me and asked if I had something I wanted to say to her because when we’d met the day before, she noticed that I had a reaction at our first in-person meeting. I looked at her and meant to say, “I don’t think so”, but instead, what came out was, “the moment I first heard your voice six years ago on the telephone, these words and feelings fluttered through my heart and mind– ‘My child’.” She threw her arms around me and we held on to each other, both weeping joyously from soul recognition, as she exclaimed, “I knew you were my mother!” I can’t put into words how wonderful it felt after all of these lifetimes to hold my child again.

After a while, Jinan spotted someone she knew and went over to them. That person was an old college classmate of hers. What are the odds that you’re thousands of miles and years of living away from your past associates and you meet up with one of them in the shadow of the pyramids in Egypt! That’s Egypt for you– great for meeting yourself and others from your past in this lifetime and in previous lifetimes.

Still on the vast Giza Plateau, those of us who weren’t traveling to the next destination on camelback, rode there in our luxury coach. At the “jewel in the crown” of the days outing, The Great Sphinx– we gathered for our own private visit to that grand symbol of the solar deity, protection, and wisdom. Larger and more majestic than you expect, with paws higher than most of us are tall, the Sphinx is everything you’ve imagined it to be. Though it’s visible from a distance, you have to have a special permit to walk around it and stand within its outstretched front legs.

Rina and the Goddess Ma’at had a vision of how our time there was to be, so we followed Ma’at’s instructions and let each Odyssey-ite choose a white feather symbolizing balance, truth, and harmony and a brass Ankh, symbolizing eternal life, that was to be worn on a ribbon around their necks.

The energy of the Sphinx is incredible! I could feel and hear his heart beating as we walked around it and stood in the shelter of his towering form. I gathered everyone together and we took a journey into the heart of the Sphinx via a Guided Meditation that revealed the first of many of each individual soul’s treasures. I felt that this wondrous symbol of ancient and modern Egypt was telling us that he held us safely in his heart and would be one of our protector-guides on our Odyssey.

The guided meditation over, we nestled next to his heart as we gathered for a group photo in the arms of the Sphinx. As soon as the picture was taken, Rina looked to her left, pointed to an ancient temple ruin, and exhorted us with the cry, “Yalla bina!”, which is Arabic for “let’s go”.

Rina has many wonderful talents, one of them being, having an eye for what will make a great photo. We followed her over to the ruin, which still had an intact framed entryway. As we entered the temple ruin, she took a photo of each of us with the Great Sphinx behind us– magnificent! She then read the hieroglyphic inscriptions which told us who the temple was dedicated to.

Finally, our private time with the Sphinx was up and we boarded the coach for our next stop– an Egyptian essential oils shop. Informative, entertaining, and a delight to our senses! Everyone, no matter what they’d promised themselves, allowed themselves the gift of purchasing these exquisite oils that were made from formulas and ingredients that were thousands of years old. I still had oils from my previous trip to Egypt, so I knew I wouldn’t let the seduction of my olfactory senses convince me to get any additional oils. Well, so much for what I thought I knew– I left there with three new blends! It was beautiful to see that whatever awkwardness anyone might have felt before we entered the oils shop, was dissipated in the beautiful energy of the “olfactory delights temple”, aka the essential oils shop.

After a delicious lunch, we headed back to the hotel to relax and prepare for the next day’s adventures. What energies would we encounter? What new-old aspects of ourselves would we discover?

Stay tuned for Part 3 of The Egyptian Odyssey Through My Eyes…