Brief updates from me!

I have been very lax in updating my blog and I apologise for that.

It will be impossible to fill in all the blanks since my last post, but I will very briefly bring you all up to date.

Christmas was very quiet, and an extremely peaceful time. I actually found myself pickling some wonderful beetroot on Christmas morning. Not exactly a normal Christmas Day activity, but I enjoyed it!

Since Christmas, business has been pretty good considering the state of tourism in Luxor and I have spent some wonderful days with some wonderful people! We have had felucca sailing on Spirit, temples and tombs and one or two "off the beaten track" days, interspersed with lots of fun and laughter.

New neighbours have arrived in the flat upstairs. Fortunately they are friends and life in our little oasis promises to be pretty good indeed.

My Greek and Roman Mythology course ended, and elhamdulilah, I passed with a Distinction!  I then started an Introduction to Philosophy course, but never finished.  Work got in the way and I found myself getting further and further behind. So I let it go, and will sign up again in the future. Now I am onto my third course....... Ancient Greeks and loving it so far.

My laptop died a very sad death, but I am now the very proud owner of a new one! Much faster than my old faithful and with lots and lots of memory!

And the highlight of the last few months was a long overdue visit by my sister and her man! It was fabulous to see her, and finally meet the man who makes her happy. And we managed a whole week without fighting! How good is that!!

And finally, I have a couple of photos for you.....  

The first one is sunrise 2 days ago from the top deck of the ferry.

And the second is the following day, just yesterday, sunrise again from the top deck of the ferry.

A very different day!

And finally, one more picture at Karnak temple.....

See you all soon!!

Feluccas on the Nile

This week has been another busy week, but a fun one!
During the past week, I and my regular Egyptology guide have become more than a familiar sight at various temples and tombs, but I missed out on sailing as I got double booked and had to do Karnak Temple instead of sailing the Nile!  What a choice to make....... both are experiences I love, but needs must and one set of guests happily sailed on Felucca Spirit without me, and the other guests spent a happy afternoon in Karnak and Luxor temples.
Of course, I was pretty happy too!

So because I had to miss out on sailing, I had a nosey around my pictures and found a small video I made some time ago and I would like to share it with you now.

Healing and Therapy Day 25th May 2012

• • 
    Friday, 25 May 2012
  • 11:00 until 19:00 in UTC+03

• Near Gezira Garden Hotel, Ramla, West Bank, Luxor, Egypt

• I am having another Therapy Day on Friday, 25th May 2012, between the hours of 11am and 7pm, at my home. I will be offering the following: Reiki treatments Crystal Healing Indian Head Massage Hopi Ear Candling In addition I will have my "cards" around if anyone wants a mini reading. I am also hoping that a good friend of mine will be here. Jon, who lives in Dahab, is hoping to be in Luxor in the next few days, and will offer help and advice on yoga, as well as talking to people about his work with sounds and toning. He would love to meet any of you who can come. Once again, I am making no charge for anything except a charge of 60EGP to cover the cost of the Hopi Ear Candles. However, there will be a confidential box available if anyone would like to tip the therapist! I do hope that you can join me (and Jon, hopefully). If you wish to attend, it would be useful if you could email me with an approximate time that you would like your treatment. It just saves you having to sit around waiting if someone pipped you to the post! hazel.isis@googlemail.com Hope to see you all https://www.facebook.com/events/255551667885800/

Tones of Creation - the cruise with a difference

Jon at Giza Pyramids

I am honoured and delighted to be working with Jonathan Orchard, an amazing yoga teacher, musician and poet on this fabulous yoga holiday. More information on Jon's work can be found on his websiteJonathan Orchard Yoga!

We aim to combine yoga with meditations and sounds, and link it all in with Ancient Egypt and the eternal River Nile.

Dahabiya - sail in style

We are cruising on a dahabiya south to Aswan for one whole week of spirituality!

Our first cruise will take place on June 20th, 2012 and we will be celebrating the Summer Solstice in Karnak Temple, Luxor. This is a special moment on its own.

Sunset over Karnak sacred lake

Add to that visits to various temples en route to Aswan, each with its own individual spirituality, a relaxing sail on a twin masted dahabiya, yoga classes and meditations, tonings and therapies and we think we have the perfect holiday.

It is a retreat with a difference.


Briefly, this is a precis of our journey

"Join us for a compelling eight day journey into the inner worlds of awareness. Enter into a deeply transformative process born from the depths of the Egyptian Mysteries.  Our focus will be the Seven Seals or chakras and the vast universe that exists within each of them. By exploring these energy vortices within your own subtle energy body, known as the Ka by the ancient Egyptians, you will activate and free life-enhancing energies.

From an esoteric and mythic standpoint, the sacred pathway of the chakras is sometimes referred to as the Inner Nile. This is due to the fact that subtle energies continually move through this pathway, metaphorically, like the waters of a river or a stream.

The classical neters of ancient Egypt are often associated with the pantheon of gods and goddess as expressions of fundamental forces of consciousness. On this journey we will be working with the flow of subtle energy from these archetypal beings.

Other systems of alchemy or energy or energy-based transformation recognize similar life-enhancing subtle energies, but call them by different names. Yogis use the word prana, while Taosits use the term chi. These three (neter, prana and chi) are quite similar in many regards though the methods for working them in meditation are quite different.

We will be focusing on prana.

By entering deep meditative states through the use of sound, you can effect the flow and quality of the neters within your own Ka. This refinement of subtle energy is the source, the stream from which positive life change occurs during this journey."

More information can be found on our Facebook page at Tones of Creation  or we can be reached via email for a full programme information pack as follows:

Hazel -hazel@spiritofthenile.com

Jon    - ptaah1111@yahoo.co.uk

The eternal River Nile

We both hope that you can join us on this journey!   

Feluccas on the Nile

I am so impressed with myself!  Despite the demolition of the balcony above me, the bricks being hauled up to the roof, and the big iron winch being dragged up the stairs at 7.30am, I have made myself a You Tube video!  It has taken me hours and hours, but its here!!  Enjoy!

am I am so impressed with myself

Looking back at 2011

What an interesting year!

2011 has seen some major changes in the world, we have seen revolutions, natural disasters, royal weddings, financial upheaval, and a few miracles along the way.

For me personally it has been a challenging year in many ways. We began the year on a high...... business was good and we had the promise of a great season....... then we had January 25th and the Egyptian Revolution. I am proud to say I was here throughout this incredible change.  Yes, I was caught up in a small teargas incident, but nothing major happened here in my adopted town. I celebrated with my egyptian friends, I was glued to anything and everything on television, I spent hours talking, debating and explaining my own personal views. I even found a copy of the Egyptian Constitution and read it end to end.  On a personal level, yes, I suffered financially, but Egypt is more than one persons finances. I can only hope that 2012 will bring Egypt all that it so desperately needs.

2011 has seen a house move for me....with all its trials and tribulations including disappearing flying carpets, but it also brought a view of the River Nile from my balcony instead of a concrete building across the street. People moved in and out of my life, sometimes not in a good way, but sometimes in a marvellous way.  Almost like the move over the River Nile moved my life in an entirely opposite direction.

I have met some wonderful people during this year....... many guests who are now friends and many others who have come into my life and left again, but leaving behind them lots of warm feelings and happiness. Some older friendships have been renewed or become closer, others sadly have gone.

I spent time on 11.11.11 inside Luxor Temple with some great people. I started a group for Reiki and sharing our knowledge (although we do need to get back on track with that now that Christmas and New Year are over lol) and on a spiritual level, some fascinating people have dropped into my life. I hope they stay.

The felucca has been busy, well as much as she can be during a revolution and we have spent many happy hours sailing with guests or with friends. The drop in tourism has affected us, obviously, but we are all confident it will return to normal. But is it a case of quality over quantity? We have certainly had quality this year!

A year of contrasts, a year of excitement, a year of sadness at times, but always a year of learning to live my life as it is meant to be lived.

2011 has been interesting to say the least, now lets see what 2012 has to bring!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Very Happy, Prosperous and Joyful 2012 from myself, Saeed and all the team at Spirit of the Nile!

Happy New Year!!!!

Living in a cocoon or Universal protection?

As you all know, I now live on the West Bank of Luxor, but I am beginning to think I am living in a parallel universe!

Recently, I seem to live my life saying just a few words such as "really? did it? who?"  I know nothing and I know no-one!!!  I see things posted on forums and internet sites, Facebook and other places and I have no idea what any of it is about!  Snippets of information find their way to me now and again, but its almost always hearsay and everyone else seems to know all the details, but this person living here has wandered around deaf and blind!

Or have I?  Maybe these things........ which are predominately negative are not meant to impact on my life. My life is meant to be happy, joyous and loving and I like it that way. Stress, trauma and negativeness have all been around me at some point or another, but recently they have stayed away. Ok, so I still worry about money, and I guess I will continue to do so until things improve with the tourism situation, but I am still here, still working, still paying my way and everytime I think "something needs to happen"....... something positive always does!

The Universe, the Source, God, the Creator, call it what you will........  keeps my life, in general, happy, joyous and positive.  I have sunshine every day, I have Spirit, I have the River Nile outside my door, I have temples and tombs a few minutes away, Ancient Egypt everywhere I turn. I have Reiki and crystals and the power of the Universe, good friends and wonderful family.  What more do I need?

Elhamdulilah!

Oh and I now have full satellite back!!  They just switched the cable with a dish belonging to an empty flat..... but the cable is still draped over the balcony!

Off now to sort out winter clothes, the nights are getting nippy!

And! Saw the crescent moon last night........ low in the sky and a gorgeous orange colour, I was on the ferry and watching the moon when a shooting star fell right over it!  A magical moment!

Satellite cables and "engineers"

Wednesday of last week, my satellite decided not to work anymore.  Subsequent investigations revealed that the holidaying Egyptian in the flat next door had used his own satellite engineer to fix his satellite. In the process he managed to take out all the satellites in the building! No-one had tv anymore except for the wonderful Egyptian channels which are obviously all in arabic!

The said engineer was fetched back, wandered around a bit scratching his head and disappeared, promising to return on Friday. Hmmmmm Friday? Like I believed he would return.

In the meantime I am unable to watch tv in English, hubby was away and I managed to read more books than I have ever done in my life!  The flat is exceptionally clean as well.

Saturday saw the landlord here with his own engineer. This one seemed to know what he was talking about, and apparently someone had been on the roof and messed around with all the cables, so the whole thing needed re-cabling.  And the dishes were being moved from the roof terrace to the roof of the studio apartment. But not on that day.

By yesterday, Wednesday, I was bored of reading, the flat was ultra clean, all ironing done and I threw a strop!

Today, (while being told the engineer would be here at 11am) the engineer arrived at just after 2pm.... ok, not bad for egyptian time. At least it is the same day.  He then proceeded to throw a new cable down from the roof, dropping it down over the balcony above me, and bringing it in through the patio doors! Hey Presto!  I have satellite back!!

But...... the cable....... all the cables are internally fixed into the walls. This one is outside and there is nowhere to bring it in. Now for me, it would make sense to drill a small hole and thread it through, or is that too much to expect?  No....... I now have a rather thick cable descending onto the balcony, tied around the wrought iron railings, draped across the middle of the balcony and in through the open patio door!

So in order to watch tv, we now have to have the door open and have to unplug the satellite so that we can close the door.

Supposedly, this is temporary until the landlord can come and look.  It will be interesting to see how long that actually takes.

Just thought I would also share this felucca convoy picture that I took on Monday while out walking with a friend. We were out for 5 hours..... walked along the River Nile on the West Bank, then cut inland to Esba before heading back through Tod and back down into the village and home.

Lapis Lazuli, Egypt and snippets

I have been working on my crystal workshops and decided to share just a few titbits with you.  I hope you enjoy!

Anyone with any interest in Ancient Egypt will know that the crystal Lapis Lazuli was a much sought after stone.

Pharoahs made good use of it in amulets, statues and jewellery, seeing its brilliant blue colour as a sign of power and protection.  They used ground lapis lazuli as a colour base for the paintings they produced in temples and tombs, and also used it as an eye adornment.

Pharoah was considered divine, and to use lapis lazuli was to initiate divine communication, thereby endowing the user with divine understanding and mental facilities. 

Lapis Lazuli has been found at pre-dynastic settlements, including that of Naqada, circa 3300-3100BC.

It is associated with the sky goddess Nut and Ma’at, the goddess of truth and justice. It is also claimed that the sun god Ra, had hair made of Lapis Lazuli.

Its Ancient Egyptian name is Khesbed.

The stone has also been used in medicine.  As indicated in a medical papyrus located in the Berlin Museum, the stone, along with malachite and jasper, were strung together and hung about the neck of a child suffering from a nasal illness. 

The Ebers Papyrus, dated from about 1600 BC, contains a formula for a medicine used to cure cataracts of the eye, and this includes lapis lazuli, milk and slime from the Nile (also called "crocodile earth"). The Ancient Egyptians, Sumerians and Babylonians also gave the stone credit for relieving neuralgia and head pains.

Other tales speak of gifts of lapis lazuli cementing the fidelity of friends, and dreaming of Lapis denoting a successful affair of the heart.

Judges in Ancient Egypt had to wear small lapis lazuli pendants of Maat on gold chains, as a sign of the responsibility of their office. If you wished to call upon one of these goddesses, you placed a piece of lapis lazuli as an offering on your altar.

Astrologically, Lapis Lazuli is associated with Sagittarius.  It is under the influence of the planet Venus and represents the 4^th hour of the night.

When working with Lapis Lazuli in crystal healing treatments, it is a versatile tool, allowing us to work on the third eye and throat chakras.  It treats migraine headaches, throat, larynx, thyroid and thymus problems.  It also helps in the treatment of bone marrow problems, insomnia and vertigo.

On a spiritual level it assists in Stargate work and spiritual journeying. It gives deep peace, provides protection, blocks psychic attack and amplifies thoughts.  It expands the senses by opening the third eye, connecting heart and head to create balance.

Lapis Lazuli is linked with Archangel Michael (strength, protection and truth), Raziel (knowledge, chief angel of the Supreme Mysteries) and Zadkiel (abundance, wisdom and kindness).

In addition, from a Feng Shui point of view, Lapis Lazuli brings skills and knowledge when placed according to the Feng Shui principles.

In Buddhism, the “Medicine Buddha” is the Buddha responsible for healing and medicine.  His title is Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light.

In 1669, according to William Rowland, translator of The Complete Chemical Dispenstory, the stone “purgeth chiefly melancholy, cures quartans, apoplexies, epilepsies, diseases of the spleen, and many forms of dementia. It is worn about the neck for an amulet to drive away frights from children; it strengthens the sight, prevents fainting, and abortion, but it must be removed near the time of delivery lest it keep up the child."

And finally, for the football fans among us, the first World Cup trophy was made of gold plated sterling silver and lapis lazuli. Sadly it was stolen (for the second time) in 1983 and has never been recovered. Its replacement uses malachite instead of lapis lazuli, still staying with the ancient traditions.

Spirit of the Nile Website

Finally, my new website is live. It still needs a few tweaks here and there, but all the new packages are now available and online.

Egypt Unveiled Photography

Spirit of the Nile Website

Whatever your needs are while you are in Luxor, Egypt we will do OUR best to provide YOU with the very best.

We are now offering spiritual tours and workshops, in addition to the felucca packages and sightseeing packages.

Egypt Unveiled Photography

If you have any special requests, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you.

We are not including external flights or hotels, so that you can have the freedom to choose a package holiday or independent travel. We can however, help with smaller hotel bookings or independent apartment rentals if required.

Egypt Unveiled Photography

We are also looking at working closely with a local photographer to offer courses on a daily or weekly basis and have access to egyptology courses for those who do not wish to partake of the spiritual aspects. A perfect solution for a couple with different interests!

We hope you find the time to check out the website. Please contact us if you require any further information.

Spirit of the Nile Website

Egypt Unveiled Photography

Trip Advisor Listing!

I am so happy! Finally I got a listing on Trip Advisor under Things to Do, Attractions! I had help and the listing is being changed to reflect all that I now do, but its on there and available for review!

Please if anyone reading this has sailed on Spirit or taken a tour with us,  could I ask you to write a review for me?

Spirit of the Nile - Trip Advisor

Recent Reiki Master/Teacher course

Recently a friend of mine arrived from the UK to complete her training as a Reiki Master Teacher with me. We had begun the course a while ago via email.

I normally offer Reiki Master courses in 2 parts. The first part is a qualification as a Reiki Master using Advanced Reiki Techniques. The second part is the Teacher element which allows the Reiki Master to pass on the knowledge to others and enable them to begin their own Reiki path.

My friend chose the full course giving her the Reiki Master/Teacher qualification.

As she is in the UK and I am in Luxor, Egypt much of the preliminary work was done via email. Predominately, we worked on the teaching side of Mastership, preparation of manuals for all 3 levels and some lesson preparation.
She was only here in Luxor for one week, so most of that week would be taken up with practical work for the Advanced Reiki techniques.

By the time she arrived, manuals had been prepared and reviewed, a student had been lined up so that she could take her first class here under supervision, and a lineup of guinea pigs had been reserved!!

Her first evening in Luxor saw the auspicious Full Moon Lunar Eclipse and we watched the whole thing from the balcony. The moon rose over Luxor Temple and we never moved until the Eclipse was completely over. Dinner was courtesy of Tutankhamun Restaurant...... take away!! A great start to a fantastic week!

Our first day was taken up with her own attunement to Reiki Master and a substantial amount of time using the new energies and the new symbol she now has at her disposal. I got lucky here as I was the guinea pig myself and we spent a wonderful afternoon, overlooking the River Nile while I got my chakras well and truly balanced, amongst other things.

The second day was all about the teaching side of things. Manuals were reviewed, lesson plans created and she was shown how to attune a student to Reiki.  I am afraid I pushed her very hard that day as the next day was her very own class to teach and I wanted her to be confident and comfortable with what she was doing.

Day three saw the arrival of a mutual friend who wanted to be attuned to Reiki Level 1. What a day! Everything went exactly as I hoped. Rainbows and Unicorns were much in evidence! The new Master did an excellent job and the new Reiki 1 lady had some amazing experiences and I hope, learned a lot.
It was a lot for the new Master to pack in to one day, but time was on our side, no limits to how much time we could take, and she did everything that she was supposed to do, and more! Wonderful!

The fourth day was a day off for us both! A much needed rest for us both. My friend took herself off to Karnak Temple for some "me time" before meeting up with friends in the afternoon. Sunset saw us both out on the River Nile in Felucca Spirit with a magical sunset before heading back for dinner.



By the fifth day Medinet Habu (Mortuary temple of Ramses 3) was calling strongly. An early wake up so that we could avoid the heat of the day, a walk along the riverbank to find a taxi, and we were at Medinet Habu bright and early.

We had planned an attunement here and we were disappointed to see so many tourists there. Well, happy for Luxor but too many for us. So we had a wander around, and found ourselves in the Hypostyle Hall looking for the perfect location.  We found it. A foot over the threshold of a small room saw my friend in floods of tears and very emotional. This was it! And there........ on the walls........ her favourite Egyptian goddess, Sekhmet. Perfect. Exactly what she wanted.

The attunement itself was very emotional for her. I realise that is was a second attunement, I would have preferred it to be the only one, but because of the class she had to teach, she needed attuning before that. So we did it all over again, and it was a perfect moment.
Afterwards, a wander back through the temple, heading for the coffee shop over the road for a cold drink, and then back home for a shower, a cuppa and a bit of a rest.

That afternoon, we started more Advanced Reiki Techniques and worked until early evening, when souvenier shopping began to shout loudly!

The final full day in Luxor was a "guinea pig" day.
But before we began, we were up and out at 4.30am to board a motor boat to watch the sunrise on Solstice!  It was beautiful and I have already shared that with you.

That was followed by breakfast, a snooze and then a good 5 hours of solid practical work with our "guinea pig".  Practical work, discussions and lots more meant we had a great day!

A final dinner out to celebrate gave us the chance to have some fun and laughs as the following day was a flight back to the UK.

I would like to thank H for being the best "guinea pig" ever. I hope you enjoyed it all.


D....... thank you for being L's first student! I hope now that you are on the Reiki path you will continue to grow and flourish.


And finally, I want to thank L for choosing me as her Master and doing me the honour of training her to Reiki Master/Teacher.  Thank you

We are all blessed

Love and light

Reiki Master in Egypt

In a few short weeks, a good friend of mine is coming to Luxor, Egypt to work on her Reiki Master training. She is already working hard on keeping her Reiki diary, and already changes are happening. Preparation of her own manuals is underway, and we are both getting very excited about her stay here.

While she is here we will do a lot of practical work with the Master energies, and also spend as much time as we can working in the temples (heat permitting, I feel some early starts coming on lol).  And it is planned to have a very special visit to Sekhmet in Karnak Temple.

Finally, she will teach her first course to Reiki Level 1 while she is here!

It's going to be an intense week, but I know it will be a productive and fun one!

And I am sure there will be at least one afternoon spent sailing on the River Nile, with maybe a Reiki meditation thrown in for good measure.

Exciting stuff!

Easyjet flights and feluccas

I am delighted that Spirit of the Nile got a mention in this month's Easyjet destination guide for Luxor, Egypt!
Located opposite the Old Winter Palace, Luxor, Egypt is Felucca Spirit, available for sailing on the River Nile.

Please email us at enquiries@spiritofthenile.com for more information or check out our website at http://www.spiritofthenile.com

And for Easyjet flights to Luxor view the following website http://www.easyjet.com
They are currently operating direct flights weekly from London Gatwick to Luxor! Grab a bargain!

About Reiki Healing

I know I have a few followers who may not be aware of what Reiki is, so I have decided to give you a brief outline.

Reiki is a Japanese word that is pronounced “Ray-kee”. “Rei” translates to “universal, spiritual, sacred” and “ki” is the Japanese word for “energy” or “life force”. So Reiki is interpreted as “universal life force energy”.

Reiki is a simple system of healing that involves the practitioners placing their hands on or over a person, plant or animal in order to channel energy. Practitioners can also send absent healing over distance and through time.

The system is believed to be thousands of years old, (some claim it dates back to Ancient Egypt), and had been forgotten until Mikao Usui rediscovered it around 100 years ago, although he did not call it Reiki. 

How does Reiki heal?

It is believed that life energy, or Ki, is flowing through us. Ki flows within the physical body through pathways called chakras, meridians and nadis. It also flows around us in a field of energy called the aura.

The free and balanced flow of Ki is desirable for good health. It is Ki that animates the physical organs and cells of the body, supporting them in their vital functions.

When the flow of Ki is disrupted, it interferes with the healthy functioning of one or more organs and tissues of the physical body. Therefore, it is the disruption in the flow of Ki that is the main cause of illness.

When a person receives a Reiki treatment, Reiki will flow through the practitioner to the areas where the Ki is blocked, often by charging the energy field with positive energy causing any negative  energies to break apart, allowing Ki to flow in a natural way. Once Ki is flowing naturally, the physical organs and tissues are then able to complete their natural healing process.

Reiki is not a cure-all, it facilitates the body’s own natural healing functions and is just one of the therapies that is complementary to traditional medicine.

Is Reiki a Religion?

While Reiki is spiritual in nature, it is not a religion. In fact, Reiki practitioners may be found in all the religions of the world.  It has no dogma and there is nothing you must believe in order to learn and use Reiki. In fact, Reiki is not dependent upon belief at all, and will work whether you believe in it or not. 

How do I become a Reiki healer? 

Reiki is a special kind of life force that can only be channelled after someone has been attuned to its energy. The attunements are the continuation of an ancient process of tuning the healer’s body, both physical and etheric, to a higher vibration. This clears a channel for the energy to flow through.

Once attuned, this channel will remain open and the energy is available to be used by the healer for the rest of his/her life.

All healers use the life force or Ki, but not all use Reiki. The Reiki energy works on a different vibration and is generally only available after a correct attunement has been given by a Reiki Master.  It is, of course, possible that some healers might be born with the Reiki attunement already having taken place, but this would be a very rare occurrence.

Once attuned, Reiki treatments are then given by the pracitioner who, with the intent to heal, simply places his or her hands on the person to be healed.

WELCOME TO THE REIKI PATH!!

Energies of Egypt and some personal thoughts

I firmly believe there is huge potential here for healers of all types to come 

together.  The Universe is powerful and we are all part of something amazing. 

Working with the energies of Egypt itself, combined with all types of spiritual healing, will bring healing to the world.  Egypt seems to be a catalyst of some sort and I am proud to be a part of something I believe is hugely important. 

Friendships have been forged with people who do Angelic Reiki, some do energy work with animals, others are Reiki attuned, some are crystal healers, while others work with the myriad of healing systems available.  I now know of many people working spiritually here, some foreign residents or visitors and some Egyptians.  All of them feel that there is a purpose to their being here, and that a group of people from around the world are being brought together here for a specific reason, although none of us know yet what that reason may be.

I am lucky to live in such a spiritual place. The temples and tombs of Ancient Egypt were built on sacred land.  All over the world, places of worship are built on sacred lands. We do not know why these places are chosen. Often they are at a crossroads of important ley lines (energy grids around the world) and we wonder how the ancients knew of the importance of these sites.  But these sacred places can become diminished by negative energies, especially once they are no longer being used for worship. Is it possible we are being brought back to this ancient land to help repair the damage?  Can we do that by utilising the temples and tombs to connect to that “highest source” and bring the spirituality back?  

I have no answers. I only know that I am here, I love this country, I am awed by its history, and I am delighted with its people.

The River Nile that flows through this land is eternal and life giving. It flowed during the time of the Ancient Egyptians and it flows today. It is the lifeblood of Egypt.  I only need to sit by the river to know the peace and serenity that comes from the past and flows to the future.  

In light of the recent events of January 25^th 2011, maybe the time is right for more spiritual, energy work here. Egypt is a country struggling to find its purpose right now.  It is trying hard to reverse the decline of decades, and it needs help, it needs healing.

And just maybe, all the healers around the world, wherever they may be, whatever they may do, will play a huge part in this. 

If you are interested in coming to Luxor to share in these amazing energies, I offer a number of different workshops for you to participate in. All of them combine spirituality with the Ancient Egyptian temples and tombs.  Please contact me for more informaton

Sham El Nessim and an incident on the Nile

Yesterday was the Egyptian celebration of Sham El Nessim.  Sham El Nessim is the Spring Festival and it has its origins in Ancient Egyptian times and it means “sniffing of the breeze”.

In today’s Egypt it coincides with the Coptic Christian celebration of Easter, although it is a day of celebration for all Egyptians, not just the Christians. It feels like all of Egypt is out and about. Families picnic by the River Nile, in the parks, or even in any small green area they can lay claim to.  Children are everywhere, playing, swimming, laughing.   In Luxor, the families congregate by the river.  They may be on the West Bank for swimming and generally having a good time, or they are on the Corniche on the East Bank, picnicking under the trees.

Traditionally, food plays an important part in Sham El Nessim.  Three foods in particular, eggs, fesikh (a very smelly old salted fish) and lettuce.  The eggs represent renewal, the fish represents fertility and the lettuce represents new life.  

I was lucky yesterday to spend much of the day sailing on the River Nile on Spirit.  We had a picnic lunch and found a quiet peaceful spot to enjoy the food. I have to admit NOT partaking of the fesikh, but replaced it with good old tuna! We actually moored up at the old Banana Island on the East Bank and one of the farmers there gave us fresh lettuce straight from the field, lemons picked from one of the trees, fresh mint for our tea and a huge stick of sugar cane. 

These are the views from our quiet mooring place.

Eventually we reluctantly left the peace and headed back upriver.  What we were not prepared for was the sudden change in direction of the wind.... the extremely strong current and fast running water, and suddenly we found ourselves under a tree which was partially submerged. Spirit was full of branches and twigs and we had to push ourselves out.  

The tree is quite clearly seen in the pictures.  Just the other side of the tree, there were 2 cruise boats moored up. As we left the tree, we were unable to get out of the current and found ourselves being drawn to the centre of the 2 boats. We hit the first one, and managed to wedge Spirit under the prow. Stuck! Well and truely. This brought out just about every sailor working on both cruise boats, and the yelling and shouting was phenomenal! Everyone wanted their say! We were hooked around the anchor and to try to just pull away would have broken the tent completely. 

But we did it with the help of a passing motor boat, extricated ourselves, limped our way back to our mooring place where damage was repaired quickly, and the half a tree we had taken on board was disposed of.  It was embarrassing, and I really should not be telling you all.  Sorry I didn't get time to take any pictures, it all happened very fast, and the grumpy face of my captain dared me to take any photos of the damage afterwards.

So, if you were on the River Nile in Luxor yesterday, and you saw a limping felucca with a tent that had all but collapsed........ it was yours truely, trying to hide!

Reiki in Egypt

I was introduced to Reiki by a good friend of mine, who’s mum was already working with Reiki energies.  My friend and I were attuned first to Reiki 1 and then to Reiki 2 by her aunt who is a Reiki Master living and working in Spain.  I loved working with Reiki, although for quite a while, I never worked on a professional level, mainly for family and friends.  

I visited Luxor on holiday one Christmas with some friends, one of whom took a Reiki Level 1 course while we were here. It was yet another friend of mine, living in Luxor who ran that course and I was involved in a small way, sharing knowledge and being a “guinea pig” for his practical work.  Until that point I had no desire to take my Reiki any further and was perfectly happy working at the level that I was working. I have no idea what changed, but overnight I knew I wanted to teach.

I studied for my Reiki Master course here in Luxor, and spent many hours working with the energies of Egypt itself. My Master attunement was performed in the magnificent Karnak Temple and I cannot begin to describe what an experience it was.  I returned home to England with a feeling that I was meant to be living and working in Egypt.

In September 2007, I moved here permanently. In that time I have made many new friends, and have been amazed at the number of spiritual people who are finding their way here on a permanent basis.

I own a felucca which is a traditional Egyptian sailing boat, and I offer various sailing packages, many of which include a chance pamper yourself with a choice of holistic therapies whilst enjoying the tranquillity of this wonderful river. And since then I have also branched into more spiritually based tours of the ancient sites.

One of the most magical experiences I have had in Luxor was the first time I was honoured to attune a student to Reiki 2 within the precincts of an ancient Egyptian temple,  Medinet Habu, a wonderful temple on the West Bank of Luxor dedicated to Ramses the Third.  It was magical for both myself and for my student. We found a quiet chapel within the temple and one of the old men who look after the temples kept any stray tourists at bay while I did the attunement. He also managed to include himself in the attunement by standing behind my student and praying. As my student is muslim, it made it extra special for her. She did not know at the time that he was there, but once we were finished she was not surprised in the least to know that a fellow muslim was praying with her.  We finished off the day with a light lunch in a local restaurant and then took my felucca out to see the sunset from the river. This was a chance for us to spend a little time in meditation, to allow the serenity of this peaceful river to wash over us, and it was the time for her to begin to feel the enhanced Reiki energies and begin to work with them. It was magical.

I am delighted to offer these courses to anyone who wishes to take a course in Reiki. I offer a week of workshops, sightseeing and attunements to the wonderful healing energies of Reiki. All you need to do is book your own flight, hotel and/or package and I will provide the rest. Please contact me for more details by email at enquiries@spiritofthenile.com

In light of the recent events of January 25^th 2011, maybe the time is right for more spiritual, energy work here. Egypt is a country struggling to find its purpose right now.  It is trying hard to reverse the decline of decades, and it needs help, it needs healing.

And just maybe, all the healers around the world, wherever they may be, whatever they may do, will play a huge part in this.

Personally, I am honoured to be a part of this.

Nile sailing and holistic therapies

A small group of us decided to spend the afternoon out on the River Nile on my felucca, Spirit.

Two of us are holistic therapists, one was a friend of mine who was in Egypt searching for what lies behind the historical Egypt, and we were joined by a newcomer to Luxor who just tagged along for the ride.

The weather was perfect, warm and sunny, but not too hot. The wind was very light so we had to be towed upstream for the first part of our sailing. We asked to be dropped off at a small sandy area on an island in the middle of the river and were there in less than 20 minutes. By this time the wind had gone completely and the stillness was amazing. All we could hear was the lapping of the water on the “beach” and the singing of the birds as they swooped around us.

The temptations to get our feet wet were too great, and one by one we slid off the boat and into the water.  Trousers rolled up, skirts tucked into knickers, we waded along the edges of the Nile watching the small fish circling our ankles.  We did have a few silly moments, especially when one of us was not looking at the sand below her feet and suddenly disappeared into a hole that took her waist deep into the Nile!  Hilarity consumed us, as she came up gasping for breath and laughing heartily at the same time.  Now completely wet through, she decided she may as well finish the job off and took herself off for a real swim. I declined, it was winter, and the water was way too cold for me to do anymore than get my feet wet!

Eventually we all climbed back into the felucca and dried off in the warm sunshine. Tea and sandwiches followed as we all happily chatted away.

Then we got down to the business at hand.  Firstly the still wet lady was treated to an ear candling session. Cushions were laid out on the deck of the boat and the candling started.  I had taken with me some of my organic candles which are made for me here in Egypt and they are extremely good. However, they do burn with a larger flame than many of the machine made candles, and we were on a boat with the wind starting to pick up again.  But once we had all got over the size of the flame, we settled down and had a wonderful treatment session.  There is something magical about laying on the floor of the boat with the sound of the candle in one ear, and the sound of the water lapping on the bottom of the boat in the other.  Total relaxation comes very quickly. 

Then it was my turn for a reflexology treatment.  Bliss is the only word I can use to describe it.  What more can I say, except that my friend was excellent and picked up on a few health issues I knew about and some I didn’t know about.  

Reluctantly, we had to sail away from our island “therapy centre” as the wind started to come and it was perfect for good sailing, so we ended our session with an ear candling for my felucca captain before sailing away. He has seen me doing therapies on the boat many times, but has never had a treatment himself.  This time he finally agreed to have his ears done, and now wants it done on a regular basis.  He was very impressed.

Conversation then took over. We talked as we sailed and we covered so many spiritual subjects and shared so much knowledge.

With the wind in our hair, the sail billowing above us, the River Nile flowing eternally onwards bringing life to this ancient land and bringing us back again to our destinies, we sailed as the Pharoahs sailed with just the power of the wind and the skill of our captain.

Once again, destiny brought a small group of strangers together and friendships were formed.

Life, like the eternal River Nile, flows endlessly on.  Everchanging, evermoving, it spiritually replenishes us.

Maybe your destiny awaits you here.

Why not try us for a magical day on the River Nile?  You know you are worth it!!