Life Lessons from Egypt

I am committed to getting two passport stamps each year, and Egypt has been on my to-do list for a while. In December 2019, I visited Egypt with my friend Kirk.  It took me a few months to process all of my takeaways. There were several things I learned about Egypt and myself along the journey. Here are a few jewels I learned in Egypt that I thought to share:

Get a Spirit Animal:  

I am always fascinated to learn that people agreed on several concepts before communicating across the oceans. One is the relationship between man and animals. Native Americans and Egyptians were similar in their deep respect for animals. The Egyptians believed that combining animals with humans made them more powerful. After visiting Egypt, I think everyone should have a spirit animal.  My favorite was Sekhmet (which means "power or might"). She was a warrior goddess as well as a goddess of healing. “She is depicted as a lioness, the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. It was said that her breath formed the desert. She was seen as the protector of the pharaohs and led them in warfare. Sekhmet continued to protect them upon death, bearing them to the afterlife.” She inspires me.

History Cannot Be Destroyed:

I was in a hurry to travel to Egypt because I read an article that said the pyramids are slowly eroding, so I figured I had better get to it. The first thing we did was to head straight to the pyramids. These beautiful structures are smack-dab in the middle of Cairo, Egypt. If I turned around, the entire city was right there behind me. Very cool. According to the tour information, "The Pyramids of Giza [were] built during the 3rd and 4th dynasties of the Old Kingdom. These monumental undertakings stand as a marvelous testimony to their builders' almost unbelievable skill and determination." Seeing the pyramids got me thinking about the past and things that were built, done, said, or even thought of long ago and how these things are never destroyed. The pyramids were a testament to the greatness and the continuation of individuals and groups long after their physical death. I realized that though I had rushed to see the pyramids, they would always exist in physical form or in stories, images, and memories. Nothing is ever lost or destroyed…

Destruction:

So, one of the most heartbreaking things about visiting Egyptian historical sites is the amount of destruction caused by European colonizers. It’s genuinely sad. The sculptures were so excellent, well-built, and plentiful that the colonizers realized they could not destroy them all, so instead, they defaced them.

We proceeded to see the Sphinx, which was pretty incredible. "The great Sphinx of Giza, the legendary statue with the head of a human and the body of a lion, amazingly carved out of one huge piece of limestone." The Sphinx is defaced. In a spiritual sense, it made me think about how we all carry the bruising and scars of destruction. (I kissed him since he’d been through so much historically.)

Death:

We visited the Valley of the Kings. It was amazing. Unfortunately, I took fewer pictures that day because they kept trying to charge me to take photos. This day is mostly in my memory. The early Egyptians held many beliefs about death and the afterlife (but don't we all), which they recorded in a book called "The Book of the Dead" that is supposed to give you directions on where to go, what to do, and what to say when you start your journey in the afterlife. I thought it was a cool idea. "The Valley of the Kings is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, rock-cut tombs were excavated for the pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom (the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt)."

Here is a vast spiritual concept. Take a breath. There is an idea that there is no death. That life doesn’t end or begin. That we are as infinite as the universe, think for a moment: During the “Big Bang” or the creation of Adam and Eve, part of you was there. Your existence was in Adam's seed and Eve’s soil. Your existence was in their children, and it continued through their children’s children until you were born or appeared on Earth. Our lives, words, thoughts, and deeds are connected to the past and the future. Thus, we don’t die! We transform. We might disappear from the physical world but continue infinitely into the future. This is why when someone dies, we don’t forget them. They are still with us. The memory of them, their recipes, words, or creations still go on. These things don’t die… and neither does the person. There is no life or death. There is manifestation and transformation. There is appearance, and there is disappearance. How will you make the best of years of manifestation? You are HERE!...and, in the spiritual sense, you will always be. Isn’t that beautiful?

If you are looking for a coach to help you make the best of your time appearance, I’d love to support you in living your best life. B. Well!

Salaam!

Dr. Adrianne R. Pinkney