Tags
Aleister Crowley, Amun, Bible, Cairo, Egypt, Howard Carter, Karnak, Mizraim, Nile, Tarot, Tomb of Tutankhamen, YouTube
In Egypt, i did think of the Biblical Hebrews – while wandering in the desert, they used to quetch about the current living circumstances and, instead of being grateful for having achieved freedom – were quite nostalgic about the ‘the house of bondage’… Of course, Mizraim , when the Bible is read indepth, is a metaphor for our own Ego, but still… even in nowadays Egypt, the foods are delicious, sightseeing is awe-inspiring and the service is excellent. I should have known better than going there in the summer as the heat is insupportable and the level of security which foreign tourists get (read: military escort) so to keep the eventual terrorists away is unnerving, to say the least, but still – it is well worth travelling there.
There are many myths linking Tarot with Egypt, and albeit they aren’t true – they do buzz the imagination; also, Aleister Crowley was forever fascinated with it and even conceived the notches of his philosophy in Cairo.
I’ve never written extensively on Egypt, it’s been done before – and in a way which makes the mere trying to add something – unnecessary.
In an earlier essay i had quoted two paragraphs on Cairo by Lovecraft and i’ll repeat myself, albeit i hate doing so: if you read that – you too were in Cairo, you strolled along the cobbled alleys of its bazaars, you sipped on your coffee on Nile and listened to the city talk about yet another Saudi prince who fell head over heels in love with the famous belly dancer and spent his fortune in the process.
It’s being said of Karnak that it represents the micro-cosmos of ancient Egypt; one of the largest temple sites in the world, except for its architectural, ritual and historical importance, is also known as the setting of Agatha Cristie’s ‘Death on the Nile’.
Here it is, as magnificent as it gets:
There is that “Tarot commandment” You shall not collect (only) a mini deck, without investing into a regular edition, here are my two Egyptian darlings – regular and mini one:
“…as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold – everywhere the glint of gold. For the moment – an eternity it must have seemed to the others standing by – I was struck dumb with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, ‘Can you see anything?’ it was all I could do to get out the words, ‘Yes, wonderful things.”
Howard Carter, Tomb of Tutankhamen
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