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Writer's pictureVanessa Cook

Purify: Releasing the Poisons



 

Nefertum-tum was waiting patiently for us outside the front gate for his morning cuddles. He purred and thrummed, delighting in the ecstasy of touch. I totally get him. As someone who has experienced significantly less touch than the average adult, I can totally imagine melting in this way. 

    I think we underestimate how important touch is. How a simple touch can ignite a passionate fire or set you trembling in fear. And everything in between. Is there some form of electrical reaction when two forms touch that can have an actual effect within our bodies?

    Luckily for Nefertum-tum Khalid was nowhere to be seen giving him time to get extended massages from both me and my mum. We sat in the shade of the small trees that flanked the entrance to the hotel and watched the world go by as we obliged our feline overlord.

    Wind turned up little tufts of sand along the long, empty road. An occasional breeze rippled through the branches of the palm grove in front as we discussed various threads of consciousness and the patterns we were observing coming up in our days here.

    A lone donkey and cart chug passed with an old man sitting hunched over in the seat. He looked lost in thought, holding a light switch in his hand with the reigns hanging loosely from his grasp.

   The never-ending presence of flies drawn to the sweet smell of moisture, an eternal backdrop to the moment. They crawled all over us looking for the tiniest droplet hidden in our skin. Thank goodness we bought those little woven fans.

    We waited and waited with barely a soul passing by. We didn’t mind. There was no need to rush. No need to be anywhere. If we are to wait, we wait. All was exactly as it should be. What is the lesson of the moment? Life is always asking us and in that we find our harmony.

   Trust the flow of life, the land sighed contentedly. And we did.

  

Corina had decided to take the morning to rest and get some work done. So, the plan was for Khalid to take us to the mountain of the dead and afterwards we would pick her up to go to the salt caves for a salt bath treatment.

   A salt bath treatment was the main thing mum wanted to do. Oh, that and hunt down Anna Maria a Brazilian woman who we heard lives in Siwa. Naturally, we have to meet her. Visiting Taziry, an eco-resort Corina and Hakim planned to use for their retreat in November, was on top of their list. And climbing the mountain was on mine. Every day my eyes sought it out. Every day I could hear it calling to me.

    Today, however, was all about releasing poisons, the poisonous words, thoughts, actions and feelings that found their way into our being. We would call them up from the shadows to the surface so they can be purified and find their place within creation. This was the intention for our day and everything that was to come into our experience on that day was taken and viewed as part of that process.

 

The mountain of the dead is a conical protrusion much like the temple of the oracle, that rises from the palm grove around the main village. It is a place that holds tombs at least up to 2000 years old, with evidence of Greek and Roman influence in the pictographs.

   It’s hot and the air feels heavy on our shoulders. We want to find a shady ledge or cave where we can sit and meditate for a while so, after inspecting the main tomb Hakim sends us off as he entertains Khalid and the guard.

    The hill is like a giant rabbit colony. All sandy mounds with holes here and there that lead to booths and chambers where the dead lay. We walk round towards the south side and find a good-sized cave where we can sit comfortably in the shade and look out over towards the western lake.

    Settling into a relaxed state we listen and observe. I don’t remember much about what I saw and felt here except I remember tunnels and caves and green light. Lots of green light.

   

There is a ticket booth and a couple of guards who do keep an eye on the site. A better eye than we expected.

    Whatever you do, don’t think about going for a sneaky pee in one of the caves because the guard might just decide to come and check where you are just as you are about to pull your pants up. And he might appear quite shocked and walk away gesticulating in horror.

     I don’t think the guard or my mum will ever forget that moment.

    There is also a vendor at the entrance with some lovely scarves and dresses. After getting busted in the cave, we quickly ran away to the entrance to find Hakim in case there would be trouble but he wasn’t by the van. So, we sat on the wall in the shade, in front of the vendor and not once did he try to sell us anything.

    It was so refreshing. I almost wanted to buy something just out of gratitude but to be honest, I really didn’t have any space left in my tiny bag and no need for another scarf or dress I probably will never wear. I like the idea of dresses but generally find them quite impractical and always regret buying one.

   There is a tomb you can visit here with beautiful pictographs typical of that later dynastic period. It’s definitely worth a look because you can get up close and see all the details with no one else around to bother you. Other than that, it is a place to go to let things die. Which, having done that we were now ready to leave.

 

With our prayers and offerings to the west and to Osiris completed, we picked up Corina and went to the Salt Cave. This is becoming a popular treatment offered for tourists, with salt caves springing up in other key tourist destinations around the country.

   Khalid brought us to the camp of a friend of his where we were met by an older man in the traditional pale gallabiyah. I was in quite a daze going to this place and paid little attention to the route or surroundings. It felt almost like being in a trance and I allowed myself to be swept along in the current.

    Next to a long, domed building was a smaller dome. The walls felt like they were made from clay and white-washed to reflect the sun but I’m assuming there was also salt blocks built into it somewhere. Inside, the air was cool, the effect felt immediately. A short entranceway led you into the dome itself which was a step down from the passageway and full of white salt crystals.

   Another man with a shovel was digging out areas for us to lie in. He indicated to us one by one to lie down and then he shovelled salt on top, burying us under a deep layer of crystals. Immediately, I could feel a pulsing in my feet and in my chest, the weight of the salt forcing me to focus on relaxing my breathing into a long, slow, intentional pattern. Old injuries began to ache and I was acutely aware of the salt drawing things out of me.

    “It felt like every cell in my body was buzzing with light,” mum later said when we were describing what we felt.

    In the past I have performed a burying ritual with people and have myself been buried in sand numerous times, experiencing similar effects, although perhaps not quite so effective as the salt. The idea behind a burial is the earth draws out toxins from the body and heavy energy from our being, taking it into her body to be digested. She then also can offer minerals and nutrients to your body through your skin but can also balance and ground your electrical systems, which can have a profound effect on your overall well-being.

    Like any form of massage or treatment, I really like to focus on what is coming up for me and honour this time in silence as sacred medicine. It was disturbing, therefore, when Corina and Hakim started whispering between them.

   I don’t know whether sound travels differently over salt or what, but their whispers, although super quiet and discrete, to my ears became like a constant buzz in my awareness.

   Just breathe and release, I kept telling myself over and over, breathe and release.

   But the hum of chatter continued and this unrecognisable irritation began to bubble through me like a horde of ants all biting at once. For a moment I had the irrational desire to silently get up and walk out. I’m not going to pay for a treatment I can’t take to the fullest, exactly as I want, I’d prefer to leave than have my treatment interrupted.

   I watched all this irrational irritation rise up in me from a detached part of my being and let the salt draw it all out. There was no need to get riled up. Everything has a lesson in it. Everything is about our collective growth therefore, everything has purpose.

   Breathe and release, breathe and release.

   After 50 minutes the owners came and told us our time was up. They advised that its unwise to spend more than one hour in the salt. Some people they have buried barely make 10 minutes. Some people can’t stand it, have fits and have to leave. They described it as if the people were possessed, which was somewhat alarming. We did pretty well then, under the circumstances.

 

From there we went to a hot spring to complete the drawing-out-of-poisons part of our treatment, before a soothing dip in Cleopatra’s pool later to finish off the day. The hot spring is piping hot. Far too hot to plunge in. This is a serious hot spring in a beautiful setting, under a gorgeous tree providing lots of shade and hosting two lovely wooden swings. Next to the pool is a comfortable seating area where, during the season, they serve food and drinks to their residents and visitors alike.

    An elderly man came into the complex and joined us in the hot spring. He slipped in smoothly and even put his head under the pipe! My mouth literally opened in awe. I was still trying to get in beyond my thighs.

   It transpires the gentleman is French, in his eighties and has been living in Siwa for 15 years.

“What brought you here?” I asked

“Oh, I fell in love with the desert. In those days you could travel all over. I have been across the desert south to Sudan several times. Now, of course you can’t go anymore, which is a shame but in the old days,” he raised his eyebrows and hands to the sky as if in lament for all that is lost.

“There are amazing petroglyphs and drawings in places along the way. It’s fascinating.”

    After some time in and out of the pool none of us could take it anymore. Even sitting next to those steaming green waters you would start to sweat. It was definitely time to leave and we unanimously voted on going to cleopatra’s pool for a dip and a snack.

 

Cleopatra’s pool had the usual handful of people hanging around. Surrounding the pool are some local craft shops and a popular bar and restaurant that always seemed to have a mixture of locals and tourists lounging about. Being that it was Ramadan though, pretty quickly everyone left for breakfast and prayers and we were left in the restaurant alone, relaxing and chatting.

    All day an incident at home had been brewing and we had been messaging back and forth with my dad about it. This situation brought up a whole load of issues and emotions from our past that we pretty much regurgitated into the night’s air.

    Khalid promised he would pick us up in an hour but an hour grew into three and, honestly, it was perfect because it gave us the time to get it all out on the table, each person playing the role they needed to play in order to draw every last drop of it out.

    I am always blown away by the patterns and synchronicities in life. Nothing is random and without purpose. Of all the days for this to happen it would be the day we are removing poisons. Poisons of the past. Poisons of our own thoughts.

   The energy was very strong at one point towards the end of our conversation and I began to feel expansion in my palms and electricity shooting through my cells. My inner vision was full of the geometric patterns we see with ayahuasca and I found myself toning a note that had a particular quality reminiscent of the sounds made in the forest in the traditional music of the Huni Kuin.

    Opening my mouth, I let the sound grow and a sacred song I had long forgotten flowed out setting all of me vibrating. Corina and Hakim went for a cleansing night-time dip in the warm pool. Again, everything has purpose.

   And then Khalid finally showed up to take us home for some much needed rest.

 



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