John Anthony West - Magical Egypt Tours & Symbolist Egyptian Research

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Eg-update 23.0

Hello Friends and Egyptophiles,

At long last, a long-delayed, oft-promised Eg-update, mostly devoted to upcoming trip information, and sent with my customary profound apologies for getting such information to you so late

(As Oscar Wilde should have said, but never did: "I have been thinking about procrastinating, but never seem to get around to it.") But, as somebody else once said, "Better late than never," which is not always or necessarily the case.

So be it.

The next Egypt trip, conditions permitting (and enough participants signing on) is March 13 - 26, 2012.

Our itinerary follows and below the itinerary, see my comments on the unfolding situation.

It's my regular itinerary with a few interesting additions. An extra day to take in Edfu and Kom Ombo Temples on our way to Aswan, Abu Simbel is now included and not an optional additional expense, and the pyramid meditation and private early morning visit to the Great Sphinx are now also included, and not options. The price has been adjusted accordingly.

Egypt Itinerary with John Anthony West

March 13 — March 26, 2012

Day 01 — Tue Mar 13th Departure from New York to Cairo
Day 02 — 14th Arrival at Cairo airport, pick up and transfer to Oberoi Mena
House Hotel, day of rest
Day 03 — 15th Private visit to the Sphinx enclosure, explore the Great
Pyramids of the Giza Plateau & Solar Boat, Lunch
Day 04 16th Visit Saqqara and Dahshur, Lunch
Day 05 — 17th Fly to Luxor. Check into Sonesta St. George Hotel. Visit Luxor Temple at night
Day 06 — 18th Visit Dendera & Abydos
Day 07 — 19th Dawn at Karnak Temple, Luxor Museum
Day 08 — 20th Visit the West Bank, Valley of the Kings (including Ramesses VI), Hatshepsut temple, Ramesseum, Nobles tombs, Lunch
Day 09 — 21st Depart for Aswan , stopping at Edfu and Kom Ombo, Check in Movenpick Aswan Hotel.
Day 10 — 22nd Philae Temple & unfinished obelisk (Ancient quarry)
Day 11 — 23rd Coach to Abu Simbel, return same day or overnight at Abu Simbel
Day 12 — 24th Fly back to Cairo. Visit Cairo Egyptian museum. Check into Mena House Hotel
Day 13 — 25th Private visit inside King's chamber of the Great Pyramid
Day 14 — 26th Breakfast followed by final departure (arrive home same day)

Including:

- Private visit to Giza Plateau.
- Private visit to Sphinx enclosure.
- Private visit inside King’s Chamber
- Daily breakfast.
- 03 lunches on Pyramid day, Sakkara day & West Bank day.
- Farewell dinner
- All tours in Cairo, Luxor & Aswan as indicated.
- All transfers from / to hotels and airports.
- Private guide throughout the trip.

Excluding:

- International air ticket.
- Health & Travel insurance.
- Tipping for guide, escort, drivers & hotel staff.
- Pyramid view rooms supplement is $ 70 per room per night.
- Airport departure tax if any.
- Meals not included in itinerary
- Domestic flight tickets Cai / Lxr / Asw / Cai $ 325, please request 60 days in advance

Pre Arrival and post departure if requested:

Mean House Oberoi :

Double room $ 300 per room per night including breakfast

Single room $ 250 per room per night including breakfast

Pyramid view supplement $ 70 per room per night

Extra Transfers:

Anyone is arriving or departing on different dates pre or post will be charged $ 35 per person one way from airport to hotel or vise versa including meet & assist at the airport.

Per person in double $ 5500

Single supplement $ 795

Land Only Option $ 4600

JAW comments: This is written on January 25th (I'm about to head off for Egypt and will return on February 13. But I'll have the computer with me and should be in relatively easy email contact for anyone needing further information.)

The next few days may determine the near-term (and maybe the long-term) future of tourism in Egypt. As it now stands, despite political unrest, nobody so far is out to get US. This is the important thing to remember. Apart from the loony religious Salafists (not really Muslims, but rather, Muslimbeciles) the Egyptians like having us there and need having us there, and so far this applies even to the ultra-conservatives ... at least in the sense that they're not making trouble.

But the result of the political unrest, which is pretty much the only aspect of the ongoing situation that is covered substantially by the media, is to scare away tourists. Tourism is now running at under 40%, which is terrible for Egypt's always fragile economy, but a huge plus for us. The temples, pyramids, tombs and museums, relatively uncrowded, make for a very different Egypt experience!

I could be very wrong about this, but my hunch is that the military and the moderates of the Muslim Brotherhood will reach some sort of workable compromise (if for no other reason than to keep the loonies at bay.) If that happens and Egypt is perceived as stable, one consequence will be a resurgence of tourism.

In other words, the window of opportunity to experience Egypt uncrowded may close, and pretty quickly. By October, it could be business almost as usual.

And if a workable compromise isn't effected, then Egypt could well descend into chaos, and governments might actually make it illegal for their citizens to go there. The U.S. did that during Gulf War I. It could happen.

So, for the above reasons, anyone interested in a trip would do well to act sooner rather than later, if at all possible.

I do hope March happens, and hope you're aboard.

Regards,

John

John Anthony West
675 Manorville Rd.
Saugerties NY 12477
Tel: 518-678-2160 www.jawest.net

PS. While I do not make excuses for getting this information out so late, it is a fact that I am busier than I have ever been in my already long life. All sorts of interesting projects are in the offing, and I will do my best to get an account of this out to everyone and up on the website some time soon.

1. There are a number of important new books published recently that I want to review (even if briefly) and recommend.

2. Robert Schoch and I have formed a production company, Akio Enterprises, (which I'll explain in detail in due course) looking to produce both documentary (and maybe even feature) films and books as well. We thought we had the financing together for our ambitious follow-up to Mystery of the Sphinx but unfortunately that seems to have evaporated.

Nevertheless, we now have the "smoking gun" evidence we have long sought (Goebekli Tepe in Turkey) and we are convinced that we will be able to get the funding together to produce Zep Tepi and the Dawn of Civilization. It may not be long before the quackademics are smoked out of their ivory towers once and for all,

In tandem with Akio Enterprises, we now also have a plan to activate our long-hibernating but still-breathing Ancient Wisdom Foundation, and we also have enthusiastic and knowledgeable people aboard to make it happen via micro, (and, with luck, not-so-micro) funding. For starters, Schoch and I are actively compiling/writing a book about our decades-long but still ongoing Sphinx battle (working title: "Dancing Down the Bridge of Sirah: A Scientist and a Scholar Fend off the Unicorns and Take On the Paradigm Police" ... explanation to follow ...eventually)

Curious note: For decades, back before the computer was invented, I dreamed about a way to do an end run around the cannibals and barracudas of Hollywood and mainstream television via some grassroots system of funding. But I could never think of a practical way to make it happen. The digital revolution now makes that possible. Stay tuned! Now it will happen.

PPS. I've mentioned this before. Much of my time the past few years has been devoted to working with my firebrand friend and colleague, trend forecaster Gerald Celente. Most of the turbulence going on now, and which will surely get much worse over the the next few years, was predicted in The Trends Journal, which has grown from an 8 page black-and-white newsletter into a substantial full color, take-no-prisoners unique magazine. It features art work and spectacular graphics from Eugene Gregan and Anthony Freda, two of America's most talented artists, and articles by a number of extraordinarily knowledgeable contributors. Celente has a proven, uncanny knack for connecting the dots in three dimensions. I am co-writer/historian/philosopher/sometimes-comedian-in residence. Check out www.trendsresearch.com

That's it for now. More to follow.

All new! Eg-update 22: The Five Star Revolution.

Hello Everyone,

It has been a very long time between Eg-updates. A lot has been going on, most of it good, but taking up so much time there's none left to do anything but work.

Most of this is explained in some detail in the latest PhoenixFire audio blog. Number 10. Enjoy.

http://jawphoenixfire.blogspot.com/.

Magical Egypt Trip Dates:

Trip dates will be announced as soon as they are finalized... stay tuned.

To learn all about a Magical Egypt trip, complete with a detailed itinerary and to get yourself a seat... read the Trip info page

Friends, Grockles, Egyptophiles,

A brief message ... more to come ... sooner or later.

Coming soon - I hope - in depth reviews of some significant, recently published books and other new material.

Lately, I've been snowed under working with my old friend and colleague, trend forecaster Gerald Celente. Most of the stuff going on now, he (we) predicted long ago, and there is more -much of it unwelcome- to come. Google up Gerald as well.

Best,

John

John Anthony West
675 Manorville Rd.
Saugerties NY 12477

Tel: 518-678-2160
www.jawest.net

To join my private mailing list and receive occasional updates and Egypt Trip information, click here http://lists.jawest.net/listinfo.cgi/jawlist-jawest.net

To listen to my PhoenixFire Audio blogs click here http://jawphoenixfire.blogspot.com/

Conscious Media Network Video Interview:

The site now requires a subscription to view video interviews... but you can get a free 5 day pass if you don't want to sign up.

An excellent and fun to watch video interview of John recorded by the Conscious Media Network at the recent CPAK 2007 Conference. An enlightened bunch, the Network features many, many quality interviews to catch up on and offers much of value to enrich understanding.

Eg-Update 21.0:

THE FOUR COWBOYS OF APOCALYPSE 2.0

The Four Cowboys of the Apocalypse

PART 1, CAPITALISM

click here to play the show

Everyone is familiar with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, though not all know their pedigree. It’s the name given to the revelation of the future granted to St John on the Isle of Patmos. The horsemen themselves are Pestilence, War, Famine and Death (not necessarily in that order, depending upon which reference is consulted.) Their names (which might disincline people from wanting to bet on them in the Kentucky Derby) have made the word ‘apocalypse’ almost synonymous with Doomsday, which is, strictly speaking, incorrect. It derives from a Greek word meaning to ‘reveal’ or ‘disclose’ and by extension , it means a prophesy or vision of the future, not necessarily an ominous one.

Doomsday is quite another matter, more appropriately linked to another familiar word from Revelation, Armageddon, the site of the final decisive battle on the Day of Judgment, in which the Lamb bests the Whore of Babylon … and throngs of otherwise certifiable people are whisked off to heaven. It’s not easy to make rational sense out of Revelation (which doesn’t mean it can’t make sense on some other level) but it does read like it’s been written on something at least as potent as ayahuasca, though there’s no record of John visiting the Brazilian rainforest. On the other hand, who knows what they had growing on Patmos?

In any event, The Four Horsemen are pretty obvious. They ‘ve been around and universally active since long before St. John’s time and still are; no surprises there, and no need for further elaboration beyond perhaps noting that of the four, only War is directly attributable to errant, defiant, violent humanity. Unless, of course, it is argued (and so it is by some) that the other three horsemen are set loose in divine retribution; for a variety of human abominations –homosexuality, pre-marital sex, smoking or ingesting illegal substances, not wearing a seat belt, and so on.

The Four Cowboys of Apocalypse 2.0 are much less obvious, yet in one way or another they aid and abet the original Four. In the Walt Disney 3D, HD Western/Action-Thriller/Horror/Farce called Western Civilization, they are the self-appointed posse, riding white geldings; wearing white Stetsons, galloping roughshod over the globe and spreading ‘tidings of comfort and joy’.

When examined closely, The Four Cowboys are no less destructive than the original Four Horsemen, maybe ultimately more so since they come in disguise. All of them are played, with characteristic ineptitude, by John Wayne. They differ from the Four Horsemen in that they are all, each one, directly and unmistakably human generated.

They are: Capitalism, Patriotism, Democracy and Technology

In PhoenixFire 9 (and 10, and maybe 11) we deal with them in turn.

The role of Capitalism is easiest to understand, almost obvious in fact, except to the leaders and economists of almost every country in the world. This Cowboy occupies the whole of PF9, which may sound excessive, but is nevertheless appropriate, since it is this Cowboy that is largely responsible for the financial debacle now unfolding globally, and from which there is no foreseeable release or return.

The other three Cowboys will be discussed in subsequent PhoenixFires.

click here to play the show

Featured music track "Shake" by Stepford Wives

Links: The Emperor's new clothes (Con't.) a short story by JAW
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Omni magazine

Best,

John Anthony West

PHOENIXFIRE 8 CONSIDER THE KALI YUGA. click here to play PF8

I am author of the month on Graham Hancock's website, there you can find an essay relating to the Yugas and the cyclical view of history.

Some useful links: Richard Heinberg Sri Yukteswar

Magical Egypt Tours

For those who’ve not been on a Magical Egypt Trip, here’s a way to get a feel for what they’re actually like. more..

ANCIENT WISDOM FOUNDATION

I am still looking for funding for our Geologists Panel. It is imperative to carry out this survey. Without it, the Sphinx theory, however valid and scientifically demonstrated, is heading towards academic limbo, misrepresented and marginalized by its opponents. A report by an independent panel of geologists with expertise in the various specialties involved is absolutely essential to provide the publicity and press to keep the battle alive. Without that, it could get buried. More.

Drawing Credit: Anita Snellman