Freedom as One with the Land

Golden Father + Golden Light Sayed

The early morning sun crept through the open window, its golden rays spilling across my room, stirring me awake. In the quiet of dawn, I stepped out to ready Golden Father, my camel, whose steady presence had been my companion since I had chosen him as a wobbly-legged baby. I placed the saddle on his back, his warm, familiar bulk shifting slightly as he sensed our daily journey. Leading him onto the path from our home in Giza, still a village in my heart, despite its growth, he moved with purpose, each step etched into his memory from a thousand walks to the Pyramids.

As we travelled through the familiar streets, we turned round a certain corner, and there they stood: the Pyramids, rising like eternal guardians framed against the blue sky. My heart swelled, a rush of love and reverence that never fades, no matter how many times I see them. My family’s roots run deep here, generations of wisdom passed from my grandfathers to my father to me, knowledge not from books or exams, but from the spoken word, from visions born in silent communion with the Sphinx and the desert’s vast embrace. I carried their teachings, the voices of ancient guides, within me, a living breathing library of stories and truths. Today, as every day, I arrive as Sayed, Wisdom Keeper of the Pyramids, my spirit embodied with this sacred land.

Golden Father’s steady gait carry us across the sands toward Menkaure, the third pyramid, its weathered stones glowing under the rising sun. This was my home, the place of my birth, where for fifty years I had come to the 'Spirit of Ra' , a sacred spot where the divine seemed to touch the earth. The changing light on Menkaure’s sloping sides told me the hour, shadows shifting like a timeless clock. Here, in the desert’s wide expanse, I found a freedom unlike any other. I had traveled across Egypt, even ventured abroad once, my first flight beyond these sands, but always my heart called me back. The desert’s openness mirrored the boundless space within my soul, a love so deep it felt like the earth itself pulsed through me. Every rock, every stone was as familiar as family, their silent presence my lifelong companions.

As I dismount near Menkaure, the soft sand cradles my feet, warm and alive beneath me. I gaze across the horizon and feel a connection to something eternal, greater than the civilizations that had risen and fallen like the sun’s daily arc.

I had welcomed countless visitors here, their cameras and technological devices capturing fleeting moments, but I knew the true magic of Giza was not in photographs. It was in the heart’s quiet opening, in the freedom that stirred when one stood in the Pyramids’ shadow, feeling the earth’s ancient heartbeat.

My thoughts drift to my own heart, to the Love that had grown here alongside my life. I had raised my sons and daughters in these sands, teaching them as my father taught me, passing on the wisdom of our lineage. Yet it was not just duty that bound me, it was a romance with this land. The desert had cradled my joys and sorrows, its vastness holding space for every dream. I remembered nights spent under the stars, those moments, like the Pyramids, stood unshaken by time.

As I stand now, the breeze carrying the desert’s warm breath, I think of you, the one reading this, and all who journey to Egypt from distant lands. I welcome you with the same love I hold for this place, for my family, inviting you to open your heart to Egypt’s magic. The Pyramids and sands offer a freedom that could awaken within you too, a connection to the earth that transcends the world’s fleeting troubles.

Here, where the sun rises over the Nile and sets behind the Pyramids of Giza, I feel it still, a love that binds me to the desert, to my ancestors, to the eternal.

I, Sayed, Wisdom Keeper, am One with this land, my heart as open as the desert sands stretching before the Pyramids, forever free.

🙏❤️