Tutmosis: (Toot.moe.zes) The eldest son of Queen Ti-Yee and Pharaoh Amunhotep III who died mysteriously in a chariot race
Tuya: (Too.ya) Consort of Yuya and mother of Per Aat Ti-Yee
Uraeus: (Your.ay.us) The golden crown with the cobra worn by the Pharaoh upon his brow so it can spit in the eyes of his enemies
Uraretiu: (Ur.rar.too) An initiation given at Heliopolis
Wesir: (Wis.ear) Name for Osiris meaning whole, the title Vizier came from the Turkish word Wassert
Westing: Dying, where the sun sets at night
Withania berries: Ashwagandha (withania somnifera) a medicinal plant is also called winter cherry. The roots, leaves and fruits (berry) possess powerful medicinal cleansing, offers physical energy and is a libido booster.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It is with heartfelt gratitude that I thank my mother, Jan, for whetting my thirst for knowledge. The bust she kept on the fireplace mantle of Queen Nefertiti inspired me in my youth. Our frequent trips to the San Jose Rosicrucian Museum fueled my passion for Egypt.
My dear family, you have lovingly allowed me to disappear to pursue my passion and determination to write my first novel. Thank you for giving me the sacred space to create, and for indulging my desire to decorate in the Egyptian style. May the Aten bless you and watch over you always.
Mrs. Barbara Conant, my 6th Grade teacher, for her encouragement in my writing and for having Famous and Unknown Peoples Day. Who doesn’t love to dress up like someone famous?
Thanks to Rollie Melton of the Nevada State Journal/Reno Evening Gazette for giving me my first internship and providing an opportunity for a college kid to write feature articles for the Entertainment Section. I’ll never forget his kindness.
A warm hug to Drunvalo Melchizidek and the Flower of Life for confirming that I must write this book and tell my Akhenaten story, and finally reveal the truth.
Sheryl and Dale Fisher, my dear and loving friends, we have traveled to Hawaii, Egypt twice, and Stonehenge, England. I feel blessed to know you and give thanks for your love and support. You have been my cohorts in late night chocolate binges, souk shopping sprees and the search across Cairo for the perfect galabeya.
My special praises for Emil Shaker, Faiti Yehia, Medhat Ahmed and Mohammed Nazmy for creating a tour of a lifetime to Egypt in 2005. My first trip to Amarna made my heart race especially since it was only Carol and I, two tour guides, a driver and six body guards. Saranya Zaveri and the Gaiadon Heart gang—you all make sacred sites so powerful. I am blessed to have traveled with you.
Stephen S. Mehler, you set me on the path with your revolutionary class in Khemitian history and the chance to tour Egypt with your group and meet the legendary Abd’El Hakim Aywan. Yousef, Shahrzad and Moses you welcomed us into your home and healed our souls with your hospitality. Blessings to our extended Khemitian family.
Special thanks to the folks at the Rosicrucian Library for letting me browse through the books and gaze at Nefertiti for an excessive amount of time. The Rosicrucian Museum gave this school kid her start with its Akhenaten and Nefertiti displays.
Mark Makers, you were a great teacher. Thank you for your wisdom and integrity. Go Tarheels.
Theresa Rizzo, you kicked my butt into gear when you gave me those first writing tips. Thanks to The Crested Butte Writers for finaling in The Sandy Awards. You are all great, and the scenery is mind-blowing.
Dr. Ruago Salla, Ph.D.—Thank you for your critique and insights into Egypt and the past. It has been a long time.
Bill Torvund, you chose to make this journey with me, and I thank you with all my heart for your gift of knowledge, patience and demonstration of the mysteries of Khemit. You are remarkable and your heart is pure. Ahu’ana Kamaatiya.
Joyce Tydlesley and Glenn Godenho at the University of Manchester, you are wonderful teachers and I love my Egyptology Studies.
Lorraine Evans and her book Kingdom of the Ark, I can’t thank you enough for your friendship and our shared passion for the profound journey of Merit-Aten.
To my team: Marty Petersen—you literally brought the breath of life into the cover art and gave wings to my vision. You are so talented and your dedication to this project was inspiring. Judith Briles and Author U—I feel so blessed to have met you. You redirected my life and gave me the courage to self-publish and the tools to put it in motion. Jessica Wulf you are an amazing editor and friend. We did the Vulcan mindlink and finished my project in unity around the kitchen table at midnight. Melody Jones—thank you for lifting that technical burden from my shoulders.
To my Friday ladies: Lois, Christine, Johnnie, Christina and Penny— your enduring friendship gives me peace. Thank you for your encouragement to follow my dream. Guess I pulled the right card. To everyone else—you have influenced me and I give thanks.
Merrie P. Wycoff
Merrie’s passion for Egypt was unearthed at the age of ten while on a school field trip to the Rosicrucian Museum in San Jose, California. Upon first discovering a colossal statue of Pharaoh Akhenaten, she vowed to write his story. Egypt was a long way from California, but the intrigue of mystery and ancient civilizations has stayed with her from her growing up years through today.
Studying both public relations and language, Merrie graduated with a degree in Public Relations and Italian followed with art courses and culture in Florence, Italy—she knew she was destined to dive deeper into history but fate handed her a side trip. Her next stop was at The Nevada State Journal/Reno Evening Gazette writing feature stories for the Entertainment Section for a short time before Los Angeles and the beach called to her, landing her dream job at Entertainment Tonight where she spent many years as a lead story Segment Producer writing, directing and editing. Merrie met and worked with the Hollywood greats including: Bette Davis, Lucille Ball, Milton Berle and Jimmy Stewart.
Post Hollywood, Egypt wasn’t far away in Merrie’s thoughts. She traveled extensively throughout Egypt, studying with an ancient wisdom keeper and uncovering an entirely unique perspective of the Egyptian culture. She earned her Masters and is finishing her Ph.D. in Comparative Religion, and her Egyptology certificate with the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. Her travels, studies and conversations revealed a breadth of details, mystery and intriguing stories that are woven throughout Shadows of the Sun, her first book in a series on ancient Egyptian society and customs and the men and women who created it.
Book Club Questions
1. In the first paragraph Merit-Aten makes a contract prior to her birth. Imagine that you too made a contract that you were expected to fulfill. What would it be?
2. Nefertiti experiences an orgasm during childbirth. Do you believe that is possible? What was your childbirth experience of either giving birth or being birthed? If you are interested in more information on this phenomenon, Google orgasmic childbirth.
3. Great Aunt Sit-Amun is angry that her pure Egyptian lineage to the throne is being usurped by outsiders. How would you feel if you were in her place?
4. The Amunite priesthood controls the economic and political system of Egypt and to overturn that system is to risk being called a heretic or being murdered. Is it worth the risk? Is Egypt’s past similar to what is happening around the world today? Was it wise for Nefertiti and Amunhotep IV (Akhenaten) to build a temple to their sun god Aten, in the midst of the Amun priesthood?
5. Nefertiti explains to Merit-Aten that we used to have 360 senses. Can you name some more senses that we have lost? What do you think about the Nubian stone workers who can lift the stones with sound? Google: Coral Castle
6. Merit-Aten talks to the white cat Asgat at the Temple and they can hear each other’s thoughts. Have you ever had an experience where you could hear your pet’s thoughts? Have you ever tried to communicate with an animal? Give an example if you have.
7. The HeMeti is the woman who has the last word in her house. Are you a HeMeti? Or was your mother?
8. Nefertiti is worried about being middle-aged and upholding h
er duty to bear more heirs. Why isn’t her husband interested in sexual relations? How does she feel about this?
9. When the Amunite tithe collectors interrogate the family and make threats how would you feel if you were in their place? Do you think this is a fair way for the church to ensure the citizens contributed?
10. What did you think about Sit-Amun and the Hanuti changing the depictions upon the walls to the Aten Temple to make the heads of the royal family elongated? Did you agree that Nefertiti was being vain? Could you allow yourself to be portrayed like that or would vanity or the fear of humiliation make you upset too?
11. When Merit-Aten attended the Pharaoh’s rejuvenation ceremony for the Opet-Festival and his dead mother’s spirit united with the golden stature of Amun…what do you think happened? What was the white liquid that the Pharaoh was required to drink? Pharaoh Amunhotep and King Hatshepsut both invented these creation myths where they claim their mothers had united with a god which made them a child of the gods. What do you think about this? Why do you think they would use a myth like this?
12. In the showdown between Sit-Amun and Nefertiti during the Nekhbet ceremonial boat ride, do you think that Nefertiti should have allowed Sit-Amun to have her moment in the spotlight? Would you have donned a war-crown? Can you sympathize with Sit-Amun’s dilemma? What do you think Sit-Amun did to the child she kept prisoner in her room?
13. Should Akhenaten have tried to cheer Merit-Aten up by taking her to the Amun Temple during the festival to retrieve a white kitten? Have you ever been punished by one of your parents and tried to get sympathy from the other one? Or, have your children ever attempted to play one parent against another?
14. How did Hep-Mut the dwarf feel about Merit-Aten slapping her? Did she know that Merit-Aten loved her? Could Merit-Aten have saved her?
15. Sit-Amun and the Hanuti tried to drain the life force of the dying Pharaoh Amunhotep to see his last vision. Do you think we have a life force? Can you imagine a death portal opening up for someone to leave their body? Have you ever been with someone who passed over?
16. Merit-Aten used Pentu’s sacred scroll to read the prayer to bring the dead over. Should she have done that without permission? What is Merit-Aten’s relationship with the family physician? What do you think about the way the Egyptian’s referred to death as westing and to child birth as easting?
17. Should Pharaoh Akhenaten have closed all the Amun Temples and outlawed mummification, hunting, and all dark rituals carried out by the priesthood? If you make something illegal will people continue to do illegal things? Name some. Was Pharaoh Akhenaten an idealist to believe that if he outlawed the Amun reign of terror that everyone would then the Aten? What do you believe the Aten represented?
18. Was Amaret, the Seer brave or crazy when she refused to conform to the palace rules by not wearing shoes at court or standing up to the royals? Why was everyone afraid to look in her eyes? Can having a physical handicap enhance other qualities?
19. The women gathered together to do scrying and watch the Amun Temples close. Have you ever had a paranormal experience such as seeing a ghost? Have you ever played with an Ouija board or had your fortune told?
20. The Royal family had to flee the capitol and build a new capitol out in the desolate desert without protection or a source of food. How would you feel in this situation? Would you side with Per Aat Nefertiti or Pharaoh Akhenaten?
21. Merit-Aten must choose between the perilous path of an Egyptian Mystery School initiate or bearing more heirs. Which would you chose? Could you tear your family apart? Which parent had the better way to save the lineage?
22. Should Merit-Aten been enticed by magic even if she knew it was taboo? Would you use magic if it could bring back a beloved pet? Would you be willing to pay the price of having blackened fingernails?
23. After having five children, Queen Nefertiti may have suffered post-partum depression. Was it fair that she leave her children due to her suffering? Why did she run off with General Horemheb? Was he a better partner for her?
24. Which Nile temple initiation were you most intrigued by? Abydos and the Osirian initiation, Heliopolis and the Ritual of the Last Breath, or The Ritual of Love at Denderah? Would you have been willing to learn midwifery? Should Merit-Aten have saved Rennutet from falling into the fire the first time?
25. Merit-Aten’s feet burned whenever she confronted her ego. Name some of the things which made her feet burn? Was she arrogant or confident? Are there times in your life when your feet might burn? What was her Salvation? What was her Revelation?
26. Could you forgive Sit-Amun for her black heart after you discovered that she had been castrated as a child? Who do you still have to forgive?
Shadow of the Sun (The Shadow Saga) Page 41
