Winged Pharaoh is one of those rare novels that bears the unmistakable stamp of truth. The book begins with the words: "When the time came for me to return to Earth, a Messenger of the Great Overlords told me that I should be re-born in Kam (Egypt); and the two who would fashion my new body would welcome me, for we had been companions aforetime, and the ties between us were of love and not of hatred, which are the two threads that bind men most closely together upon Earth..."
In this very first sentence Joan Grant reveals the key to many of Life's perplexities. We know that Love and Hatred DO bind us together. Moreover, the more we love (or hate) the stronger the bond, which will last so long as either or both will it -- on earth or elsewhere. For those who believe in reincarnation this simple truth may explain much. Such truths are not for the intellectual who prefer the complexity of material speculation to the simplicity of sublime truth. Such will dismiss this book with a snort of smug derision as the fantasies of a deluded 'psychic.'
But for those who are genuinely seeking the answers to Life's questions this remarkable book will be like a breath of fresh air, shedding light in the darkness of this sorely-troubled world. For such, Winged Pharaoh was written. It contains a LARGE number of SUBLIME MYSTICAL PRINCIPLES and Teachings -- IF we can find them, and recognise them for what they are when we read the book! Such is the creation of a beautiful garden by Sekeeta's father, who, having pondered on what treasures he could possibly find to express his love for her mother, decided that none were greater than the glories of Nature. For what CAN we possibly give to another to express our love that has not been stolen from Nature? Now there's something to ponder! One could acquire a whole library of mystical and occult books and not find the answers Winged Pharaoh contains within its inspired pages.
The book can be read on many levels; as the story of a remarkable woman's journey from childhood to Initiation into the Mysteries, as a true account of life in Ancient Egypt during the earliest Dynasty, as an allegory of a spiritual journey from ignorance to enlightenment, or simply as a very exciting and romantic adventure.
Winged Pharaoh brings the distant past to vivid life. As other reviewers have written, one feels one is IN this story rather than simply watching it unfold from the sidelines.
One feels the peace, the joy and the beauty of life beside the Nile many thousands of years ago. Whether all the incidents Joan Grant relates actually happened is not for the writer to say, but having my own, personal memories of those days, I feel that many of them have the ring of truth. One such is the story of 'Meniss' -- the name of many pharaohs of the 1st Dynasty -- which Joan Grant tells with such pathos and clarity that one feels one is actually present at these momentous events.
This remarkable book will not disappoint all those who love Ancient Egypt -- which truly was the 'Light of the World' -- a Light that shines forth from every page of Winged Pharaoh.