The Power Places series are novels set in special sites around the earth. Power places are spots on the earth that radiate a lot of energy that uplifts or energizes anyone who spends time there. One theory is the energy comes from lots of crystalline rock and running water in the ground. Some say these spots are the earth’s equivalent to acupuncture points or chakras on the human body. Myths and legends collect around these sites. Often humans will build shrines, buildings or entire complexes around them.
The first novel in the Power Places series is Under the Stone Paw, set in Egypt, a land filled with magic and myth. The title of the novel refers to the Sphinx and the legend that grew from Edgar Cayce who claimed that ancient artifacts from Atlantis had been buried under the right paw of the Sphinx. This famed Hall of Records was due to be opened by the end of the twentieth century and world history would be rewritten. Since I hadn’t heard about this happening—who knows, some secret society might have done it—I decided it was high time and proceeded to open the Hall of Records in this novel. No spoilers. I won’t tell what they found.
Here I am in front of the Sphinx on my first trip in 1999.
Many people consider the Sphinx to be male, representing the Pharaoh Khafra, but indigenous legend claims the Sphinx is female. She represents the great mother. Her name according to the locals is Tefnut, meaning the spittle of Nut. Nut is the sky goddess. You’ve probably seen her arched with her feet in the east and her head in the west, with the blue sky and stars above her body. Nut spit on the earth (bodily fluids were considered sacred then) and the Sphinx manifested.
When my character, Anne le Clair, first approaches the Sphinx, it’s late at night. She’s just arrived in Egypt, and they stop in the village of Nazlet el Samman to buy a bottle of water. She approaches the fence of the Giza Plateau, and there in the mist she sees a dim figure, a head looming out of the sand.
“She’s smaller than I expected,” Anne says.
“She’s in a hollow left from the lake that used to surround her,” Michael says.
Then a voice comes from the darkness. “You just wait until I get a hold of you.”
And trust me, the Sphinx definitely gets a hold of Anne in Under the Stone Paw.