A Visit with My Akhu
Wag Festival, 2004
On
the eve of the Wag Festival, I did as the ancients and put a model boat
(lower left corner) in my Akhu shrine with its prow pointing east towards
Abydos.
I also offered honey and cool
water, and lit candles. The next day at midnight, I reversed the direction
of the boat. Earlier on, I gave fresh offerings in my shrine and visited
the gravesites of my maternal grandparents. The following is a photo album
of my visit:
Entrance to Crestlawn Memorial Park in Riverside, CA
Hidden Valley Wildlife Refuge lies just across the way with its rolling, desert landscape. An animal rehabilitation center is also located here.
Outside view of my maternal grandparents' mausoleum.
Beautiful "morning glories" adorn the crypt walls at one end.
My grandparent's crypts: Marcel and Jane Ringoot (may they live forever). I made "victory wreaths" out of cypress branches cut from a tree in my front yard. Since I didn't have access to the traditional materials for these wreaths, I thought that evergreen boughs (sacred to Wesir) would be appropriate.
A meditative nook with a bench across from my grandparents' crypts. I like to sit there and eat lunch sometimes.
Ground burial plaques just outside the mausoleum.
Various vistas of the cemetery grounds...
