Charlene Gubash / NBC News
Tourists stroll down the Giza pyramids plateau, even though the Great Pyramid was closed Friday.
By Charlene Gubash, NBC News Producer
CAIRO ? Egypt?s legendary pyramids are always a draw for tourists from all over the world ? but they had a particular lure for New Age spiritualists Friday who wanted to meditate inside the country?s greatest pyramid on the auspicious date of 11-11-11.
But no dice; pyramids closed Friday.
No visitors were allowed to enter the stone portal of the Great Pyramid of Giza, climb the Grand Gallery, marvel at the soaring stone ceiling above, and awe at the king?s 4,500-year-old burial chamber and empty sarcophagus.?
Antiquities officials said they were forced to close the pyramid because of a Facebook campaign and media blitz against tourists who wanted to commemorate the day by meditating inside the king?s chamber.?
Post-revolutionary Egypt is rife with conspiracy theories with an anti-Semitic edge.? Rumor-mongering writers warned that the foreign tourists who wanted to engage in strange rituals commemorating 11-11-11 were Masonic worshippers and Jews.?
The title of an anti-meditation website said it all: ?Together, Reject the Masonic and Jewish Celebration of 11-11-11 in the Pyramid.?
One of the more bizarre and widely held opinions was that 1,200 Jewish worshippers would mark the day by climbing the pyramid and installing a Star of David on its apex.?? Authorities bowed to public pressure and took the unprecedented step of closing the Great Pyramid in order to discourage angry protests against the spiritual pilgrims.?
Amidst tight security, the rest of Giza?s wonders, two smaller pyramids and the Sphinx, were still open to tourists.? Small groups of Westerners still meandered around the plateau despite the closure of the Great Pyramid ? many seeking spiritual renewal.
?Energetic significance of the date?
Carmel Glenane, an author and spiritual teacher, brought 10 students with her to make up a group of eleven.? They believe 11-11-11, or three times two, is the number of lovers and balance.?
Glenane flew in from Australia to receive the energy of the pyramids.? She says she wasn?t disappointed at being denied entry to the biggest of them.?
?We are not here for a single experience. We are here to have a group experience. We came here because it is 11-11-11, because of the energetic significance of the date.? It is the balance of masculine and feminine being harmonized in the heart?s center,? said Glenane. ?To focus on one aspect is missing the whole point. It is a journey to the heart? It?s opening up to the new Egypt, the new heart of Egypt.???
Charlene Gubash / NBC News
A group of 11 spiritual tourists from Australia who came to visit Egypt's pyramids for 11-11-11.
Spiritual tourism to Egypt?s antiquities is a niche sector that has existed for decades, with New Age adherents once paying hundreds of dollars to spend the night in the King?s Chamber. That privilege was curtailed long ago, but believers still come.
Leela Cosgrove, an Australian marketing consultant, comes to the site for more than an energy boost; she said she has doubled her income by consulting for businesses that sell spiritual goods and services, in addition to her to her normal marketing jobs. ?It?s been very good for business. Since bringing in the spiritual side, I have gone from making 250,000 to 500,000 Australian dollars ($186,000 to $373,000).??
One of her clients, martial arts school owner, Adriana Lazos, said she came to the pyramids on 11-11-11 to ?get the energies? and bring them back to Australia.
Skeptical residents
Some residents, hawking fake Pharaonic statues in front of the Sphinx, were skeptical.
?They closed the Pyramid because 15,000 people were supposed to come here today to worship inside,? said Mohamed Ali. ?They still came, but in small groups.? All of them that are wearing white are Jewish,? he added, gesturing darkly toward three tourists clad in white cotton slacks and shirts.
Amr Nabil / AP
A souvenir vendor is seen near the Sphinx at the Giza Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt on Friday. Egypt's antiquities authority closed the largest of the Giza pyramids Friday following rumors that groups would try to hold spiritual ceremonies on the site at 11:11 on Nov. 11, 2011.
One of them was a Brazilian tour guide and spiritual leader who would only give her nickname, Antarielle. She said she has conducted 18 Germany-to-Egypt tours over the years.? ?This is a special date.? It?s a special place and this is the place to be.??
But, she said her visit was marred by what she called ?aggressive behavior.?
?We wanted to sit and meditate [outside the Great Pyramid] but they told us to go off.? There are thousands of people here for this purpose.? They have been told they shouldn?t allow anyone in white to sit anywhere because they will destroy the dignity of Islam.? But we managed to meditate in right front of the pyramid anyway,? Antarielle noted proudly.??
I asked what religion they were.? ?I am a spiritualist,? said Antarielle. ?I am a Christian,? said her friend. ?Nudist,? joked a third.?
The tour guide reasoned that Egypt should be more welcoming to spiritual pilgrims, especially since tourism, Egypt?s main foreign currency resource, has plummeted since the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak. She said her 12-day tour costs $3,412 and includes hotels, food and travel within the country ? so she said it adds a lot to the local economy.??
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However, when I returned to the vendor, Ali, with the information that the group wasn?t Jewish, he just shook his head.? ?If they came here for meditation, they are Jews.? We don?t want those who pray to do it by the pyramids.? His colleague nodded in agreement. ?Only God knows what religion they are.??
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Still, some tourists were blissfully unaware of the controversial shutdown and the numerological meaning of the day.? Elizabeth Rospo from Nova Scotia almost missed seeing the pyramids.? She was on cruise and had only one day to catch the Egyptian Museum and the pyramids area.
?The guide was in constant contact with his office. They were worried about a protest but it never happened.? It didn?t affect our stay at all,? she said.
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