Damanhur is an incredible, mystical place, a parallel universe where time moves much differently and synchronicity is the key to all portals.
Damanhur is located in Piedmont, Italy between Turin and Aosta and consists of several “nuclei”, self-sufficient communities of about 20 members, found throughout a 10 mile area in the valley of Valchiusella. It is the oldest and largest community of its kind in Europe with 600 members and 40 years of history. They have their own constitution, culture, art, music, currency, schools, political system and uses of science and technology.
Perhaps the thing that most attracts visitors to Damanhur are the Temples of Humanity, a labyrinth of halls and corridors inside the rock of Mount Vidracco, excavated by hand by the people of Damanhur. The Temples are full of symbolic meaning, telling the story of the past, present and future of humanity. The floors, walls and ceilings are covered with colorful paintings, mosaics, stained glass and sculptures. Each hall is dedicated to a part of human life and spirituality, is connected to an element of nature and the human body, and always has a representation of each of the 4 elements present. Work on the Temples is neverending, new halls are constantly being built and existing halls retouched. Investigation is continuously conducted to discover the various uses of each hall and of the Temples as a whole. There are hidden doors, rooms and stairways and the energy is palpable. The Temples lie at the intersection of 4 Synchronic Lines, more than anywhere else in the world. Synchronic lines "are like rivers which cross the Earth and connect it to the Universe in which an infinite amount of knowledge is stored, as if they were a library containing all that humankind has ever thought".
There are a few things you must accept freely if you want to go deeper and really learn from Damanhur.
One is that you must accept the existence of magic. It can be found in nature, in technology, or in the heart of man....but you must know that it exists.
Another is that you must accept the existence of not only other worlds, universes and dimensions, but also beings from these worlds, universes and dimensions.
Finally, you must acknowledge and accept the wisdom and power of synchronicity. This means that people you happen across or events that occur simultaneously or nearly simultaneously, especially where a strong sense of pull and fluidity is felt, must be paid special attention. It doesn’t mean just sitting back and leaving it all up to synchronicity, you must be very alert, very attentive. And very grateful and appreciative.
Once we began to understand these things, we could begin to understand Damanhur and its people and begin to talk about things like astral voyages and time machines...
One is that you must accept the existence of magic. It can be found in nature, in technology, or in the heart of man....but you must know that it exists.
Another is that you must accept the existence of not only other worlds, universes and dimensions, but also beings from these worlds, universes and dimensions.
Finally, you must acknowledge and accept the wisdom and power of synchronicity. This means that people you happen across or events that occur simultaneously or nearly simultaneously, especially where a strong sense of pull and fluidity is felt, must be paid special attention. It doesn’t mean just sitting back and leaving it all up to synchronicity, you must be very alert, very attentive. And very grateful and appreciative.
Once we began to understand these things, we could begin to understand Damanhur and its people and begin to talk about things like astral voyages and time machines...
We arrived at the gates of Damjl, the central nucleus where Damanhur was founded in 1975, a bit before 8 am on a Sunday. We knew very little about the place and we weren’t even sure we’d be able to get in on a Sunday. But at 8 o’clock sharp, Diomedea was there to welcome us and inform us that there was a festival that day and a ritual that night. We were already riding the synchronic waves…
We had the privilege of visiting the Sacred Forest on the first day it was open to the public. The forest, carefully cared for, is recuperating from being shaved clean by logging every 10 years over the course of many decades. There are 9 miles of labyrinths throughout the forest, geometric forms and spirals delineated by colorfully painted rocks that, when walked, are healing and balancing, a form of active meditation. There is also a small hut for connecting with the spirits of the forest and 3 pyramids made with different colored plexiglass. Each one, blue, yellow and red, has a different energetic effect and can be used for different purposes while meditating inside of them.
The First Annual Dandelion Festival was being held that day in honor of spiritual leader and founder of Damanhur, Falco Tarassaco, who passed away 2 years ago. Falco means Hawk and Tarassaco means Dandelion in Italian. Part of the process of becoming a Damanhurian is electing your animal, plant and later divine name.
There was food made with dandelions and a drink made with dandelion essence. We listened to the music created by a dandelion when connected to a machine developed by Damanhurians that converts plants’ vibrations to MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). They call it the Music of the Plants and they give concerts throughout the world where the plants not only sing but also interact with other musicians.
I had the opportunity to interact musically with a tiny pumpkin plant, a first for both of us. Two electrodes are connected to the plant, one to a leaf and the other to the roots of the plant. It takes 7 - 10 days for a plant to really learn how to sing, to first realize that it is making the sounds, then that it is able to modify them, and then be able to purposefully do so. The little pumpkin plant was immediately willing able to make sounds but the 5 or 6 notes it played in various combinations were a bit dissonant and dreary. I got out the violin and played a few notes to see how it would respond. I played more cheery and organized melodies which the plant did it’s best to imitate. It was almost immediately able to play three times as many notes as before, combining them in ways that approximated the scales I was using, at times playing phrases that were nearly identical to mine.
Also at the dandelion festival, we learned to dance several characters of the Sacred Dance. Damanhur uses the Sacred Language in their rituals, a language that can be written, spoken, sung or danced. We learned to dance several characters that together mean “I develop positive energy towards my body, my thoughts and the world”.
That day we also met Nandú, a superwoman/musician/music therapist/intense liver of life who I was eager to meet and from whom I learned many, many things and heard many amazing stories. We weren’t sure we’d find Nandú in Damanhur. We hadn’t been able to get in contact with her and we’d been told she might be in Spain teaching a workshop. But when a lighthearted, elegant woman came bouncing toward me with a smile so big and bright it nearly eclipsed her smiling eyes, I knew who it was.
Synchronicity has long been my mode of operation, though I’ve never called it that. I have often had the sensation of needing to do something so badly, so deeply, that I would get nervous and anxious, hardly able to think of anything else until I was able to make it happen. The first time was when I left my hometown to go to college, the second when I went to study in Granada, Spain, the third when I decided to move to Valladolid, and so on and so forth. The trip by bike alone through Spain and France, the meditation course where I met Jose, this trip we’re currently on as a consequence, our decision to stay for the Vision Quest in Calabacino, a man I met in Monachil, Granada a couple of months ago who told me that I had to meet Nandú in Damanhur….all are synchronic events that I chose to pay attention to and follow.
Now, I don’t get so nervous or anxious when these things come up, I know that they are all important links in the chain that is leading me toward my place in this world and my mission in this life. When I feel that pull, I know that if I put myself to it, the rest of the pieces will start to fall into place one after another, the law of synchronicity. Nothing is ever a coincidence. As long as I am awake and attentive I will be able to follow the clues. As I am doing now, on my way to a Rainbow Gathering near Valencia that just so happens to be happening now which a fellow hitchhiker I happened across happened to inform me of…
We managed to fit in a scavenger hunt through the Sacred Forest (our team won), a tour of Damjl, and cooking and eating our dinner that first day in Damanhur before heading to the Monthly Moon Oracle that evening. The Oracle was long and confusing, spoken and danced in the Sacred Language, so we ended up conversing with the French couple whose WWOOFing post we were to take over the next day in the nucleus where Nandú lives - pure synchronicity. The nucleus, called Prima Stalla (The First Stable), is responsible for majority of the agricultural production of Damanhur with 7 large greenhouses and 50 heads of cattle. They also run a restaurant/inn, Il Tarassaco, using the meat, fruit and vegetables from the farm.
What were to be a couple of days turned into a couple of weeks but, as I’ve mentioned, time works differently in Damanhur. Two weeks in Damanhur are equivalent to at least 3 weeks in this dimension. Each day was jam packed with information and realizations, coming in spurts and snippets from each individual member we came in contact with.
On the 5th day, 3 people from Mexico arrived in Prima Stalla, Ricardo, Patricia and Carlos, with whom we had an instant connection. It’s not uncommon in Damanhur to meet people from your past lives, that uncanny sensation of having met before someone who should be a perfect stranger. The amount of information and knowledge we gained from these 3 individuals is unparalleled. Carlos combines chiropractic techniques with various types of energy work and his own brand of ingenuity to create a holistic approach to therapy in which he aims to only treat each person a single time. Ricardo is a truly singular man with abilities and sensibilities that cross dimensions. He is also the founder of a community called Kuishtak in Queretaro, Mexico, a “self-sustainable community that elevates the quality of life, fomenting respect for the environment, economic and social development, and contributing to a new culture of pacific cohabitation.” We plan to visit Kuishtak sometime in the near future...
I’d have expected it to be more difficult to digest such a large quantity of information received continuously, day after day, every hour, every minute. But it was all so logical, things I really already knew in my core. Of course we have past lives! This body is the result of centuries of genetic mixing. By blood I could easily have been your sister or your aunt 500 years ago. The soul isn’t quite so linear, it’s more like a universal “blood”, universal energy force that recycles throughout us all. I still enjoy and find it important to be sceptical and a critical thinker, but too much emphasis on the mind can deafen other important things like intuition and cellular knowledge that can lead us to equally valid conclusions...
Tttttthat's all for now folks! Thanks for reading!
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Note: The blog posts in Spanish are written by Jose, and those in English, by Colleen. Those of you who understand both languages have the opportunity to understand both perspectives! Those of you who do not will have to rely on Google Translate if you wish to have an approximation...or start learning Spanish today!
Subscribe to our blog and get an update in your inbox each time we publish something new! We promise not to inundate you... we're too busy living it up to send massive amounts of emails!
Note: The blog posts in Spanish are written by Jose, and those in English, by Colleen. Those of you who understand both languages have the opportunity to understand both perspectives! Those of you who do not will have to rely on Google Translate if you wish to have an approximation...or start learning Spanish today!