Dancing..Music..watching Captain America..

Hi All!
This weekend was filled with entertainment.. Damanhur is not particularly a place that puts goal-less entertainment on the agenda however. The dancing this weekend was at a Roman Catholic Celebration - st George's day. Every Catholic Saint gets his own festival in Italy, I can imagine. But Saint George is a special protective saint for the village of Vidracco. At the municipality the people of the village ate together and a settante/ottante-band was playing (70s 80s music ;-). I was the first to jump up to go to dance! Some new found friends here joined me, really nice to dance! Afterwards we went to a charity concert at Damanhur Crea (a venue from the community) where an Italian singer/songwriter played..sorry that I forgot his name!..it was beautiful! I had missed this! To enjoy music that is just for the sake of music, emotion, expression.. As I have said earlier, in Damanhur everything is so connected to spirituality and many other dimensions. I hadn't realized that I missed this pure music experience like this. And just now..and this was really over the edge :) I saw Captain America on DVD, in my nucleo. And since my days here are so filled, of course I spend the rest of my weekend going to the temples, working in the garden, doing some fixing in the house, going to choir practice, going to a lesson on the history of Damanhur.. But also, I almost forgot another party this weekend, on Friday, we had a group diner and party to say goodbye to one of the New Life group members (this is the 3 month program I participate in). Dear Marielle is going home, after 3 months, back to the Netherlands. She was here to write on her anthropology thesis. Just sharing some leasure time experiences this time..
With you

Learning and experiencing the community philosophy of Damanhur

Dear friends

Last week I participated in a project, in the form of game, in which we learned and really experienced about the philosophy of Damanhur. A project in which I learned lessons about operating as a group, about being well within a group, about the grow process of and within a group. And I also learned about my own transformation. The way the activities were designed were so clever that it was the best lesson in how to learn the basic priciples of building a community, the Damanhurian way. And also it was for me personally, a great mirror to know where I stand in my life and why I am here now. Part of this project is not to tell too much about it, so it stays an authentic thing for everybody who ever may decide to also step in these shoes. So that everybody can experience it in an authentic way.

I am really grateful to be here, and I feel as if I get a better understanding of how to become a master creator in life. This is not only as an individual, but more, I learn how to be an authentic being a group, in a community, and how to navigate and create your own game, your own life on earth. Just to play the game of life as a creator! Together with others!

In this process of learning about Damanhur, I also feel very connected to myself en therefor to you too. I am looking forward to hearing about your lifes and about what you are doing..so hope to hear and read from you again soon as well!

With you,
Karin

Nucleo Cambio Idea

Hi dear friends


Yesterday I moved to my nucleo. The name is Cambio Idea which means Changing Idea's if I have remembered correctly. Quite an interesting concept to live in a house with about 12 people amongst which the mayor of the city of Vidracco, the doctor, her assisitant, a teacher of the school in Damanhur, allegedly one of the strongest magicians in Damanhur..a singer from the choir, a jewelry artist. Quite strong characters here in the house. Very concerned with the city of Vidracco and local politics, and in character a combination of strength, brains, humor, seriousness, interest in the experiment and also quite a lot of kindness. Everyone is also quite direct and just as in the rest of Damanhur the mentality is much like: take care of yourself! You are told what is necessary to know and the rest: figure out yourself! This is quite refreshing..in a way. Nothing like the 'we are all perfect angels'-attitude you sometimes come across in certain spiritual surroundings. This is the real and 'dirty' life also. 


Today there was a nucleo meeting. We have spoken about a new sustainable power plant that might be built in this area (burning biomass...burning feaces to be exact, quite a new way in which this technology is used, at large scale, apparently) and about 'family'/nucleo administrative things like money and so on. I still feel very well here, although I also feel the challenge of adjusting and playing with all the ingredients here in the community. There are different levels of understanding this culture and rules and ideas are well maintained and carried out. As a new life citizin you are challenged to integrate and to really get to understand this new concept of living together. Including the magic (the rituals, the connection to others on spiritual level, the connection to nature spirits etc), the rules of the nucleo's, of the community meetings and other projects in which you are included in which you use all that happens around you as a mirror to learn and grow. Thrown in the deep, in new and uncertain circumstances in order for you to get to know your nature, by working together with others to come to a positive and creative solution..
This might sounds rather abstract..I might go in more deeply when talking about some typical events. Next week, starting this Thursday I will be offline for a couple of days to work on a project..so che vediamo..until we meet next time, next week or so.
With love
Karin

Oracle and Temples of Humankind

Dear friends, 

I wrote this part Yesterday, sending it now while connecting to the internet again. 

Today and Yesterday were both amazing days for learning to understand more about the true heart and culture and vision of Damanhur. I’d like to start with today. It is already almost 2am and I am still so exited that I don’t want to go to sleep before I have written some things down regarding my experiences of today. Every full moon they do a ritual of the Oracle in Damanhur. The Oracle is a group of people educated to connect to the divine in such way that they are able to answer questions that people have posed (you have to pose the question a month in advance). The ritual of the evening includes offering to the fire, sacred dance, drum rythms and more. And the theme for this month was using your talents to inspire others. Up forehand they had already said that everyone would be able to feel the presence of the Divine. That’s quite something to say and to expect, because you can imagine that it makes you uncomfortable in a way such as thoughts of ‘oh..I must feel something now.. am I concentrated enough..is everyone feeling something now..am I supposed to..’etc. After I had gotten these kinds of things out of my head and had just started feeling, seeing, experiencing, I was really caught by the events. And the amazing things unfolding before me. Insights mainly. The rituals have moved me deeply. I feel so much respect for the Damanhurian people. The way they have constructed the rituals, the way they developed the translation of the sacred language into dance, the ways to contact the spirits. And all of that in an open way. The evening was accessible to all visitors, to everyone basically. And that while what they were doing was so sacred, so profound… It is a challenge finding words to what I have experienced!

After the rituals had started I became emotional, I started crying (in a way that no-one seemed to notice ;-) and moving to the drum rythms. It felt like I became to really understand why I am here. I felt like being so very on the right place for me. A feeling of home. But not as a home such as my family and friends in Holland, which is the only concept of home I have had thusfar in my life, but rather a feeling of coming home to a place in space and time where I can connect to divinity, to my past and future. Home in myself, on the same journey as others who understand that same principle. I saw past lives connected to this ritual, I intuitively understood the principles of the synchronic lines as highways into space and time. I felt as if being in an airport within space and time. Somewhere in the Universe. All of the people I spoke afterwards (or most..there was one exception who found it a little tedious) had similar experiences. So that was today.

And then Yesterday.. the visits to the temples of Humankind. A network of temples under the ground, dedicated to telling human history and honoring all religions of the world. You cannot believe the intelligence, the details, the work, the cleverness, the dedication that has been put into this place. It is just a sacred place. And the same, it feels like coming home. For everybody. It is your personal history being told. The challenges you face as a person in the different phases in your life are reflected in the art work. The challenges of your age, of your life, of being in relationships, with others, with yourself, with material things..are put into perspective of time and wisdom and history, spirituality.. It is truly amazing and again a very emotional experience to be visiting. And one of the biggest things that struck me was the common effort that has made this all possible. The community spirit. The being part of a grand work making personal efforts blend in to something that exceeds human capability as we are as individuals.

I already had a good time here, but now, after having visited these two events/places, I begin to understand some more about the tangible magic that is going on here. I have thought of all the people I love today during the ceremony. In different ways. Firstly I feel you close to me and I thought of some of you who would also love it here and whom I wished to transport to here too. And secondly I thought of feeling at place here and what that would mean to people who haven’ t been here and who are not so much interested in spirituality as myself. They might think it is some kind of strange and dangerous place where you are brainwashed. I am brainwashed alright, so it feels, but then in a way that my brain feels challenged and refreshed in an authentic way. I feel challenged to confront myself and to take responsibility and to co-create.

Well, that will be enough for now. It’s just past 2am..and I feel ready to go to sleep now, now that I have shared these thoughts. G’night!

With you, Karin

Esoteric Science and Choir Practice

Hi dear friends
Today was a day of again many new impressions! Yesterday evening I felt a little sad, thinking of the lovely things, or actually people of course, I miss from home. When in search for new experiences I have left behind what has become dear to me, only to exchange it for something I have no idea of yet whatsoever. And of course, the value of new experiences can hardly be compared to beautiful memories. But then again, they are memories... Well, so today. I started with being interviewed by the QdiQ, a magazine whithin Damanhur, I was interviewed to be introduced, about my profession, about where I'm from, and what my reason for visiting Damanhur is. I don't know! I also had to say a few key characteristics of myself, with that I probably answered the first question too: I am curious, eager to learn and creative. Of course I have ideas of what I am doing here, but really, I will have to find out what it is exactly what they do here, before I can think of what it is I could contribute to the community. I had a mind blowing course today! Esoteric Physics! In Damanhur there has been 30 years of research on topics such as time traveling, talking with divine forces, changing the course of time..and more magic. My own education regarding spiritual science, scientifically, started and ended with quantum mechanics. I even brought my book from the University of Technology Eindhoven with me. And today the classes where picked up from there towards being at different places at the same time as a human, astral time traveling and physical time traveling. I bought a Damanhurian book on this topic, can't wait to learn more about their experiences. After that I participated at choir practice. The choir sings in an ancient sacred language, the rest is in Italian.. I just listen very carefully and hope that at one moment..I will start understanding it! I guess I will. My Italian classes start next Tuesday. The monastry is still very relaxed, and today a new guest arrives. Paul. He is also 'new life' and from Chicago, so I am looking forward to someone else in my home vicinity that I can actually speak to with being understood! Next week I'll probably move to a nucleo (living community) and I also found out about a nucleo inhabited by all kinds of artist and musicians. They even have a music studio! I might live there starting May..if they have place.. Well, I'll see what will happen! I'm checking out now, to be in time for diner!
With love!

Guest in Monastry Aria in Vidracco, Piemonte, Italy

Dear all

I am not very sure whether I will write these posts in English or in Dutch all the time, but today I guess I’ll go for English..

Today is Wednesday, I arrived at Damanhur on Sunday. I am staying at a monastry where 3 female monks live. At the moment I’m sitting in the sun with one of the monks, Gheppio, besides me. She is so kind, of course I don’t get to know much of her since her English and my Italian are just as poorly developed. My drive up to Damanhur was wonderful. I passed lovely scenery of course, the mountains and also I felt so grateful that my little van has been loyal to me! Charly, the oldest daughter of my friend Natasha, drew me a nice picture. She actually drew a portrait of me, I decorated my ‘cabin’ with it. I have brought some more small things which make my room here feel like home. Actually I notice that I don’t have so much trouble feeling at home anywhere I am at this moment. I guess I got used to being a nomad already the last couple of weeks!

Damanhur is a community of houses scattered along a valley in Piemonte. I believe the town I am staying at now is called Vidracco. It is a tiny village with small streets crawling up and down the mountain hill. This monastry is just a house, with a nice porch where I am sitting now. The houses that are inhabited by people from Damanhur distuingish themselves with the Damanhurian flag, a yellow flag, with two squares on it representing a fort, and a green infinity symbol (just like the one I happen to be wearing on a necklace since 3 months!). Everyone and everything I have encountered thusfar relating to Damanhur reflects respect for eachother, for nature and everything they do seems to have a meaning or a purpose. Like purifying prayers before dinner, bracelets with prayers on it in an ancient sacred language and sacred patterns of stones that lie in the area of one of the main centres of Damanhur. Whatever you might think of it, while you read this, I experience it to be very positive and loving. On the day of my arrival I went for a pranahealing, that felt really powerful. I felt similar afterwards as when I had the first initiation of my angel healing practice. A strong vibrating energy in my body, causing a little headache even and making me become aware of how tired I actually am. Tonight I slept about 10 hours, and yesterday about 9. In compare to my average of about 6 or 7, I find this rather remarkable. I guess some build up tension of the past months looking foreward to this moment, is releasing now.

Yesterday I cycled around the neighbourhood a bit. I am so happy that I took my bike! The surroundings here are amazing, and it gives a really free feeling to cycle here and have tiny meetings with local people on the street.

I am staying at this monastry probably for a week. Next week I’ll move to a nucleo, a house with 10 to 20 other people with whom I will share my life here. Tonight is my first “new life” activity, sacral dancing (I hope it will be as much fun as I think it will be) and afterwards some information meeting. Tomorrow I will start doing the agriculture work together with other people from the new life program, about 10 i believe.

Talk to you later! 

Some pictures of where I am now. 

 this the monastry Aria

 the small street (and the proof that I really arrived :)

 Gheppio and Enzo (a "Damanhurian" that often visits the monastry)

view from my room

I am already here!

Ik ben hier al! Die simpele realisatie maakte me hardop aan t lachen. Terwijl ik hier langs de kust liep in IJmuiden. Dat was mijn antwoord op m'n vraag om mijn hoogste levensdoel aan me te laten zien. Mijn lichaam is. Dit is mijn vorm hier op aarde. Ik heb alles in me om te doen waar ik voor gekomen ben. Als ik me ga afvragen wat mijn hoogste doel zou zijn dan word ik geleid door mijn normen en waarden en verval ik al snel in een trip van mijn ego. Wat zou ik een goed mens zijn als ik anderen zou helpen, als ik anderen zou vermaken als ik als ik... Het zijn allemaal producten van mijn conditionering. Allemaal oud nieuws. Het enige dat blijft is wie ik ben. Hoe ik het ga toepassen, dit nieuwe inzicht..dat vind ik nog lastig om te verwoorden zonder al te belerend over te komen. Wie zou ik moeten overtuigen van de waarde van mijn inzicht. Ik ga vanaf nu verder met leven vanuit mijn gevoel, mijn kern waar ik mezelf mee verbind zodra ik inadem in mijn buik. Ik ga verder met het danken voor wie ik ben, voor de goddelijke vorm die ik van de hoogste goddelijkheid heb gekregen. In nederigheid. Ik probeer mezelf te betrappen als ik, als viooltje, mezelf dwing om een tulp of een roos te zijn. Ik heb me een tijdje afgevraagd wat aarde energie is. Ik had er niet zoveel mee. Ik voelde me afgesloten van de aarde. Alsof ik hier oneigenlijk verbleef. Onopgemerkt, onbedoeld. Maar ik ben hier, al 37 jaar! Precies zoals ik moet zijn, gezegend met alle zegeningen die aan iedereen op aarde toekomen. Ik ben hier niet per ongeluk. Ik leef precies volgens plan en afspraak.