Dressed in colorful, flowing garments, Wapiti is a typical Damanhurian whirlwind, arranging and organizing a plethora of New Life events. We have a very full program here, with something g
oing on nearly every day. Not that we have to do everything all of the time, but participation is encouraged. If you aren’t busy, you aren’t getting the full Damanhurian experience.
Two days a week, we work together on outdoor projects. I’ve already spent time raking leaves and painting stones in the Sacred Woods. There are numerous stone circuits and spirals all throughout the forest, set beneath trees and across open lawns. We paint the stones blue, red, yellow, or a combination of all three. We w
ork for about seven hours altogether, breaking in the middle for lunch at the nearest nucleo.
We also have the opportunity to attend “serata,” on Thursday evenings – meetings with Falco, Damanhur’s main founder. The serata is open to the entire community. On stage in the large conference room at Damanhur Crea, Falco talks about what he’s currently thinking about, such as his ideas of evolution and how they apply to the community and to the world at large. Members of the audience can ask him questions or challenge him. For those of us who don’t understand Italian, we wear translation headsets. Continue reading
Over a year ago in 2010, I traveled around Europe. I walked the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain and was on a quest to have a deeper understanding of things, to make sense of these 2012 conspiracy theories, to gain knowledge. I wasn’t sure why I wanted knowledge, to tell you the truth, but becoming a better person seemed important to me. After four months of wandering, I visited Damanhur; I saw a book with pictures of the Temples. I took the tour in late October. I was very tired that day of the tour. I was moved by a ‘whimsicalness’ of the Temples, but also my mind was spinning trying to understand things on a deeper level.