Reports from The Federation of Damanhur

Northern Italy in Autumn: 2001 and 2002

by Carla King

In the fall of 2001 I visited the community of Damanhur at the urging of Michael Gosney and Ron Anastasia (co-producers of the Paradox Conference at Arcosanti in Arizona) and a variety of curious community-seekers in the San Francisco Bay Area. I went out of curiosity and, it must be admitted, pressure -- I had an advenure of my own in mind, that didn't include New Age spiritual communities at all, rather, a motorcycle adventure in the style I'm used to.

I didn't expect to be so impressed. I'll try to explain, using some words from the Damanhur website and some of my own. For firsthand accounts please follow the dispatches linked to below.

Founded in 1977, Damanhur is an internationally renowned center for spiritual research. Situated in Valchiusella Valley--the Alpine foothills of northern Italy--Damanhur is a Federation of Communities and Regions with over 800 citizens, a social and political structure, a constitution, 40 economic activities, its own currency, schools and a daily paper.

The big attraction is a hidden underground temple of 4,000 cubic metres, carved by hand out of the rock. Rich in mosaic, glass, painting and sculpture, with the largest Tiffany cupola in the world, this temple is the result of over twenty years of work, a project begun in secret and revealed to the public in 1991.

What is most interesting to me, however, is how a large, cohesive community has successfully been born from this work. I believe that this is the single largest so-called intentional or spiritual community that really works. Why does it work? Perhaps because they are pushing human potential to its very ragged edges, working with spirituality, healing, art, science, agriculture, technology, and most any other discipline you might think of. They are a something like a mystical school, discarding the boundaries and constraints that we as humans have set upon ourselves. They must be, in order to be seriously studying time travel, the stuff of science fiction novels to most of us, but a reality to them! Their one constant is change. If all this doesn't frighten you, it probably attracts you.

Teilhard de Chardin said, "We are not human beings being spiritual; we are spiritual beings being human." This might be Damanhur's philosophy. One of Damanhur's asserted goals is the re-awakening of the human being; as a spiritual, material, divine being, free from the patterns that reduce its essence. In Damanhur every citizen chooses one of the spiritual paths called 'ways' to experiment with their spiritual growth, according to their own aspirations, preferences and skills. In Damanhur the most significant aspects of the day and year are marked by ritual moments in which the meaning and the awareness of existence is celebrated.

The greater part of the community is made up of Italians, but Damanhur is attracting an evermore international citizenship and there is a special Prima Passi program for this.

September 18: The Federation of Damanhur
Here at Damanhur my mind has been blown at least a half a dozen times. This intentional spiritual community came to my attention via Michael Gosney who puts together the Paradox Conference at Arcosanti, an ecologically friendly archology in Arizona built by Italian architect Paolo Soleri. Not only has the community of Damanhur built an underground temple with some of the coolest art in history (the biggest Tiffany cupola in the world), but they've been doing some serious research on healing and even time travel. Don't knock it until you've visited their site. Here's my introduction to the place.

September 19: Damanhur: The official tour
Twelve tall columns surround an outdoor theater under construction now. They are made from the local red clay, and each is identified with one of the twelve major cannons of the Tarot. To the left are photos of the tops of four of these columns, believed to serve as antennai, attracting the energy of the sky. On the ground between these columns lines are drawn depicting a mandala one can walk on for "dynamic" meditation, meaning that during this meditation one walks with a specific rhythm in order to widen the perceptions.

September 19: The Art of Damanhur
This is the second dispatch for September 19th. "Damanhur is a way of living and thinking based upon experimentation, play and transformation, which overcomes limiting habits and opens up new empowering visions of reality. Research in all fields is very important - from social models to alternative energies, from the arts to physics." -- from the Damanhur News.

September 19: Damanhur: The sacred wood
The third dispatch for September 19th.
Everything that is done today is done in preparation for the temple visit tomorrow. The sacred wood is just that, sacred. It lies atop the underground temples, and circuits are laid on the ground that correspond to the energies in the temple. We took a tour of the woods and then walked these circuts in dynamic meditation. Such ritual I'm not used to, but I'll see where it leads me.

September 20: Damanhur: The temple
Today I learned a temple dance and a temple ohm. My mind was blown again with selfic paintings (think Van Gogh on serious psychedelics) and then again with the actual underground temple of Damanhur, which is vast and georgous and under construction -- it is only ten percent complete.

October 2: Damanhur, a year later. Here's a slideshow of Damanhur and the surrounding area. And here's a longer version (that takes even more time to download) with even more photos and accompanied by sacred music recorded in the temple, composed and performed by Macaco Tamarindo.