The City of Light

The Game of Life is one of the pillars of Damanhur, along with the social and the spritual. It shares some of the functions of the Findorn Foundation Spiritual and Personal Developent department (S&PD), such as internal training, personnel and mediation functions and it is the custodian of the secretive "X" factor.

Damanhur is very much more consciously a School of Initiation  than the Findhorn Foundation, distinguishing between initiates v those not yet initiated. The basic three month School of Meditation progamme, which I have enrolled on, is followed by a choice of one of the Ways or Paths (almost mapping onto the 7 Rays).

These include the Way of the Monks, the Knights, Arts and The Word, The Oracle, Esoteric Relationships and more. There is also a distinction made between Esoteric Physics, which is taught, and Magic or the occult which may come later.

They see themselves as a repository for the forgotten knowledge, safeguarding it via their temple and its secret or sacred language carvings and pictures. Not unlike Egypt, Atlantis etc.

They say that you can come here for three months and enjoy the social side of things via community living and work, if you wish, and completely miss the Esoteric and higher level energies and work going on.

Both being levels of Group or World Service, to borrow a phrase.

It was made clear to the assembled "New Lives" that Damanhur had a sustainable economic model but it would be strained to support the 100 to 150 New Life members expected, in addition to the current 400 to 500 or so full members resident in the area.

So what were we going to do about it, individually and collectively?

We were encouraged to consider ways we could contribute financially to our own keep, beyond the initial three months. What skills did we have? What business prospects could be envisaged? Could we pool our talents and experiences? What longer term projects allied with short term income generators?

Damanhur was willing to help with any reasonable proposal, but probably short of any major funding outside the new priority areas of sustainable (= self sufficient?) food and energy.

This was all a refreshing contrast with Findhorn's general approach to community economy (with exceptions, see Community Economy paper).

My own contribution (John Wragg) was to offer a repair service for PCs and other equipment, website development and in the medium term alternate high technologies.

But guidance from esoteric astrology (Errol Weiner) is to wait until Uranus moves into Aries in mid March. New things will not be able to work out until that time and old things will still be dissolving and collapsing.

Until then I am in the right place at the right time, as always!

On my move to Magilla Nucleo (family) Community, which specializes in New Technology:

1. City of Light: compare and contrast
2. New Technology: I am interested in the production of high technology machines that can assist Rescue Teams following a possible catastrophy,
3. Help build the emerging new sustainable civilization based on high levels of consciousness.
4. Website Design, and PC Support
5. Interfaith Minister and Healer

See also: www.johnwragg.org.uk/

My group went to a simple ceremony to become members of the Damanhurean “Spiritual People”.

At a physical level this involves a vow of intention and a silk bracelet, plus payment of 10 Euros as an energy exchange.

We now have access to various meditations and sanctuaries, but not the inner temple.

This ceremony (in my view) corresponds to the 1st Initiation of the Wisdom Teaching, entering the spiritual path with intent. It corresponds at Findhorn to a combination of “The Call” and Experience week.

1) Following my guidance

2) Personal and inner development

3) Explore the possibilities for Hi Technology (subtle energy) machines to assist in rescue work before and after any catastrophy, and as a basis for the new hgher consciousness civilization that is likely to emerge.

4) To further explore the City of Light concept, partly by comparing and contrasting Findhorn and Damanhur.

I enroled on this new three month "Temporary Citizen" or New Life programme, which gives an option of becomeing a full member after three months. As of end January they had 44 New Lives join in three months, with the first batch now graduating. This is from from 1,119 reqests for information and 50 to 100 already in the pipeline.

So I joined this week's new entrant batch, to be housed initially in a dedicated house somewhere in Piedment, with six other new entrants and opposite an established "nucleo community" of which there are about 30 (changes weekly). All deep in the woods, much of them onwned by Damanhur..

There is a good mixture of social (= group living) gentle work, and hints of esoteric and magical levels behind everything.

Left home 4.30 Thursday 27th January 2010, arrived 18.30 via Inverness and Gatwick.

I enroled on the three day OLAMI progamme run by welcome@damanhur.it. Well worth while if a little expensive, and much easier to see the central sites than just by going straight into the New Life programe.

Sites included the Damjl, the main centre, the Damanhur Crea restaurant, business, arts and craftes, organic shop. All much like Findhorn on steriods.

Quite unlike Findhorn was the Temple, extensive kilometers of labyrinths and a tree house village (visited in snow).

On Day 3 of this introductory programme, after two temple visits and one meditation I was treated to a two hour lecture from our guide on Esoteric (subtle energy) Physics. This does not happen in Findhorn!

Damanhur has its own real farm, managed by them on a commercial basis. It is in the plain at the foot of the mountains some distance from the centre, I suspect for good esoteric reasons.

They have five long greenhouse tunnels, and I spent a pleasant morning weeding lettuces in one. Memories of Cullerne Gardens in Findhorn.

They also breed cattle for sale as food, with a herd of 120 fed on corn and hay. All very politically uncorrect now!

I spent another pleasant morning helping to grind cattle feed. Feeding cows; what do the think of us? Are we all part of a larger food chain or spiritual ecosystem? The answer is obvious if you ask the question in the right way.

PS:

It turns out that the reasons they want to keep a farm with beef cattle are to preserve a breading stock and have something to eat following a potential catastrophy!

There are various areas of Damanhur I still struggle with, though every community has its shadow side and that is OK.

So much of Damanhur seems to be stuck in a 20 year time warp.

Many of the mostly Italian members seem to be unaware of the "new age" consensus (which itself may be wrong) regarding areas such as:

• Nutrition, eg the energetic impact of a diet dominated by white flower in pasta, bread and cakes
• Cooking, eg with so much frying in oil and the routine use of microwave ovens
• Drug Dependencies, eg on alchohol, caffiene and sugar
• Exercise, dance, music (except within the context of the Temple)
• Compost and permaculture

Maybe it is because they are on such a hgh level that these things do not matter any more?

And each individual is expected to look after his or her own self from inner guidance, without needing to be told how to behave?

The balance is likely to shift with the "New Life" entrants, who seem to be more international and cosmopolitan and more open to current trends. Most speak multiple languages, and use English as well as Italian as a common language.

Italian seems to be still required as a criterian for membership, both in order to fully participate in the Social life and because most of the mystical Falco material is in Italian and does not translate well.

But the Truth cannot be exclusively Italian, can it?

I shall doubtless return to these themes.

Most of the mystical Falco material that forms the basis of Damanhurian philosophy is in Italian and is said not to translate very well. Thus in part the Italian language requirement for Citizen A (which I am not disputing).

Falco himself often seems to engage with Italian politics in a way which is understandable and may be necessary but can seem a little parochial from an International perspective.

And possibly the Pope would agree with Falco that the Truth is Italian ?

So perhaps we have here two poles of a duality, which can be transcended or else smother one or other protagnist in its "Founder's Disease" shadow?

After six weeks from my initial committment:

Self Development

1. Complete the School of Meditation course
2. Take initiation

World Service - survivable energy

1. Help build the emerging new sustainable civilization based on high levels of consciousness and new technology.
2. Help design and produce new (Esoteric) technology machines that can assist Rescue Teams following a possible catastrophy.

Social Sustainability

1. Transport
2. Learn Italian

Healing

1. Spirit release
2. Interfaith Minister and Healer

Work Projects

1. City of Light, website and Damanhur blog
2. Website Design
3. PC Support
4. Damanhur Repairs
5. Findhorn?
6. Damanhur?

Please accept this as a reflection of my shadow, and not as criticism of my Italian friends and their practices.

It starts with dinner, the main meal of the day at 9.30 pm, yes that is 21.30, or later. How can you digest a meal properly after that? With wine during and coffee after?

The soup is often excellent. But the pastas and pizza base are largely junk food, with little nutritional value, and vegetables such as Broccoli tend to be overcooked, and fried in oil if not batter. I have even seen perfectly good plain white rice covered with oil.

On Sundays you might get a veal escalope, or whole fish, all best quality. And it is OK if a little weird to be vegetarian. But not taking alcohol (wine with the meal) was stated in one community to be a “problem”.

Just before bed you can have a rice cake (carbohydrate) smothered in chocolate source (sugar), to go with your coffee (caffeine) or maybe a little more wine (alcohol).

Sweet dreams!

Breakfast

At breakfast you are probably still digesting diner, which is just as well. You might find a husk of dry white bread to have with your honey (sugar) and Italian coffee (caffeine with three spoons of sugar).

Or you might strike lucky with some best quality muesli bought for guests. Good luck trying to find the milk in the fridge, it comes in a funny bottle, and will be fresh if your luck still holds out.

Lunch

No tea break at 10.30 or 11.00, but you can have an apple or banana.

Lunch is light and OK, often leftovers, but does not come until after 1.00 pm. This compounds the glycemic cycle problem caused by all that sugar and caffeine.

No afternoon tea of course, but you can have another apple or banana, or maybe an orange.

Does it Matter?

Of course people are free to treat their bodies any way they chose, though there may be consequences:

• Carbohydrates can be grounding, and a useful antidote to being too much in the head, or “spacey”.
• Conversely Carbohydrates and meat may hinder your achieving higher states of consciousness?
• Sugar is just bad, a poison our bodies are ill adapted to handling. And it seems to make you fat?
• Similarly caffeine in the quantities we are dealing with here.

Alternatives

Many Budhhist and Chinese Chi-Gong communities eat very little after mid day.

Findhorn gets on perfectly with a rhythm of dinner at 6.00 pm, leaving time for evening meetings or community events to start at 7.30 or 8.00.

Damanhur and Drugs

No drugs are allowed except pharmaceutical drugs and the alcohol, sugar and caffeine discussed above.

No cigarette smoking is allowed anywhere on the premises or associated territories. Don’t even think about it; if you are a smoker give up or don’t come. This is partly because of smoking’s energetic effect, and partly as a spiritual exercise, or test.

How to achieve enlightenment, by the Damanhur School of Meditation (abridged):

The quickest way to enlightenment and higher consciousness, they say, goes through others.

The ego is the biggest obstacle, and can be overcome by giving more attention to others and their needs, taking care of them.

So the social and spiritual pillars come together, with open channels of communication.

Individual Magic can give power but only leads to destruction and disaster.

But by going through others, you can gain knowledge and power via a bigger project, ie work, and stimulate the emotions (to give the fire to carry it through).

cf Findhorn

Work is love in action Love the one you are with Love where you are and what you have to do.

cf Alice Bailey

Become conscious of the Group Soul Join the group of World Servers

cf Damanhur

It is still posible to realise a dream. We need practical dreamers.

Be inspired

On a recent flying visit back to Findhorn, I lost track of the number of people who said they were glad I seemed to have found my place (meaning Damanhur.

And sitting in the Community Centre for brunch on Sunday with 50 others felt warm and enclosing but somehow no longer me. There is a big wide world out there!

It took an epic drive back (2,000 km in three days) for this to land fully as a decision (choice), whereupon things stated to happen here. In particular some friends invited to join them as a member of Aria, a brand new Nuclei Comunity comprising six of us who have known each other for two months now - see separate blog Comment.

According to the Damanhurian philosophy we have free will, and a decision (choice) followed by action starts a realignment of the universe. You then get to live with the consequences (Karma) until that learning cycle is complete.
 
Note: this is Rays one (Will and Power) and three (Kowledge), rather than the Love Ray two of Findhorn which is OK but only partial as are all single rays.

So I have now signed up for another three months, until Summer Solstice, which will make five months in total,

And I have applied for long term membership but first I have to get a job and learn Italian. If I am correct in my guidance to be here then the means will resolve themselves.

And there is still something about catastrophy rescue work, high technology machines and links between Findhorn and Damanhur.

On my return to Damanhur I was invited to join Aria, a brand new NucleoCommunity made up of New Life members of the Temporary Citizenship progamme. Though most of us are in the process of looking for a job or other work and applying for permanent membership.

The Damanhurian Federation has lent us full use of a house in the village, rent free until the Summer Solstice (three months).  After that we are expected to have established a sustainable on-going economy, and make contributions to the Federation budget just like any other Nuclei.

The house is in the centre of the picturess mountain village: courtyard living, church bells chime the hour, dogs barking. Five minuits walk from Damanhur Crea.

The basic renovation has been done but a lot of work has been necessary to get it all in good condition. Many thanks to those who have donated furniture, bedclothes, kitchen utensils...

It is all about learning to live in community, with full group awareness. Everyone wants to come and visit and have lunch, which is good, but we also need to lock the courtyard gate at times so that we have space to develop our own rhythms and processes without uninvited guests just walking in.

The whole thing is an experiment on several different levels. Can we make it as individuals, group and community, in alignment with all things Damanhurian, social, spiritual, art, politics, Game of Life? All under various spotlights?

Watch this space!

You have heard the one about the music of the plants, and how a plant can create sophisticated music in accordance with the emotions of a human audience?

How about a plant that rides a robot and learns to look after its own needs by directing the robot towards water, say, or a heat source? Or just turning on and off a tap?

Damanhur is as proactive as one could wish in preparation for a potential happening or catastrophe. Aspects include:

Survival Kit

Every Citizen is encouraged to be physically, emotionally and mentally prepared to leave at ten minutes notice. This is seen as part of spiritual training.

There are lists of what should be packed in a rucksack under the bed sufficient for three days survival, and what should be held at the Nucleo community level, such as food for three or six months.

Food Self-sufficiency

There is a target for food self sufficiency by February 2012.

Surveys show a current level overall of about 40%, with some items in surplus (eg Honey) and some not produced at all in the North (eg rice).

Different Nucleos have different geographical advantages and different interests, and are able to grow or raise different foods. There are small animals (rabbits, chickens) and large animals (cows, horses for transport). So not everyone has to produce everything.

It was interesting to see in the food requirements the (unconscious) stress on the need to maintain elements of the Italian diet such as pasta, tomatoes for pasta source and wine. Not having these would be unthinkable.

Energy Self Sufficiency

Most Nucleos have wood burning stoves (furnaces) for hot water and heating, most supplemented by some form of solar panels and LPG gas cylinders. But these installations mostly rely on electric power for pumps, and so are not fully “Off Grid”.

Please see the Center for Advance Technology (CAT) in Wales for background material on Renewable Energy, and their introductory book Off Grid.

The more advanced Nucleos are potentially off grid, with invertors and batteries. Some also have sophisticated air heat exchange systems for heating and air conditioning. Most Nucleos have an old-fashioned wood burning stove in the kitchen that does not require electricity and provides for cooking during possible power interruptions.

The gap between best and less so Nucleo Communities is quite large, and a matter of resources, cost and people. Still, this area is now the second highest priority, after food, and current technology exists and is available commercially.

Long Term Sufficiency

There is still a credibility gap over longer term survival in the absence of oil for fuel, transport, agriculture etc.

Damanhur is as close as I have seen, but we may yet need New Energy machines, see accompanying Blog on this site.

And it would be nice to see more emphasis and urgency on achieving off-grid energy self sufficiency.

After I decided and applied to stay on at Damanhur a lot more opportunities and tests have come up.

Damanhur is very strong on making a choice, with free will, and then the universe will arrange itself around that and reflect it back via synchronicity. Most people seem to make few if any conscious choices in their lives, just drifting with the current.

It almost does not matter what you choose, there is no judgment, just consequences that move you closer or further from where you want to go, towards the Light or Love if that is your choice.

Some who are not yet committed complain about mixed messages and threaten to go back "home". For me "home" does not exist anymore, and you cannot expect the organisation to put itself out very far to help those who have not (yet) made a commitment.

Of course this all applies to me to some extent, as my projected shadow.

And then everything changes.

Two arenas this all works out in are the Social Life (normally living with 8 to 22 mostly Italians in a Nucleo Community) and Spiritual Economy, meaning sources of income or work for the good of the individual and whole within a specific communal context. As a cell within the Human Being, or Heavenly Man.

You need about 1,000 Euros a month to live here long term. I am manifesting this, partly through helping people with website design and PC support. This could be for someone within Damanhur, or remotely from Findhorn or indeed anywhere worldwide.

I am fortunate in living with 5 others, most of whom speak English and "New Life". This is almost a half way house between a proper nucleo and New Life guests staying in somebody else's Nucleo Family. We are able to support each other, financially, practically and emotionally.

But more on that later.

Relationships

With regard relationships, I am not in a partnership. I am surrounded by women, many of them half my age, and I fall in love once a week but it doesn't do me any good.

• Sometimes my hormones are triggered and I don't know whether I am coming or going, which leads to attachment in the Buddhist sense.
• Sometimes the sexual energy can act as a fuel in a deep relationship that can be quite beautiful and which does not have to be expressed physically.

Social

With regard the social pillar, relationships within our Nucleo family (six people living together) are getting better, with dramatic episodes less frequent and more easily overcome.

I lost my temper once, last week when under stress, and then had to undergo a lengthy sharing process as to what was up and why I did not want to share, which would have involved criticising someone but of course it was all my projection onto him.

And then there is on-going integration into the community as a whole, 400 + people. I have a tendency to lapse into my "Observer" personality, which may be a hosted entity.

My excuse is my poor Italian, but of course they go together.

Spiritual

Going well, mainly around the School of Meditation, two hours a week, but still in “pre-meditation”.

Plus another two long training sessions a week in other groups. Topics include the history of Damanhur, Art, Healing, Alchemy, Sacred language and dance etc. And many times familiar words such as these do not mean what you might think.

Love

It has taken me four months to realize what Damanhurians mean by “Research”, and why it is always said with a certain emphasis.

The objective is to use no instrumentation. Therefore the results of a query have to be experienced within one’s body, emotions or thoughts.

For reliability the research enquiry must

• follow a schedule
• be repeated independently three times,
• preferably by different researchers
• using different methodologies and at different times.

There are many different mediumistic and chanelling methodologies in use within Damanhur, for different purposes.

You can also use the Elements, or our Selfric friends.

Using different language, based on my pre-Damanhurian experience:

• You can use the Higher Mind to access Intuition
• Or tune in to the appropriate frequency of the information desired, within the Akashic Records on the Astral plane or elsewhere.
• You have to be able to sustain the right frequency, and you may be challenged by a Guardian and have to give a password.
• And you can make your own test of the integrity of the source of the information, by asking thee times.

You must decide where you want to put or receive the answers.

Find out what is the data being received relative to you query. Plus, how do you feel about the data being received?

How do you react? Distinguish what is you and what comes from outside.

What is happening in your life? Keep a dedicated diary. Always share with others.

Work in groups. What else do I not know that I don’t know?

After three months the experimental Aria Nucleo Community has been wound up.

The six of us achieved group cohesion, at a social and personality level, most of the time. And we proved unable to come up with a “spiritual” project or joint purpose beyond being able to live together.

One person has already gone back to their country, and two others will follow. This is ostensibly for visa and economic reasons, but is also possibly part of a grand plan for an enhanced Damanhurian presence in their country.  

The rest of us have moved to different “proper” (ie Italian) Nucleos, carefully selected by “them” for the highest good of all concerned. For me this enables me to concentrate my three tasks for now:

• Learn Italian

• Establish a business (doing website design initially)

• Participating in the Initiatic path of the School of Meditation here.  

That should keep me going a bit. And yes, the website business is booming thank you very much And do you know anyone who would like a website? And what about an English Nucleo, to go with the new Spanish and the established Italian Nucleos???

That is, how to make a living? Off recently on an organized excursion to a Damanhur friendly employment agency in Ivrea.

• If you can speak multiple languages there are lots of call centre jobs, often with flexible shift worker possibilities.
• If you look relatively young, fit and strong, there are lots of jobs in Mechanical Engineering, ie manual work in a metalwork factory, which my artistic friends turned their noses up at .
• Or if you are older you could work on inspection in a factory, ie me, who started work aged 17 observing Inspection in different workshops around a very large factory as a professional apprentice.
• Best now is to have qualifications in Mechanical Engineering, lots of jobs at all levels, especially CAD Computer Aided Design. This seems to have taken over the “Draftsman” function I was familiar with?

This work may be partly from the supply infrastructure of Fiat? In Turin? I imagine lots of small jobbing workshops, familiar territory from a later job as a Design Engineer. Funny how this has taken me back to my roots forty five years ago! Possibly a different agency would have more health sector or retail jobs? And you need a Visa or European Union work permit.

My friends mostly have already found their niche.

And it is more effective for me to build up my website design business rather than work for someone else at a minimum wage that still does not give you enough income to stay here. And since this is still Italy it is worth investing in relationships, that may or may not seem fruitful initially.

There are also shades of the perennial tension here between the permanent staff or “permies”, who go for the security, and the independent self employed contractors who relish the risk. This same tension exists at all levels from a self employed carpenter to a management consultant.

Some but not all of the Damanhurians don’t seem to get this, thinking mainly in terms of employment.

One woman who has now been here for ten years really struggled for the first two. She was a veteran of the New Age Movement, in California and Hawaii. All very loving, holding, feminine.

So she asked Falco, as one does:

• Why so male oriented?
• Why so exclusively action focussed?
• Why the emphasis on Doing to the exclusion of Being?
• Wh no introspective meditation?

To which Falco replied:

We had to do it that way!!!

PS: which also may explain why we are now struggling to express unconditional love within our communities?

I have now been in my “new” Nucleo about six weeks, interrupted by a week in Scotland.

This Nulceo is the best one could hope for as an “Italian” Nucleo. The people are friendly and the atmosphere elevated. Most speak some English, though that makes it harder to learn Italian which is a real struggle for me.

There are usually two or three here on “Work Exchange” (six hours a day, six days a week). Most can speak English but they are gone within a week!

Most of my friends are on the new life programme, for one or two or three months and then leaving. Sometimes I seem to be the only one left of those who joined with me.

So what am I (still) doing here?

My intuition still says I am meant to be here, on the Citizen A track, in the School of Meditation training, if that is the right word, for Initiation. Which is not to my knowledge available anywhere else.

The esoteric astrologer Errol Weiner of Findhorn says it is about Saturn transiting over my Libra Rising into the First House, and that it is a time of rebirth and regeneration and a feeling of being freed from the karma and responsibilities of the past.

Yes, well, maybe.

And what about Saturn opposition to Venus this month? Or do I become a monk?
 

In May I developed a hernia whilst clearing a path through some woods with my friends. The Doctors here (Damanhur) and in Forres agree that it is stable and not serious enough at present for an emergency operation, though it could develop critically.

To get it done in Scotland would mean asking for a referral assessment interview in perhaps six weeks, and then having an operation scheduled a few weeks after that. So I would have to be in Scotland for a month or two, which means finding somewhere to live…

And on return here it may be difficult to rejoin the School of Meditation since my class / group will have moved on. And ditto my new life friends.

I could reintegrate into Findhorn, but possibly with a feeling of missed opportunity, failure…

And I will have run out of money with all the traveling, and not being present here to build up my business designing websites (which is doing well now).

But perhaps all this is my lower personality dreaming up excuses not to get initiated?

My intuition still says just “trust, you are meant to be here”.
 

I still have my over ten years old and plus 100,000 mile Saab 9.3, and it developed a funny engine noise after a recent trip to Milan on the Autostrada in the heat.

I spent 10 days trying to book it into the main Saab dealer (concessionary) in Turin during the holiday season, without success, before remembering that the company Saab ceased to exist 18 months ago!

Eventually I found (with the help of an interpreter) a specialist garage in Turin.  And then I had to face related questions such as driving 100km to Turin hoping it lasts that long, what do I do overnight if they cannot fix it within a day, can I afford this etc etc…

Is there some message in all this?

Symbolically the car represents:

• Freedom of movement and association within the Damanhur community.
• A lifeboat, in that I could always just bung everything into the back of the car and start driving North (for 2,000 km).

Now I am in danger of having neither. Please can I take the lesson and then have my car back?

And my guidance remains “Stay Here”.

PS: The specialist garage in Turin fixed a brocken air conditioning pulley which was making the noise, and also stripped the front wheel security bolt so that the front wheel brakes cannot be examined properly or changed.

OK
I was able to earn from my website design business, plus my small private pension. This is not enough without another job or source of income, but there is growth potential.

From a wider perspective Damanhur seems out of balance, with too much doing as opposed to being even if in theory action is spiritual. Findhorn also struggles with this, despite the axiom  Work is Love in Action.

Something seems wrong if a person can work all available hours doing two jobs at the minimum wage, and show signs of stress and still not earn enough to live in a Nucleo. Or perhaps I have misunderstood?

Many of the formative stories about the early days relate to politics and relations with the Italian state. This was once necessary but may no longer be functional? Falco frequently gives forth in a way that can seem quite parochial from a European perspective.

In some respects it seems as if Damanhur exists in a bubble formed in the 1970’s, and hardly changed since. It seems as if the Reformation did not happen in Italy, nor other schools in the Western Mystery Tradition, nor the New Age insights , nor the women’s movement, nor..

This is not meant as criticism, more an attempt to put it in context and understand. And of course I am not yet an initiate, and so cannot be expected to understand, but that is another story, and is not the truth meant to be simple?

I am still committed to what I understand as the Damanhurean project.

And it is not just the mechanics of the language:
 
Italian thought processes seem to be discursive, going round about in circles, very oral (as opposed to literal). Ideas “might be interesting to follow up”, it would be “worth doing some research”, it takes ten minutes to ask a question, which ends up with “do you have any comments?”.
 
So it is just as well that there is focus on action: though taken to mean manual work with the hands. But that denigrates and ignores other ways of thinking, communicating and acting. I speak from 25 years experience communicating with multiple media as salesman and management consultant. I am a veteran of Effective Presentations and Public Speaking workshops.
 
Which is not to boast, just to highlight some of the cultural differences.
 
So how much of Damanhur is an accident of time and space? How much of the Italian no longer serves a useful purpose as Damanhur is called to move into a more universal role, at least European?
 
I know and accept that Italian is necessary now to participate fully in the Community. But it is not that simple, and the social smoothing of a nucleo can take place in any language.

All went very well, except the Italian issue, see separate posts.
 
The nucleos seem to perform well in there role of smoothing the rough edges of personalities.
 
In any common language.
 
The social environment helped me come out of my shell a bit more, as commented on whenever I go back to Findhorn.
 
I would have preferred more social and artistic events with opportunities to meet Damanhurians socially. On most Friday and Saturday night perhaps? I know I could have organized my own but without knowing the people or language it is a challenge for a newcomer to step right into an organising role. Findhorn organizes monthly sharings, open to all with or without talent, there are films, dance, music and the Hall is a recognized venue for national class professional performances: music, dance, comedy.. or just parties!
 
My Italian has advanced to the stage that I can formulate sentences and understand if people talk slowly, but not enough for social integration or a job. At times some of those in the Nucleo have seemed uninterested. Luckily I have skills and resources that enable me to cope with the isolation, for better or worse. I have at times been lonely and depressed.
 
I have my version of Falco’s vision, but there is no one in the nucleo I can discuss it with: either their English or my Italian is not good enough.

The new Life programme seems to work at an individual level, once newcomers have found their feet.
 
Three months is a good time, and enough for a New Lifer to get enough information to choose whether to stay or not. And there is an excellent weekly programme of events and trainings.
 
The situation is more mixed with regards the role of New Lifers as “Change Agents”. Some of the nucleos report the development of mutually enhancing relationships, and many others seem to have struggled. Some New Lifers have experienced loneliness and depression. And not as many are staying as hoped?
 
It is understandable that an Italian faced with a New Life trying to communicate in English might feel it is his house and why should he have to learn English?
 
Maybe the development and use of a fact sheet with Frequently Asked Questions would help? It could even be emailed out in advance?

Received early in the morning Sunday 2nd October:

“I have to leave (now)”

“The time has come”

This is quite subtle language, hopefully not lost in translation.

The guidance says “Leave Damanhur”, rather than “Go to Findhorn / Forres / Scotland, though I have taken it as “Go to Scotland”.

“The Time Has Come” implies the end of a waiting period, or perhaps moving into a new phase, spiritually, locally or globally. It is almost Apocalyptical. It is not necessarily saying that something is going to happen here, but that I need to move into my place for the next phase, which is Scotland. Hopefully before any major travel disruptions in October or November.

Which is a shame in that I was just getting used to it here at Damanhur!

Maybe I am entering a phase of traveling and healing, and Damanhur Citizen A is not for me. And maybe some way can be found to maintain contact or initiation with the School of Meditation. And I have to let that go in following my intuitive guidance, which I have long been committed to.

I did also choose Damanhur, and that still feels valid even though I am physically moving away for a period and I cannot reconcile that logically.

My function may be to act as a bridge between Damanhur and Findhorn, as well as promoting Damanhur more widely in the English speaking world. There is also still my dream of promoting New Energy machines as a co-operative venture or exchange when the time is right, see http://cityoflight.org.uk/energy-blog

But all this is the mind trying to rationalize, when all I have to do or can do is follow my guidance step by step. To Findhorn and Forres. Leaving on Friday 7^th October.

Hello All

I finally left on Saturday morning, after a brief drama (test) stopping to top up the car brake fluid. 3 degrees and snowing either side of the Mont Blanc tunnel - quite dramatic

Hardly a car on the road through France, but lots of rain, some very heavy. Wrong turnings near Dijon and Troyes. Stayed overnight Saturday near Troyes, now (Sunday) at Maidstone, Kent, England: half way back. Now sunny and warm if not hot.

I was speaking Italian to the French people in the service stations, and driving on the wrong side of the road in England.

Lots of heavy fast traffic on the M20 in England, so I stopped at this Hotel. And found at last a wiFi and mobile that worked Monday night with my son and possibly daughter in Manchester.

I shall be staying at least initially with the Shen Foundation, see below. It is independent but located close to the Findhorn Association. They call the Etheric energy Chi rather than Prana, and the meditations are almost the same. If it turns out to be a different sub-plane of the Etheric then that is not the end of the world.

It seems that by delaying my departure until Saturday I shall miss a desirable meeting on Monday.

This is doubtless recoverable but is an example of what can happen if one steps out of the synchronistic flow by not following clear guidance immediately. A lesson for me;

And clarity for me during the drive back that my place is in Scotland, at least for now. And that Damanhur will remain an essential part of my life through some combination of visits, (International) School of Meditation, Healing Workshop training and Citizen C or D.

Regards

In May 2011 I developed a hernia whilst clearing a path through some woods in Damanhur with my friends, as previously mentioned in this blog.

I decided not to have anything done about it whilst in Italy, and waited to see my GP on my return to Scotland, October 2011, and ended up with an operation date of 1st February 2012.

But cancelled that the week before and went to the back of the queue, since I really did not want an operation at that time.

And the hernia continued painful much of the time, finally developing a potentially serious strangulation on 10th April, all fixed with an emergency operation. Since when all has been well – no pain!

And thanks to the staff of Dr Grays Hospital Elgin, and the Hospital Angel whom I met and did a service for a few years ago.