Damanhur in the News
November 23, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Filed Under Esoteric, Society, Spirituality
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Damanhur is in the news again, which brought them to my mind today. They seem to be discovered or rediscovered every few years in the English speaking world and then promptly forgotten again (until the next time). This time it is the Daily Mail newspaper in the UK with an article on the group.
Damanhur or the “Federation of Damanhur” is a spiritual organization dating from the 1970s in northern Italy. They are based about 30 miles outside of Turin in a rural community that they have established. Spiritually, they are kind of a New Agey mishmash of various beliefs inspired by the visions of Oberto Airaudi, their founder. Because of my interest in Western Esoteric beliefs (it is the area in which I did my Master’s degree) and also because it is a current organization, I’ve found the group interesting and keep an eye on what is going on with them, at least in public, from time to time.
I’m not going to get into their beliefs, which are not entirely easy to summarize but are largely focused on the spiritual evolution of humanity. The main reason that people have heard of them is because of how the group has expressed those beliefs symbolically and artistically. Airaudi organized friends and followers, throughout the late 70s and 80s, to secretly carve a temple complex underneath a rocky hill on land the group owned. The didn’t tell anyone that they were doing this work, especially the Italian government. When it was discovered in 1991 in a very Catholic nation, people freaked out a bit about this weird cult and its secret temple. For a while, the government was threatening to demolish it (because, officially, it was done without permits). Eventually, people calmed down a bit and the temple (really a complex of them by the definition of the Damanhurians), called “The Temples of Humankind,” was officially permitted. Later, they opened it to the public in a controlled manner. At the time of the discovery construction was stopped but the group was allowed to continue to work on the artwork in the existing spaces. The complex is only 10% of the projected final size and it is still huge.
You can see a two dimensional map of the complex below:
This is also a three dimensional representation of the space occupied by the temples drawn from the Damanhur interactive guide:
The temple is quite beautiful in a way and full of detailed artwork following a variety of themes. After carving out the rooms and connecting passages in the rock by hand, all of the artwork was created from scratch by the members and then placed in the rooms over time. One sees a combination of moasics, glasswork, carving, and a variety of other arts. From the images that I’ve seen, the place really is quite beautiful. You can see an image below of the Hall of Earth, which is a very large room:
Below is an image from the Hall of Mirrors:
Remember, all of this is underground and was built with hand tools or created in their workshops and carried through a small tunnel before assembly.
The Damanhurians state on their website:
The Temples of Humankind symbolically represent the inner rooms of every human being. Walking through its halls and corridors corresponds to a profound inner journey. The Temples weave their way inside the mountain for more than 8,500 cubic meters on five different levels, linked by hundreds of meters of corridors. The Temples are sited at the meeting point of Eurasian and African continental plates whose movement has brought to the surface an ancient mineral, over 300 million years old. This mineral known as Milonite carries the physical energy of the Earth. The Temples were constructed inside a seam of this particular mineral which precisely follows the flow of the ‘Synchronic Lines’ of the Earth. The Synchronic Lines are great rivers of energy that surround our planet and link it to the Universe, transporting ideas, thought and dreams. The Temples of Humankind rise up on a shinning knot; the point at which four of these Lines meet.
As I said, a bit New Agey in that their beliefs don’t derive from any one specific tradition but a bit borrowed from many many traditions plus the inspiration of their leader.
A very large flash-based interactive and explanatory model of the temple complex is available. They also have another entire web site dedicated to the temple complex as well that is similar.
Their main web site is available in an English version for those inclined to view it.
I’ve read Jeff Merrified’s “Damanhur: The Community They Tried to Brand a Cult”, which has many pictures. He has done a number of other books as well, such as “Damanhur: The Story of the Extraordinary Italian Artistic And Spiritual Community”. These books discuss both the spiritual beliefs of the organization and their work as a communitarian and spiritual organization (they run a number of businesses and have centers elsewhere now). Oberto Airaudi has a book that he has written available in English now called, “The Book of Synchronicity”. This is some sort of divinatory text along the lines of the “I Ching” or other divination manuals but oriented around the Damanhurian spiritual beliefs.
There is also a book dedicated just to the Temples of Humankind, “Damanhur: Temples of Humankind”. This is probably the book to get if someone is interested in just the fascinating history of the secret construction of the Temples of Humankind, the art within the chambers, and the ideas that tie all of it together into their spiritual vision.
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3 Responses to “Damanhur in the News”
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All original work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Al,
This post just goes to show that you can’t really judge a spiritual organization by its website or its PR.
You have to go there–physically–meet the people and see the place to get a real feel for what’s going on. I did go to Damanhur (unfortunately)–and the reality is much, much less than it looks in the nice articles or the fancy books.
This place is a joke. First, the followers who live there take on the name of both an animal and a plant. So you might end up meeting people named Sparrow Pinecone, Ravenhawk Tulip, and so on.
They have a ridiculous mish-mash of beliefs including how “everything came from Atlantis” and similar BS. They have some completely ridiculous labyrinth-like paths laid out with rock in open fields; the idea is that by walking the various patterns you cure certain diseases or improve psychic abilities or whatever.
But the real mess is in the underground “temple” if you can call it that–basically, its an art project that has not succeeded. Nothing looks nearly as cool or sophisticated as it does in the photos: its cheesy, poorly done, lacking in any subtlety and a real waste of time–not to mention that the energy in the place is fairly negative (under statement).
One of the most sorry aspects of the place is that they take have a time travel lab; the tour guide gives most transparent rap ever about how they are doing time travel experiments. Its very sad…none of the instruments are working, everything is covered in dust and unplugged, and so on. I couldn’t tell if the tour guides truly believed time travel was occurring or if they were conscious of the fabrication. Their stories of “dimensions”, “frequencies”, “earth grids” and so on are quite bogus. One finds oneself eager to leave the underground temple part way through the tour.
The energy of the people in the place is quite creepy and somewhat robotic; everyone is spouting the party line. Apparently, the founder dude has channeled everything from his lifetimes in Atlantis and before, including an ancient language, songs, etc. All of this is 6th grade metaphysics or worse. This is nothing cool or awesome about the scene at all.
On the underground tour, you’re herded through rabbit warrens by watchers who keep tabs you in a spooky way. They frequently point out “important” aspects of the tunnels that are actually trite and hokey. There were several attempts at indoctrinating those on the tour.
The whole place feels very fake and unfortunate. These people do not have a “wonder of the world” or a new way to live on the planet. They’re running a small Western ashram that isn’t changing the world; its allowing a tiny group of people to work out there fantasies; I have no problem with it. Let’s just not pretend its some great or new anything.
The only awesome thing I noticed about Damunhur is the dedication—to delusion, it appears.
Tim
Well, I did say that their beliefs were a mishmash of New Age material with a charismatic founder. That, in and of itself, isn’t terribly remarkable.
I had thought that the complex was more interesting but I’ve never been there. I didn’t stop by the one time that I was in Italy because, frankly, I was busy with Venice, Florence, etc.
They have made it nearly 30 years and are still a going concern. That puts them in a minority of the odder end of spiritual groups.
I wouldn’t really mock the name thing. After all, I’ve been given at least one Tibetan refuge name and another Japanese name when I took vows. I can’t mock the names that others take for spiritual reasons too much.
A creepy vibe is unfortunate though. I’ve met a number of groups that had that, over the years, so I know the kind of thing that you’re talking about.
I’ve mostly been interested in what they’ve built because it is so rare to see someone dig out a set of spaced underground and decorate them in a symbolic way following any sort of spiritual system. It’s just not something done in the last century or two. It makes a place stand out a little.
Thanks for the first hand input though. You’re the first person that I’ve communicated with that’s been out there.
I visited Damanhur end of Oct. in time to witness their ceremony to the departed, really spooky, tho I’ve participated in numerous ceremonies elsewhere. The visit was my first & last. I cut it short when the vibe got too heavy. They do not feed guests but let them hitchhick up the mountainside for food. Everything about the visit was dense. The auras are dark & dismal, the people are like zombies, rushing around with vacant stares, as in any cult. They claim to be absorbed in “the game of life” & tho the game is played in many other places around the globe, especially in some communities, others I have observed are not so withdrawn. Everyone works constantly, to appease the “Spiritual Leader”, a master manipulator, who lives very well & has numerous ladies to buffer him from visitors. One night a week he answers questions. Everyone is required to attend. I was present for one such night & could hardly believe how fork-tongued he was, skirting answers & using double-talk, and luring questioners from other countries (”Now we have an agreement!”) to cast his net everywhere. I left knowing he is an illusionist but before retiring saw him as a delusionist. Those poor slaves, who don’t know they have been drawn into a narrow cult, build & clean & dash about serving a dictator. The so-called temples are weird, years of slave labor by innocent souls. My visit was overwhelming, an airless tomb with repetitious stained glass ceilings lighted artificially underground. Heavily painted walls & mirrors & mosaic floors were just immensely overdone with little cohesion. They charge an enormous amount for a brief visit but are convinced themselves, according to the intense translators, that the rooms are one of the wonders of the world. tsk.
I couldn’t wait to leave. They are inefficient & don’t know how to treat guests. Mainly the “leader”is looking to incorporate the world into his vision & increase his wealth. Ck it out & see if this is not so. I could go on about the other tricks. but enough. Save yourself time, energy & money. Not worth it. The PR has been very good but that’s where it ends. People in the present world will see through the illusion quickly.