Damanhur (community)

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The Damanhur community , often called "Damanhur" for short, is a commune, ecovillage and spiritual community in Piedmont in northern Italy , about 50 km north of Turin . The ecovillage is located in the foothills of the Alps in the Valchiusella valley, bordering the Gran Paradiso National Park . The community has its own constitution and currency, the credito .

The name Damanhur comes from the Egyptian city ​​of Damanhur (Demi-enHur = Horus city), in which there was a temple dedicated to Horus .

The community was founded in 1975 by Oberto Airaudi with around 24 followers and grew to 700 people by 2001. The residents are followers of the New Age , some of them neo-pagan . When the presence of a large, underground temple ( Temples of Humankind ) was published, Damanhur became known to a wider public. The underground construction began in 1978 with complete secrecy. The Italian authorities initially stopped construction because it had started without a permit, but work on works of art in the temple could continue. Later building was gradually allowed again.

Damanhur supporters say that the growth and activity of the community also has an invigorating effect on the surrounding area. The Damanhur community has centers in Europe , North and South America, and Japan . The Berlin center was opened in 1994.

Life in Damanhur

Damanhur

At the beginning three departments were set up: the school of meditation (ritual tradition), social (social theory, social realization), and the game of life (for experimentation and for dynamics, life as a game, change). A fourth department has recently been added: Tecnarcato (individual inner refinement).

Members of the community can - depending on their level of commitment - place themselves in one of four levels: Level A community members share all resources and live permanently on the site. Level B community members contribute financially and live there at least three days a week. Level C and D community members live outside.

Level C community members participate fully in the school of meditation.

Furthermore, the residents can assign themselves to different paths according to their personal nature, such as the path of the knight (voluntary service), the path of art and integrated technologies or of the word, the path of the oracle (rituality, music, dance), the path of Health (ecological life) or the path of the monks (life alone) and the esoteric couples (life as a couple). Most live in shared apartments ; these communities together make up the community of Damanhur.

criticism

The Damanhur community is often viewed as a sect by outsiders and dropouts .

According to Patrizia Santovecchi, President of the Italian National Monitoring for Mental Ill-Treatment, the Damanhur community has characteristics typical of a psychological sect. Including the inability to develop freely, to live without blackmail, manipulation through peer pressure, the impossibility of criticism and the demand for total obedience, the farewell to the family, the complete depersonalization of the individual, the deprivation of all decision-making ability and the duty to asking the master what needs to be done.

Some former followers report alleged mental and physical abuse they are alleged to have endured over the years.

literature

  • Jeff Merrifield: Damanhur: The Real Dream . Thorsons, London 1998, ISBN 0-7225-3496-5 .
  • Jeff Merrifield: Damanhur: The Story of the Extraordinary Italian Artistic Community . Hanford Mead Publishers, Santa Cruz 2006, ISBN 1-59275-010-9 .
  • Esperide pineapple: Damanhur: Temples of Humankind . CoSM Press, New York 2006, ISBN 1-55643-577-0 .
  • Ross Robertson: Atlantis in the Mountains of Italy . In: What Is Enlightenment? . No. 36, April 2007, pp. 94-110.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Churches, sects, religions: religious communities, ideological groups and psycho-organizations in the German-speaking area: a manual, p. 264, online at Evangelische Sektenberatung der Schweiz http://www.relinfo.ch/damanhur/infotxt.html
  2. ↑ Protestant sect counseling in Switzerland http://www.relinfo.ch/damanhur/infotxt.html
  3. ↑ Courteney, Hazel: Eighth wonder of the world? The stunning temples secretly carved out below ground by 'paranormal' eccentric . Daily Mail. November 22, 2007. Retrieved November 24, 2007.
  4. ↑ Evangelical information center: Churches - Sects - Religions. Damanhur. [1]
  5. ↑ Merrifield, 2006, p. 102
  6. ↑ Jürgen Neffe : A devil with three heads: SPIEGEL reporter Jürgen Neffe on the New Age commune Damanhur and its founder Oberto Airaudi , Der Spiegel , 24/1996
  7. ↑ DAMANHUR, SETTA O COMUNITA 'DI SANI PRINCIPI? In: Il Giornale Popolare. April 14, 2020, accessed August 10, 2020 (Italian).