15 August in Italy is Ferragosto—similar to labor day in other countries. Usually, this is a day of rest. But for a community that meditates with its hands, every year we use this time to get outside and do things together.
This year, Ferragosto landed on a weekend, so the Game of Life* decided to make a two-day celebration of it!
Saturday, groups gathered physically and around the world online for Medit-Action. If you’re new to Damanhurian terminology, Medit-Action—from the Italian meditazione… medit-azione, active meditation—is our initiatic path. The School of Meditation host students from around the world on a lifelong, esoteric journey of evolutive growth.
Community Art
Meditation takes many forms at Damanhur, and this weekend art was the focus. Not just any art. Collective art to seed the actions we want to take in the next five years.
We explored Practical Dreaming, Brotherhood/Sisterhood, and the ReAwakening of Humanity. It’s easy to define these terms, but what are the actions you can take to embody them? And what are the actions you want to see in others? Like the indigenous languages we spoke about in the August NCLg Masterclass** on Naturing Language, when we were to speak in actions/verbs, we create with our words.
From the collective experiences gathered, the groups created active art.
Active Zooming
It was so much fun facilitating the international group on Zoom. We had initiates from Australia, Germany, Austria, Italy, the US, Spain, and more. I am still in awe at the beautiful poetry, imagery, songs, and theatre produced!
If you think online classes are just about listing to a talking head, you are missing out! We already have so much fun in our sessions. After this, I’ll be adding even more ways for us to actively learn.
A Healthy Use of Competition
The Tokyo Olympics may be over, but Ferragosto brought with it our own flash Horusiadi—the Damanhurian Olympics. So many matches held and so many laughs. This is a great way to use a little competition and lots of collaboration to discover talents and bring people together.
Teams were randomly created, ensuring that you get to work with a good mix of people. Many of the challenges required a group effort, which is pretty smart if you think about it. Inevitably, you always discover something new about someone in the group. Who knew that she could sing like that or that he could jump that high?!
By competing against others in temporary teams, you get the adrenaline rush of wanting to create something great, without the weight of constantly wanting to beat down others to do it. This feels much more healthy to me, what do you think?
Community Knows No Physical Boundaries
Sunday morning was dedicated to physically working across our many territories. Groups scattered across central Damanhur did maintenance in our temples, painted labyrinth stones, cleaned the capital, and helped prepare a massive lunch for all participants.
As I walked into the Temples of Humankind on Sunday morning to devote some hours to the gardens and to carrying out magickal operations currently in progress—that’s a whole other topic—I was reminded of just how special this place is.
What really touched me the most, is that Damanhur is not limited to this physical location. Damanhurians can be found on just about every continent now, and each one is dedicated to reawakening humanity through personal and collective action. It is this common mission that glues us together. It fuels our desire to evolve in complexity in order to ensure we do our part for the entire World of Form to flourish.
We come together in person, via Zoom, through art, when we physically work together or research knowledge, and every time we individually and collectively carry out magickal operations and rituals.
Damanhur is made of individuals that self-organize around common interests to form many communities that create a greater community focused on a common goal.
Like we are here as naturally-conscious leaders: lots of small ecosystems (ReConnect with the Plant Kingdom students, Book Club readers, Spirit Wild Plant explorers…) bordered by ecotones (NCLg members) nestled into one greater Naturally Conscious Ecosystem community. How special is that?
* The Game of Life is an organism in Damanhur with one purpose: CHANGE. Growth does not happen in static systems. Sometimes, you have to break the balance in order for evolution to occur.
** Every month, I teach a nature-inspired masterclass. For details, click here.