Situations around death and dying can often carry with them the emotion of fear and a sense of loss. Establishing and maintaining a connection with the realm of the beyond offers continuity and understanding, and at Damanhur we have several moments and rituals dedicated to this intention.
For the second time, we held what has now become the annual Ritual of the Form on February 6th, concentrated in the Sacred Woods Temple during the day with fire, divination, service and walking the labyrinths. In the evening, ritual dinners took place in all Damanhur nucleos and in many Damanhur Centers in Italy and the world.
This ritual is a day to open our senses, perceptions and hearts to our community members who have passed, to offer ourselves the gift of communication with this realm, and to offer them the chance to contact the world of form, where we live and breathe and remember. Celastrina, a new Damanhurian, shares her experience of the ritual:
As the days crept closer to February 6th, I could feel the energy in Damanhur becoming denser, as if the environment were holding its breath, and I was looking forward to the day.
I arrived to the Sacred Woods Temple together with my School of Meditation group, and we did a few hours of community work for the woods as a way of connecting to the ritual. Working together is always a strong moment of bonding and really forming a group. I had forgotten how much I enjoy it: carrying wood uphill, laughing and the feeling of doing something important together.
When we had completed the work, we went by the fire and found many people sitting there, gazing deep within the sea of the flames. I joined them in meditation, and felt the contrast of the fiery questions and wonders that were being lit up inside of me with the calm and gentle forest surrounding us. On one side of the fire, there was a table set with different instruments for doing divinations.
I participated in a short meditation in the blue pyramid to connect with the realm of the beyond. It was very emotional for me, and many of the questions that were spinning in my head earlier by the fire softly melted away and my mind became calm. Instead, I felt as if the answers came to me through a warm place in my heart. For me, those ten minutes were just an instant and an eternity at the same time, and I experienced the rest of the evening through those emotions.
