The Temples Of Damanhur

Nestling in the foothills of the Alps of northern Italy, 30 miles from the ancient city of Turin, lies the valley of Valchiusella.
This picturesque countryside is peppered with medieval villages but it is deep underground, buried into the ancient rock, that the region’s greatest wonders are concealed.
Here, 100ft down and hidden from public view, lies an astonishing secret - one that has drawn comparisons with the fabled city of Atlantis and has been dubbed ‘the Eighth Wonder of the World’ by the Italian government.
For weaving their way underneath the hillside are nine ornate temples, on five levels, whose scale and opulence take the breath away.
Constructed like a three-dimensional book, narrating the history of humanity, they are linked by hundreds of meters of richly decorated tunnels and occupy almost 300,000 cubic feet - Big Ben is 15,000 cubic feet.
Few have been granted permission to see these marvels, indeed, the Italian government was not even aware of their existence until a few years ago but the ‘Temples of Damanhur’ are not the great legacy of some long-lost civilisation, they are the work of a 57-year-old former insurance broker from northern Italy who, inspired by a childhood vision, began digging into the rock.
It all began in the early Sixties when Oberto Airaudi was aged ten. From an early age, he claims to have experienced visions of what he believed to be a past life, in which there were amazing temples.
Around these, he dreamed there lived a highly evolved community who enjoyed an idyllic existence in which all the people worked for the common good.
More bizarrely still, Oberto appeared to have had a supernatural ability: the gift of “remote viewing” - the ability to travel in his mind’s eye to describe in detail the contents of any building. “My goal was to recreate the temples from my visions,” he says.
Oberto - who prefers to use the name ‘Falco’ - began by digging a trial hole under his parent’s home to more fully understand the principals of excavation but it was only as he began a successful career as an insurance broker that he began to search for his perfect site. In 1977, he selected a remote hillside where he felt the hard rock would sustain the structures he had in mind.
A house was built on the hillside and Falco moved in with several friends who shared his vision. Using hammers and picks, they began their dig to create the temples of Damanhur - named after the ancient subterranean Egyptian temple meaning City of Light - in August 1978.
As no planning permission had been granted, they decided to share their scheme only with like-minded people.Volunteers, who flocked from around the world, worked in four-hour shifts for the next 16 years with no formal plans other than Falco’s sketches and visions, funding their scheme by setting up small businesses to serve the local community.
By 1991, several of the nine chambers were almost complete with stunning murals, mosaics, statues, secret doors and stained glass windows. But time was running out on the secret. The first time the police came it was over alleged tax evasion and still the temples lay undiscovered but a year later the police swooped on the community demanding: “Show us these temples or we will dynamite the entire hillside.” Falco and his colleagues duly complied and opened the secret door to reveal what lay beneath.
Three policemen and the public prosecutor hesitantly entered, but as they stooped down to enter the first temple - named the Hall of the Earth - their jaws dropped. Inside was a circular chamber measuring 8m in diameter.A central sculpted column, depicting a three dimensional man and woman, supported a ceiling of intricately painted glass.
The astonished group walked on to find sculpted columns covered with gold leaf, more than 8m high. Stunned by what they had found, the authorities decided to seize the temples on behalf of the government.
“By the time they had seen all of the chambers, we were told to continue with the artwork, but to cease further building, as we had not been granted planning permission,” says Esperide Ananas, who has written a new book called Damanhur, Temples Of Humankind.
Retrospective permission was eventually granted and today the ‘Damanhurians’ even have their own university, schools, organic supermarkets, vineyards, farms, bakeries and award-winning eco homes.
They do not worship a spiritual leader, though their temples have become the focus for group meditation. ‘They are to remind people that we are all capable of much more than we realise and that hidden treasures can be found within every one of us once you know how to access them,’ says Falco.

To see more pictures of this amazing temple please go to - www.the temple.org and don’t forget to pick your jaw up off the floor when you leave. The text for this article was shamelessly taken from an article by the journalist Hazel Courtney with much appreciation.

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MORE FAMOUS THAN JESUS

When I wrote More Famous Than Jesus I was thinking about John Lennon and the hoo ha that happened when he stated the obvious fact that the Beatles meant more to the people of his generation at the time than Jesus did.
Man what an example of shallow people feeling threatened by the truth as they try to hold on to the illusion of a lie.

From there I thought about how the personalities of the great masters have become more famous than that which they were trying to teach us.
So I tried to write a song about how it made me feel, the lies and twisted half-truths handed down through the centuries and how easy it can be to be seduced by the great lie. I don’t know whether other people have experienced the spin it can create in a person who is walking the path but I know that as long as I breathe I will never follow the lie.

Hitler is a perfect example of a follower and messenger of the great lie and Martin Luther King was an example to me of someone who followed the truth as best he was able to, showing great courage and conviction against seemingly impossible odds.
Although the traffickers of the great lie had him assassinated his example still lives on and inspires many who struggle daily with their path through life.

I decided to use as an example the three religions that have had the most affect on the human race throughout history, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism.
I don’t know if I really succeeded in getting this message across, some people get it and some don’t but like all who try to find their way through the web of lies and deceit that litter this world I tried and I guess in the attempt I have succeeded in some way.

This song is probably the one that has the most collaboration from the various musicians that played on the album.
It was a song that developed over time as each person added their bit, slowly taking shape into what you now hear.
It is also the only song on which I played mandolin before I was forced to stop playing by the arthritis in my wrist and hand.

I love the dynamics in this song, from Jai’s bass playing to Simone’s soaring vocal to Martin Luther battling it out with Hitler and hopefully amongst it all, the lyrics I sing manage to convey the message I felt needed to be said.

So remember that it is not the messenger but the message that is most important.
It is not the lie but the truth that will set you free.

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KISSING ME

At the time I wrote this song I was married and very much in love with my wife at the time.
I wanted to write a song that reflected how I felt but I didn’t want it to be some ordinary sloppy love song.
I hopped in the van and drove somewhere private with pen, paper and guitar and opened up my heart and mind and let what came out, come.
Once I knew I had something worthwhile, I returned home and played the song to my wife who began crying with tears of love and gratitude.
It is a wonderful thing when you feel the love of another kissing you.

Once more my friend Jai added his touch to the song lifting it up to heights I had not seen and giving it a unique feel I had not imagined.
This also was a song that was recorded in a short session of a few hours, seemingly coming together in a way that felt as right as the smile on my face and the happiness in my heart.
It was a session in which I recorded three songs, this being one of them, overnight so I could give them to my wife in time for her birthday.
I enjoyed the session, the accomplishment, the sunrise and her smile.

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DANCING IN THE GARDEN

Originally this song was called “Dancing In The Garden With Elizabeth”.                                                                                                              I didn’t know an Elizabeth at the time but for some reason it seemed right to call it by that name.
I wrote the bulk of this song many years ago but never was able to finish it, I had everything else but the beginning to the song.
It wasn’t until a week before I met my ex-wife, whose name just happened to be Elizabeth, that I finally found the beginning to the song somewhere in the recesses of my musical mind.
Strange and wonderful how these things sometimes happen.

It is the only instrumental on the album and was recorded very quickly and very simply with classical guitar and accompanying keyboard/cello track courtesy of a friend called Jai.

Even though I like the simplicity of the song, I would one day like to develop it some more adding strings and things to give it some of the majesty I hear when I listen to the song.

I no longer call it “Dancing In The Garden with Elizabeth” because she is gone and I have moved on but the song keeps on dancing.

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A friend sent me this incredible story about a most unusual restaurant.

It is a huge table suspended 165 feet in the air with chairs that swivel 180 degrees. Those brave souls with a head for heights are harnessed into 22 seats with a space in the centre for a chef and two helpers.

One diner who recently dined in front of the Amiens Cathedral in France said “It was just like eating with the 12 apostles and Jesus Christ”. Quite a commendation.

The table is suspended in the air by a crane which means you can have dinner anywhere the crane can maneuver. Imagine the possibilities when you consider some of the amazing and beautiful places in the world.

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