The months following the discovery of the plane\u2019s wreckage and until I had news of the positive identification of Ronald\u2019s remains, were difficult.\u00a0 I felt as though I was on hold;\u00a0 the needed closure seemed so out of reach.\u00a0 My contractual work with the ILO had ceased but my widow\u2019s pension started monthly payments, so fortunately I did not have added financial worry.\u00a0 Ronald had taken care of many things before his disappearance.<\/p>\n
\u2018Go and Grow\u2019 had been an instruction, his instruction, and I took it to heart.<\/p>\n
So, in March 2011, Beth and I had joined a\u00a0 \u2018spiritual cruise\u2019 in San Diego and travelled down the coast of Mexico with a large group.\u00a0 I was drawn by the presence of Carl Johan Calleman, a Swedish scientist and expert on the Mayan Calendar, which I had been studying for several years \u2013 fascinated with how things were playing out in the world as we led up to the anticipated \u2018shift\u2019 in 2012.<\/p>\n
Many Japanese were among the participants.\u00a0 On 11 March, when a devastating earthquake struck and a tsunami hit Japan, the world held its breath and we felt the shockwaves in our boat at the edge of the Pacific.<\/p>\n
Before this event, however, a group of about 12 of us, had climbed into a rubber dinghy, accompanied by Victoria of Light, a whale whisperer from New Zealand, and we set off.\u00a0 Leaving a cluster of other whale-seeking boats, we headed out into the open sea\u2026 and then Victoria began her chanting.<\/p>\n
It was otherworldly, a high and pure sound, with no recognisable words.\u00a0 A few of us had singing bowls and other instruments, and our boat began to emit a combination of sounds.<\/p>\n
It was not long before we had our first response.\u00a0 We held our breaths as a mother and her calf appeared.\u00a0 The moment was electric as they approached our small craft.\u00a0 By now, the emotion and excitement had built up in each of us and we were all emitting sound, our own \u2018language\u2019, calling these wondrous beings.<\/p>\n
They were so close, the calf so curious, playful, swimming alongside us.\u00a0 We\u2019d slowed down to a gentle throttle, and I reached out my hand trailing it in the water.\u00a0 If I\u2019d had a 2-metre extension I could have stroked this \u2018baby\u2019; its mother close by watching us.\u00a0 The baby was perhaps 4 metres, almost the length of our boat.\u00a0 And I estimated the length of its mother at possibly 10 metres.<\/p>\n
The whole experience was formidable.\u00a0 Every so often the mother would disappear into the depths, reemerging with a deep sigh.\u00a0 The water a deep iridescent turquoise, the whites of their underbellies tinted pale green.<\/p>\n
We had motored out some 11 km, and they had been with us for at least three quarters of this distance as we sang our love songs to them.\u00a0 The captain was enthralled but indicated that we needed to return.<\/p>\n
And then from the deep depths, the rising of the great male presence which had accompanied us the entire way while remaining out of sight.\u00a0 With a body at least 3 metres longer than the female, he emerged about twenty metres away from our little rubber boat which bobbed up and down on the stirring of the waves caused by his arrival.<\/p>\n
We turned and made our way back to shore, escorted by this family for perhaps 8 kms.\u00a0 Singing and chanting in joy and appreciation\u00a0 \u2013 the captain\u2019s face showing total amazement.\u00a0 He said he\u2019d never had such an experience in any of his outings.<\/p>\n
This was also my first experience of the \u2018language of light\u2019 \u2013 when beautiful sounds and syllables emerge in a stream unlocking a freedom in one\u2019s emotions and sending ripples of vibrations throughout one\u2019s body.\u00a0 It can be a deeply spiritual experience.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps the \u2018speaking in tongues\u2019 referred to in biblical times might have had something in common with this?<\/p>\n
Soon after this experience we heard about the earthquake in Japan and felt the tsunami. Our Japanese friends disappeared behind their computers and cellphones for the rest of trip as they tried to connect with loved ones.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t recall when I first heard of Damanhur and the Temples of Humankind in northern Italy.\u00a0 But I was fascinated by the idea of an intentional community having come together and establishing Damanhur in 1975.\u00a0 Remaining under the radar for several decades, they had evolved an entirely separate system of sustainable living, operating \u2018off the grid\u2019 and outside the mainstream.\u00a0 They had their own currency, organic farming methods and a comprehensive research programme in laboratories and had managed to take over a disused and abandoned Pirelli factory which they turned into a vibrant community and commercial centre.<\/p>\n
The reason why this community came under the scrutiny of Italian officialdom seemed to be that a disgruntled member of the community had spilled the beans during a leadership struggle within the movement.\u00a0 But what this opened up was another world, underground and hewn by hand out of the rock which the community had been building for decades.\u00a0 A simple farm building housed the secret entrance to the lift which dropped down some 20 metres and then a series of chambers and passageways led to amazing volumes and spaces, housing 7 temples, each decorated with mirrors and mosaics and exquisite artworks.\u00a0 The complex extended for some 75 metres underground \u2013 more extensive that a football field and ventilated and lit by a sophisticated system of shafts.\u00a0 Extraordinary.<\/p>\n
The Italian authorities insisted that this should be made public, threatening to pour concrete down the lift shaft if they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
And so, soon after this \u20188th wonder of the world\u2019 was opened to the public I was there; part of a small group privy to these marvels, breathless as I moved from temple to temple, awed as I studied the wisdom teachings portrayed on the walls and the hidden mysteries there for us to scrutinise.<\/p>\n
I had driven with my young friend Rebecca through the tunnel de Mont Blanc, passing through Aosta and close to Turin, where in the mountains and steep rural area, the Damanhur Federation had established itself and constructed its alternative reality.\u00a0 We were booked to stay for three days with a guided tour through the temples on Day one.<\/p>\n
We met up with several like-minded visitors and shared insights over several delicious organic meals.\u00a0 I had brought copies of Into the Light<\/em> with me and shared them, playing the CD on several occasions when it seemed appropriate.<\/p>\n On Day 2 we went on a visit to the tree settlement, where a number of families of the community lived, having built walkways and treehouses perhaps 3 metres above\u00a0 ground.\u00a0 The wooden walkways and houses were designed in harmony with the trees which towered above them \u2013 walkways wrapping themselves around the trunks which were sometimes integrated into the spaces of the \u2018rooms\u2019.\u00a0 I learnt that this proximity to trees enhances our dream state; that\u00a0 trees act as antennae to help us reach the unseen realms and receive our dream messages.<\/p>\n Members of the community had the names of animals or plants.\u00a0 Our guide was called \u2018Chameleon\u2019 \u2013 a scientist working on research with plants and sound.\u00a0 In a small wooden room, a number of us were squeezed in to see a small pot plant, which looked like an African violet with an electrode fixed to one of its leaves with a wire leading to a small piece of equipment like a synthesiser.\u00a0 Chameleon turned this on and sound filled the room.\u00a0 This was the \u2018music\u2019 emanating from the little pot plant, captured in this synthesiser and transmitted through speakers.<\/p>\n I was more than intrigued.\u00a0 Listening to the electronic sound, I was guided to ask Chameleon if he could switch the sound on the synthesiser to that of a \u2018piano\u2019, which he did.\u00a0 I connected with this little plant and focused on what I was beginning to hear\u2026 quietly.\u00a0 And I listened in amazement as this little pot plant began to sound\u2026. like my piano playing.\u00a0 This was extraordinary, and several of my new friends who had heard the CD, looked at me in amazement.\u00a0 Marilyn, this is your music?<\/p>\n A whole new field was opening up.\u00a0 I felt that I was connected to this plant.\u00a0 We were not separate.\u00a0 The music which was coming through it and playing out into the room, was how I would play\u2026 but I was only feeling it\u2026and the source of the music was a little pot plant.<\/p>\n So many more mysteries in store.\u00a0 Where to go with this knowledge and this experience?\u00a0 I shared my CD with Chameleon, purchased a small device similar to what he had used to transmit this miracle to me, and then I left Damanhur hoping that one day I would play a duet with a tree, or a little African violet.\u00a0 Or at least I could find a like-minded soul with whom I could share this experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Exploring new directions: whale whispering off Mexico, a visit to Damanhur the 8th ‘wonder of the world’ in Northern Italy with its amazing temples of humankind. An introduction to plant music as I connect with an African Violet which ‘plays’ my music!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":561,"template":"","categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-560","episode_posts","type-episode_posts","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-part-4-aftermath-and-afterlife"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mylisteningheart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/episode_posts\/560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mylisteningheart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/episode_posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mylisteningheart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/episode_posts"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mylisteningheart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mylisteningheart.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mylisteningheart.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mylisteningheart.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}