These are Damanhur’s goals:

• the liberation and reawakening of the human being as a divine, spiritual, and material principle
• the creation of a model of a self-sustaining way of life based upon ethical principles, communal living, and love
• the integration of—and harmonic collaboration with—all the Forces linked to the evolution of Humanity.

In 2005 the Federation of Damanhur was honored by the United Nations as a model of sustainable society. Damanhur has been a member of GEN Europe since 1998. GEN (Global Eco-villages Network) is an NGO made up of communities and research centers whose main objective is to sustain and encourage the evolution of sustainable settlements around the world. GEN has been recognized by the United Nations as a consultative member of the ECOSOC Commission. In 2007 Damanhur hosted the International Communal Studies Association’s (ICSA) worldwide conference.

The Federation of Damanhur comprises 20 communities each with approximately thirty members. In addition, more than 400 supporters live in the surrounding valleys and regularly participate in Damanhurian activities. Community life encourages the creation of a social model based upon solidarity, volunteering, respect for others, environmental protection, and the sharing of spiritual and ethical values.

The Federation encompasses more than 500 hectares in Valchiusella—a picturesque valley in northern Italy—including woodland, gardens, over a hundred private houses, artistic studios, artisan workshops, companies, and factories. Damanhur also has centers in other parts of Europe and in Japan, and collaborates with spiritual groups and communities all over the world.

The Damanhur community has its own schools—from nursery to middle school level—as education is considered to be an extremely important component of Damanhurian life. Constant care and attention is paid to the educational curriculum, and there is an active interchange of information with other scholastic institutions.

To facilitate the exchange of information within the community, Damanhur publishes an internal daily newspaper; and a quarterly magazine offers news of events and current projects to friends worldwide. Damanhur has its own publishing house and an Open University, which offers courses and experiential training to researchers from all over the world. It also has a Constitution and its own complementary currency system.

Damanhur began in 1975 when a group of researchers—who had gathered around the philosopher and healer Oberto Airaudi—decided to create a new kind of society in which spirituality could be applied to everyday life. At Damanhur the growth of diversity is encouraged and the uniqueness of every individual is valued. Each person’s talents—whatever they may be—are honored and included to create a complex and holistic society that can create what would normally be considered impossible.

The objectives of Damanhur are directed toward the planet, to opening a new social pathway that is clear and honest which can be followed by others. The basic ingredients of the Damanhurian formula are:

• strong ideals based on a spiritual philosophy
• freedom from dogma
• the reawakening of one’s divine nature
• the harmonious participation in the physical and spiritual ecosystem of which we are all a part
• research
• art as a form of prayer
• the expression of individual potential

Damanhur is known all over the world for its Temples of Humankind, an awe inspiring underground complex constructed by its members—completely by hand—over the last thirty years. The Temples are dedicated to the union of the divine forces of all the peoples of the Earth, each with its own diversity directed toward a single central source: the celebration of the divine inside every human being. Akin to a vast library of ancient texts, they tell the story of the knowledge of the ages and embody a message of hope for the planet, transmitted through artistic creativity. The Temples—and Damanhur itself—are a wondrous inspiration for humanity—demonstrating that a small group of people animated by grand ideals can produce amazing, almost unbelievable, results.

For more information, see:
Damanhur, Temples of Humankind, by Esperide Ananas, © 2006, CoSM Press, NYC
www.Damanhur.org
www.cosm.org/damanhuraa.htm