05 March 2024 , 10:03
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A small commune located in the foothills of the Alps claims to have found ways to talk to aliens and time travel.
Tucked away in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, the Federation of Damanhur is a spiritual ecovillage that has been around for nearly 50 years. It's made up of more than a thousand members dotted across the world and around 600 of them live together in a rural commune.
Very little has been documented about the 'secret society' in the public eye - up until now. Travel enthusiast Warren Robie spent four days with the Damanhurians, who are named after animals and practise spirituality. Speaking to the Mirror about his experience, Warren said: "Damanhur is a true mystery."
YouTuber Warren Robie visited the Federation of Damanhur in the Italian foothills of the Alps (Warren Robie)
A selfica device that is used for spiritual healing and harnessing energy to communicate with aliens (Warren Robie)The Liverpudlian, 23, who is a full-time social media creator, visited the Damanhur earlier this month. He said: "I wanted to visit to explore a different way of life to the norm, and try and get in with the locals to see how they live and what their society is about." The commune, located just north of Turin city, was founded in 1975 by their leader known as Falco Tarassaco.
Falco was a former insurance broker, born to the name Oberto Airaudi, who wanted to appreciate and share the simple existence of life. In the decades since he first formed the commune, it has become self-sufficient and hundreds of followers have packed up their previous modern-day lives and jobs and joined the society.
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"It is a place of spiritual communities based in the Italian foothills of the Alps. The Damanhurians are named after animals and plants, live in houses of up to 25 people, perform rituals and believe to be in contact with aliens," Warren explained. "I wanted to live like them for four days to grasp a real understanding of their way of life."
The Damanhurians have built some of the world's biggest underground temples by hand (Warren Robie)The commune is made up of five communities and each has its own way of living, with 20 to 25 people inhabiting one house - or 'nucleo' as they call it - with separate bedrooms. Each group shares the same skill set and works together during the day, whether it be organising the library, caring for children, or looking after the underground temples, they have a shared purpose.
"One of the biggest differences was their name structure. Their first name is an animal and their second is a plant," Warren said. When they join the commune, they can choose their own name and have to explain to the rest of the community why it suits them and their personality. For example, a Damanhurian could be called Butterfly Aloe.
Up to 25 people live in one house - or 'nucleo' as they call it - and share the same skill set (warrenrobietravels/Youtube)The Damanhurians celebrate different seasons and have rituals for spring, summer, autumn and winter. "They believe that spirals are everywhere and our whole life revolves around spirals," Warren explained. Members of the commune also claim to connect with beings out of this world and believe aliens are real.
A Damanhurian told Warren in the documentary: "There are many ways to communicate with aliens. Of course, we are not alone in this universe." Warren explained further: "They claim to speak with aliens and other things outside of what we perceive as real. They claim the selfica is a way to harness energy to be able to enter an ultra state of consciousness."
Many of the Damanhurians have lived there for decades and enjoy a simpler way of life (warrenrobietravels)Selfica devices are handmade objects made up of metals and alchemical liquids and claim to be used for physical, emotional and spiritual healing, and communicating with beings in the wider universe. As well as talking to aliens, the Damanhurians claim to have cracked the secret of time travel and say they first did so in 1997.
In a National Geographic documentary back in 2014, presenter Darren McMullen spoke to a Damanhurian about their ability to time travel. The community member, who went by the name Gnomo Orzo, said of their time travel machine: "It's like a machine but it's not only machine, it's not only physical... there are energies inside."
National Geographic presenter Darren McMullen visited the Federation in 2014 and heard their time travel claims (National Geographic Channels)Mr Orzo continued: "You have only a present, so in the past, you have the body, while here, all that is left behind is mass." Following the claim and the controversy that ensued in 2014, the Damanhurians have remained quiet about their ability to time travel ever since. But they still believe in harnessing energy for out-of-this-world experiences.
Warren said his stand-out moment was visiting the Temples of Humankind. "It's one of the biggest underground temples in the world and the fact they built it by hand is incredible," he said. "I was only allowed to record in two of the eight temples, and it was incredible inside. I felt speechless and when I went to bed that night, my head was bamboozled."
The Temples of Humankind were built in secret in the '80s and Italian police visited in 1992 (warrenrobietravels)The underground temples are said to be the best-kept secret of the Italian Alps and it's reported the Italian government didn't even know about them being built. Construction started in 1978 and continued for 15 years, with less than 150 followers working on the secret passageways and snaking corridors by hand.
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Damanhurian Esperide Ananas told Grunge last year how the Federation kept their secret: "When there was maybe loud work going on, we would play records. If somebody happened to hear, they would think we were just having a party." As rumours swirled, Italian officials finally got wind of the chambers and police showed up in 1992.
Officials couldn't argue with the temples' beauty and the Damanhurians continued their construction (warrenrobietravels)They demanded to see the temples, but after a tour of the underground, they couldn't argue with its beauty and the Damanhurians were allowed to continue their plans. Now, tourists can visit the magical Temples of Humankind and the Federation offers tours on its website. Atlas Obscura has even informally dubbed it the 'eighth wonder of the world'.
As well as generating income from tourism and tours, the commune offers educational courses online as part of its Damanhur Academy, covering topics such as plant communication, guided meditations and connecting with the cosmos. Every member of the commune plays a role in making sure it can remain self-sufficient, whether it be teaching, cooking, cleaning or farmland.
During his visit, Warren also spoke to Damanhurians about their decisions to join the commune. One Damanhurian, who went by the name Hornet, has been living there for 18 years. He said: "I was at the top of my life outside with work and money, but [there was] a part of me empty. There was nothing inside. I was looking for something to fill this part."
They believe our whole life revolves around spirals and practise spirituality and healing (BBC)In a 2020 interview with Refinery29, Formica Coriandolo - a Damanhurian of 36 years - explained their shared view of life and purpose: "We believe in the fact that in every human being, there is a divine spark that can be reawakened. We believe in human beings, in the potential that we have, the goodness that we carry."
Concluding his trip, Warren said: "Despite the Federation of Damanhur having its differences from the norm, I like their values and way of positivity. I'm a big believer in doing your own thing as long as you don't harm anyone else in the process." The YouTuber explained that following their way of life gives the Damanhurians "a true sense of meaning".
- You can watch Warren's full documentary on YouTube.