Editing Federation of Damanhur

{{Short description|Religious community}}
{{About|the Italian community|the city in Egypt|Damanhur}}
{{More citations needed|article|date=November 2007}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} 
{{Infobox organization 
|name= The Federation of Damanhur
|image= File:Federacion de Damanhur.jpg
|size= 
|caption= 
|map= 
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|mcaption= 
|formation= 1975
|type= [[New Religious Movement]]
|headquarters = [[Vidracco]], Piedmont, Italy.
|coords = {{coord|45.416915|N|7.747598|E|region:IT-21|display=inline,title}}
|membership = 
|language =
|leader_title = Founder
|leader_name = Oberto Airaudi
|key_people =
|num_staff = 
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|website =
}}

The '''Federation of Damanhur''', often called simply '''Damanhur''', is a federation of self-sustaining communities, [[ecovillage]], situated in the [[Piedmont]] region of northern [[Italy]] about {{convert|50|km|mi}} north of the city of [[Turin]]. It is located in the foothills of the [[Alps]] in the [[Chiusella Valley]], bordering on the Gran Paradiso National Park. The community has its own constitution<ref name="Damanhur Constitution">{{cite web |title=Constitution |website=Damanhur Spiritual Community |date=2019-06-11 |url=https://damanhur.org/constitution/ |access-date=2024-07-30}}</ref> and currency, the ''Credito''.

Damanhur is named after the Egyptian city of [[Damanhur]], which was the site of a temple dedicated to [[Horus]].

The Federation of Damanhur  was founded in 1975 by [[Oberto Airaudi]] with 12 of his close friends, and by year 2000 the number had grown to 800.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} It has communities and centers in [[Europe]], America, Australia, and Japan.

The [[Temples of Humankind]] are a collection of [[subterranea (geography)|subterranean]] temples built by the citizens of the Federation of Damanhur, and they are some of the largest underground temples in the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Damanhur: The world's largest underground temple |date=27 Jul 2023 |website=BBC Reel |author=Valerio Maggio |format=Video (5:17) |url=https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0g26p8r/damanhur-the-world-s-largest-underground-temple}}</ref>

== Citizens of Damanhur==
[[File:Gelände der Gemeinschaft Damanhur.jpg|thumb|Damanhur]]
The constitution began with three bodies of Damanhur: The School of Meditation (ritual tradition) Social (social theory, social realization) and The Game of Life (experimentation and dynamics, life as a game, change). A fourth body was recently{{when|date=March 2025}} added, Technarcate (individual inner refinement).

Citizens participate in one of four levels, depending on their desired involvement: A, B, C, or D.  Class A citizens share all resources and live on site full-time.  Class B citizens contribute to financial goals and live on site a minimum of 3 days a week.  Class C and D citizens live anywhere.<ref>p. 102, Merrifield, 2006.</ref>  Class A & B citizens participate fully in The School of Meditation, Social, and the Game of Life.  Class C citizens participate fully in The School of Meditation.

Citizens participate in one of several ways, depending on their personal nature.  Ways include the Way of the Oracle, the Way of the Monk, the Way of the Knight, the Way of Health, the Way of the Word, the Way of Art & Work, and many others.  Most citizens live in houses of 10-20 people each, federated together into the Federation of Damanhur.

From 1983 onwards, members assumed animal names, such as Sparrow, Prawn, or Mole.<ref>''Utopian Dreams'', Tobias Jones, 2007, [[Faber and Faber Ltd]], p 29.</ref>

== Controversy over allegations of cult-like practices ==
Since May 2009, a website called Damanhur Inside Out has hosted anonymous testimonials from people claiming to be ex-members of the Damanhur community, and articles relating to legal controversy around the Foundation and its founder.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://damanhurinsideout.wordpress.com/|title=Damanhur Inside Out}}</ref> In the 2007 assessment of Patrizia Santovecchi, the President of the [[National Psychological Abuses Observatory]] (Osservatorio Nazionale Abusi Psicologici, O.N.A.P.), Damanhur shares characteristics typical of psychologically abusive cults. These characteristics include barriers to leaving freely, [[Siege mentality|siege syndrome]], in which outsiders are portrayed as enemies constituted by negative energies; suppression of criticism, imposition of obedience, estrangement from family members, depersonalization, and submission to the will of the guru.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infotdgeova.it/leggi/camera.php|title=InfoTdGeova.it :: Analisi critica di un culto :: Leggi e sentenze|work=infotdgeova.it|access-date=25 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304074012/http://www.infotdgeova.it/leggi/camera.php|archive-date=4 March 2013}}</ref>
A 2018 analysis of interviews with ex-members echoed these themes, showing that their process of disillusionment with and departure from the community usually took several years and could be "torturous".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://iris.unito.it/bitstream/2318/1675619/5/Cardano%20Pannofino%20Taking%20leave%20%281%29.pdf|title=Taking leave of Damanhur. Deconversion from a magico-esoteric community}}</ref>

Damanhur have publicly responded to criticism by describing themselves as an "ethical cult".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.damanhurblog.com/spirituality/who-is-scared-of-cults/ |title=Who is scared of cults? |date=6 September 2022 }}</ref> Academics have noted that Damanhur has undergone changes since the death of the founder in 2013, and become more outward-facing.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mByeEAAAQBAJ&dq=damanhur+turin&pg=PR5 | title=Damanhur: An Esoteric Community Open to the World | isbn=978-3-031-10137-3 | last1=Palmisano | first1=Stefania | last2=Pannofino | first2=Nicola | date=26 November 2022 | publisher=Springer }}</ref> Websites have become an important means by which the Foundation is "advertising and legitimizing" itself as an 'Exemplary Utopia'.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://journal.equinoxpub.com/IJSNR/article/view/12125 |doi=10.1558/ijsnr.v5i1.27 |title=Damanhur, an Exemplary Utopia |date=2019 |last1=Palmisano |first1=Stefania |last2=Pannofino |first2=Nicola Luciano |journal=International Journal for the Study of New Religions |volume=5 |pages=27–50 |s2cid=144769975 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book |first=Jeff |last=Merrifield |year=1998 |title=Damanhur: The Real Dream |publisher=Thorsons |location=London |isbn=0722534965 |oclc=647069892}}
*{{cite book |first=Jeff |last=Merrifield |year=2006 |title=Damanhur: The Story of the Extraordinary Italian Artistic Community |publisher=Hanford Mead Publishers |location=Santa Cruz |isbn=1592750109 |oclc=63116828}}
*{{cite book |first=Esperide |last=Ananas |year=2006 |title=Damanhur: Temples of Humankind |publisher=CoSM Press |location=New York |isbn=1556435770 |oclc=62172760}}
*{{cite magazine|first=Ross |last=Robertson |date=April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821225305/http://www.enlightennext.org/magazine/j36/damanhur.asp?page=1 |archive-date=2010-08-21 |url-status=dead |url=http://www.enlightennext.org/magazine/j36/damanhur.asp?page=1 |title=Atlantis in the Mountains of Italy |magazine=What Is Enlightenment? |issue=36 |pages=94–110 }}

==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.damanhur.org}}

{{Neopaganism}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Damanhur}}
[[Category:Ecovillages]]
[[Category:New religious movements established in the 1970s]]
[[Category:Utopian movements]]
[[Category:Utopian communities]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Piedmont]]
[[Category:Populated places in Piedmont]]
[[Category:Modern paganism in Italy]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1975]]
[[Category:1975 establishments in Italy]]
[[Category:Subterranea (geography)]]