The Temple of Truth
“As soon as I stepped on the field toward the Nuraghe, I experienced an intense sadness and a feeling of being numbed. All of a sudden loss and grief were very present in my heart. I could experience the loss from a previous life, that happened on that field. And I felt the loss in my current life.“
Templekeeper Expedition at the Nuraghe Banzalzas, summer of 2024
In Sardinia there are over 8000 archeological sites with most of them the Nuraghe structures. Towerlike buildings from the Nuragic age (5000 years before now). The word Nuraghe is believed to come from Phoenician or Arabic language. ‘Nur-’ meaning light or fire and ‘-ghe’ the place or house. Some also link the Egyptian god of the sun ‘Ra’ to the name Nuraghe. The interesting part is that the multitude of languages from which the word Nuraghe could derived from, all have to do with light. A house of light.
One of these Nuraghe is Banzalzas, located in the Valley of the Waters and the Pleiades, la vallata de sas abbas, close to Torralba in Sardinia. It has been one of the 7 Nuraghe we visited the first time in the summer of 2023.
When we entered the field, in search of this hidden and mostly destroyed Nuraghe, some of us stopped already early in our tracks. Yana tells us her experience here:
“The Temple Banzalzas was a very special experience for me. As soon as I stepped on the field toward the Nuraghe, I experienced an intens sadness and a feeling of being numbed. All of a sudden loss and grief were very present in my heart. I could experience the loss from a previous life, that happened on that field. And I felt the loss in my current life. The loss of love, loss of stability, loss of trust and faith. The experience during the expedition, at the Nuraghe Banzalzas, helped me see beyond my loss and grief and to see the beauty behind it all. Which is that I never really lose anything really, because all will always be there and that I am all of it.”
Nuraghe Banzalzas, winter of 2023
Banzalzas is located in a field on private land where sheep graze. The first time we have visited Banzalzas, many experienced the feeling of grief, or the presence of death and the process of dying. Yet, that is not the essence of this Temple, but the concept of dying is very linked to it. Many times when I, Vincent, visited the site, I have felt the need of solitude. A place where people would go to be alone, to experience transitions, a place of pilgrimage, where parts of you can die.
Consider the young adults sent into nature to find their adulthood, to overcome their fears or blockages that keep them in the child state, where the invitation of the community is to grow into the becoming of an adult. In many places of the world this is or used to be, a common rite of passage every person went or goes through. This is a process of dying. To be able to step into the truth of who you are.
Holding on and staying attached to something, and the process of letting go, is one of the dynamics that encircles the process of dying. To let go what you held dear. This can be people, animals or place, but also parts of your identity, the idea of who you thought you were, the beliefs you held onto to make sense of the world and keep some sort of stability in life.
“Only in the eye of death one can find their greatest power.”
In our modern societies there isn't much room to be with the transitions we as humans go through in a lifetime. There are many transitions we experience, from young child to older child, to teenager, young adult, full adult, (grand)parent, elder, and ultimately, ancestor.
Every transition, not just the life phases but also the changes in our relationships with people, places or occupations, we experience loss and grief. To be able to gently be with that grief and whatever that triggers or the wounds that are opened up by it, is a precious gift. To be allowed by yourself and your surrounding, to give the attention to a tender sadness or the deepening sorrow rising up like the water in a well. Only then, we feel allowed to step into it and have the courage to face it, only then can it also become a great source for you to retrieve your power, to heal, to become more whole, to learn more about yourself and your soul.
The Nuraghe Banzalzas, which we like to call the Temple of Truth, is a magical place where you are invited to step into your power. To speak truth. To live truth.