(More
photos are below)
Report
by Marja de Vries (the Netherlands) - September, 2001
"I found the Flower of Life last summer in India.
Last
summer I went for the first time in my life to India and already on the third
day of my stay in that country (july 30, 2001) I happened to be in Amritsar, a
city in Punjab, and found a beautiful Flower of Life made out of marble inlay
at the Golden Temple of the Sikhs. I was on my way to Ladakh and did not know
anything about Amritsar nor about the Sikhs. I only had seen a few pictures of
the Golden Temple and I liked the mosaic patterns on the marble floors on those
photo's so I wanted to see this place.
Before
I entered the area of the Golden Temple I had to take off my shoes and cover my
head. This way I went down the steps to the "Pool of Nectar", the water
that surrounds the Golden Temple and immediately I felt an atmospheer of peace
and tranquility. Together with many other people I started to walk clockwise around
the tank enjoying looking at the people dressed in their most beautiful dresses,
looking at the reflections of the temple in the water and looking at the mosaics
in the marble floor all around us.
The
last week before I left for India I had been reading "The Ancient Secret
of the Flower of Life" books as a preparation for the Flower of Life workshop
I was going to follow in september instead of reading books about India to prepare
myself for this journey. As soon as I arrived in India I did not think one minute
about the Flower of Life anymore... until I was about halfway walking around the
parikrama and looking once again towards the Golden Temple and suddenly saw it.
Here as one of the hundreds of mosaics in the marble floor that surrounds the
water, there was the Flower of Life. I could not belief my eyes. I had not expected
this here at all. While standing there looking at it I tried to remember which
countries Drunvalo mentioned in his books, but I could not remember having read
that India was one of the countries where he had found the Flower of Life.
And
this was not in a hidden place, it was not small, it was not hard to see. It was
completely out in the open visible for all the thousands of people who come there
every day, pilgrims as well as tourists. I did not see any one paying attention
to this Flower of Life and I did not find any person there who seemed to know
about it.
And
this is also not an ancient temple. I bought a book about this place and learned
that the Sikh religion started about 500 years ago with Guru Nanak. This place
was chosen by the fourth Guru Ram Das to make the site a pilgrimage centre. At
that time the Pool of Nectar was no more than a pond that lay amidst thick forest
and the fifth Guru, Arjun Dev, started to build a temple here in 1581 A.D. Of
course I was curious what the book would say about the Flower of Life. Well, nothing.
It was nowhere mentioned and it was not on one of the more than 80 beautiful photographs
of this place.
I walked
around the tank three more times to look at all the marble
inlays, but this one seemed to be the only one of the Flower
of Life."
Below
are more photos of the FOL symbol found in India.
Submitted by Aiyana Willard (Canada).
|
Symbol
found in Hampi, India
|
Symbol
found in a Buddhist Temple
in Ajanta, India
|
Sai
Baba's Ashram, Prashanti Nilayam, Puttaparthi, India
"At
the entrance of the Baghawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba ashram
there is a gate that covers and protects Ganesh's temple,
and the whole gate's design is made of the Flower of Life
symbol! Unfortunately, photography is not allowed."--
By Juan Carlos Toffano, FOL Graduate (Mexico).
FOL
Symbol in the Louvre
by
Nancy Altmann
"The
first time I ever saw the Flower of Life motif was last
January in the Louvre. I was studying the Mesopotamian section
with a friend of mine, and I saw the motif carved into a
slab of gypseous alabaster that's about 3 and a half feet
by 5 and a half feet.With carved tassles on all sides, it
was made to look like a rug and was probably once painted.
According to the museum, it was once laid in the entrance
of the ancient Palace of Assourbanipal in Nineva, and dates
back to c. 645 BC. I had no idea what the motif was at the
time but stood there mesmerized, staring at it for well
over half an hour. I couldn't take my eyes off it. I finally
managed to peel myself away but kept going back to look
at it."
[Note:
Nancy said the Louvre does not allow photographs to be taken, but she is going
to see if she can get a photo of this particular piece. Thank you to Nancy for
sharing this story!]
FOL
Symbol in Turkey
"I
took this photo in 1994 in Turkey (before I even knew about
the Flower of Life). This floor mosaic must be about 8m
square and lies on the floor of house 1a in Ephesus, Curetes
Street, near the Library of Celsius. It is probably 1st
Century BC (Roman). At the time I visited, these houses
were out of bounds to tourists (as an archaeologist they
let me in), so it may not have been seen before." --
Submitted by Frances Eley.
Ephesus,
in Izmir
While
touring Turkey this summer, I passed by the enchanting city
of Ephesus, in Izmir. One of my companions had a priviliged
entrance being a reporter, so we were able to enter the
sealed off area. While moving to the top, I noticed the
FOL mosaic on the roof of one of the little houses. It was
so magical to actually see it in life. It's around 8x8 m.
It took me by surprise. It was so beautiful. Right across
from it is another symbol (of the Sun I suppose).
Taher
Afridi, Network Engineer, Dubai UAE.
"In
September 2002, I made a trip to Turkey. In the Topkape's
Palace, in Istanbul, in a room where they keep the suits
worn by the sultans, what I noticed most were these garments
called Mystic Shirts (below.) These shirts were worn
under the clothing and they had a great number of sacred
symbols on them to protect the sultan." -- Submitted
by Eduardo Antunes, FOL Graduate (Venezuela).
The
first photo on the left is a full image of a Mystic Shirt.
The photo on the right is a close up of the sleeve, with
the Flower of Life pattern (extended.)
FOL
Symbol in Cordoba, Spain
"I
have just come back from Spain, and I found this Flower
of Life in Cordoba, in 'la Mezquita'".
-- Submitted by Conchita Castellanos, (Mexico).
FOL
Symbol in Beijing, China
"I
am taking this opportunity to send you a lion with the FOL
ball [under its paw]. It is sitting pretty in the Forbidden
City courtyard, guarding the temple in Beijing, China. This
lion may probably be the most known Flower of Life pattern
holder ..." -- Submitted by FOL Facilitator, Marie
Pavel (Australia).
The
first photo on the left is a full image of the guardian
at the Forbidden City in Beijing. The photo on the right
is a close up of the FOL ball. Though hard to see on the
photo, the pattern is very intricate and precise.
Egg
of Life Symbol in Marrakesh &
Flower of Life Symbol in Lebanon
(on tablet from Baalbek)
Marrakesh:
There is an imprint of the central flower of the Egg of
Life pattern above the entrance to the Saadin Tombs in Marrakesh
(at the end of the very narrow passage that opens onto the
main mausoleum). You can't miss it. The tombs were started
by the Saadin Sultan Ahmed al Mansour in the late 1500s.
Recognising the symbol myself, when I asked our guide what
the symbol represented, he just said that it was decorative
... I didn't have a camera on me at the time, and I didn't
have a chance to go back and take a picture. A real shame.
Lebanon:
Having come back from my trip to Marrakesh, I asked to find
the symbol in my own country, Lebanon. One month later,
I landed in Beirut for the Christmas holidays. 48 hours
after landing, I was at a house party north of the city.
When it was time to leave, I went to get my coat. As I was
putting it on, I looked down and saw this 50cm x 50cm tablet
with the ENTIRE Flower of Life pattern engraved OUT of the
stone (ie. would leave an imprint if used as a stamp).
I asked
the hostess (owner's daughter) about the provenance of the
tablet and she said that all her father's archeological
remains were from the ancient site of Baalbek. In Lebanon,
of the archeological remains that have not been looted and
exported, many are in private hands locally. They are now
thankfully all registered and cannot be exported.
Submitted
by Michael (London, England)
Also,
the photos below were submitted by a FOL student. Their
locations are noted below the photo.
From
left to right: FOL symbol in Marrakesh at the Sultan's Bahia
palace. FOL symbol in the house of the berber sovereign
El Gaui in Quarzazate.
FOL
Symbol at the Osirian Temple
in Abydos, Egypt
"My
friends were traveling in Egypt. They were on a special
initiation journey along the Nile River. They took these
FOL photos in the Osirian Temple in Abydos on January 19,
2003" -- Blaz Mazi (Slovenia). Photo taken by Igor
Velse.
The
image is hard to see, but a wide view and a close up are
shown, above.
Flower
of Life Symbols in
Lower Austria, Austria
Submitted by Anonymous
Location: In the Federal State of Lower Austria
Town: Weitra, in the upper north west of the federal
state
Street: Auhofgasse
In late
autumn 2005 I was on an annual works outing with about 50
workmates. I had read both Flower Of Life books half a year
before. I knew about the geometry but I didn't think about
the topic in those days. We visited a few small cities in
Lower Austria, a federal state of Austria, which is in the
heart of Europe.
At one evening, we took a guided tour in an old medieval-like
town in the north-west of the country. They have some historic
sites, for example an impressive medieval castle. Among
other sites, you can visit a historic room (about 40 square
meters) with a ceiling made of wood piles from the late
gothic ages (so I expect them to be at least 500 years old,
maybe they are much older). The piles have lots of carvings
in them.
When I glanced over the wall, I couldn't believe my eyes:
There was a large Flower Of Life carved in the wood! It
measured nearly half a meter (about 20 inches) in diameter.
I couldn't believe that nobody else noticed it, it drew
only my attention. I was excited because this was one stalwart
proof for me that the information in the books were correct.
The Flower Of Life was complete, exactly like on the book's
cover. On the left side there was a Seed Of Life of the
same size. On the right side, there was a sun-like symbol.
Our
guide only mentioned that those three symbols on the wall
are from a non-catholic, even pre-catholic source. According
to the books, this sounded correctly for me. He designated
the middle symbol as a 'Life-Flower' and the right one as
a 'celtic sun symbol'. The patterns survived fire and other
violent dangers at a distance of only a few centimeters.
On the piles of the ceiling were lots of carvings with additional
Seeds Of Life and different symbols that looked like if
they had sacred geometry in them. The most numerous symbol
was the core of the Seed Of Life: The simple six-leafed
flower. It can be found in nearly every traditional home
in Austria. It is very often carved in old wood furniture.
It is amazing, if you have the background knowledge: Symbols
showing the initial creation are everywhere!
About
the Location: The building (it is a normal house) is
currently used for rehearsals of the local traditional music
association. It can be easily visited, just ask in the town
hall for a guided tour. Single persons can also take a self-guided
audio tour with a walkman in return for about 4 Euros. It
lasts about one hour.
Flower
of Life Symbol
Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Signs
See
the web site: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~aferm/pennsylvania/hex.htm
Seed
of Life - Israel
Seed
of Life - 1st Century BC
from one of the palaces of King Herod
(from the Israel Museum)
Submitted
by Samantha Birch
Flower
of Life - Scotland
I
just found this image of St Magnus Cathedral, showing what
they call “an early stone slab showing a crusader’s
sword and cross (possibly 13th century)”. Check again:
it’s a flower of life module!
It is
located in Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland
Submitted
by FOL Facilitator Malu Renzo
(Brazil).
Flower
of Life Research
PO Box 55844
Phoenix, Arizona
85078
Please
let us know if you have seen the Flower of Life
symbol around the world!
If it is appropriate, it will be published on this web site.
Send an
email of your experience to:
merkaba@floweroflife.org
|
