On Saturday the 8th of June, more than 150 guests from 20, mainly European, countries, but also from Canada, the US, Chile, Argentina and Iraq responded positively to the invitation to the “Days of Inspiration” and celebrated, together with the organizers from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, in ceremonies to inaugurate the “Park of Study and Reflection, Schlamau”.
The small community of Schlamau is located 70 km southwest of Berlin.
The occasion for the official inauguration was the installation of a new gate whose form is inspired by Japanese Shintoism and which separates “mental areas”: daily life and the profane, from a life of reflection and inspiration, something profound.
Dani Horowitz from Switzerland described his experience after passing the gate, “We took part in a symphony of hope… We were in a stream… of something very Great, something very Profound, something very special which I didn’t feel in other similar opportunities…” While Tom Butikofer commented, “Here at this place we will have the opportunity to heal the wounds inflicted by the nihilism of the past 200 years. This place will allow us to go further.” Other participants mentioned a gentle force of reconciliation which seems to emanate from here –after the unspeakable violence of the 20th century.
The “Days of Inspiration” ended in spontaneous rounds of exchange, where members of the Humanist Movement and communities of Silo’s Message could speak in depth about diverse projects and actions to move the internal worlds of human beings and the social world that surrounds them.
Michael Steinbach and Christian Heinrici
