Our friends proposed to go with us to a Danish island, Rømø, an hour drive away. On the way we made a stop in a nice town called Tønder, where the son of our guest had gone to  high school – and where he wanted to show us the buildings. The town is several hundred years old, with small roads and beautiful houses.

Walking into the town

In the centre there was a wooden figure, the replica of an old figure now in a museum, a “shame keeper”, to “scare off criminals and floozies”, as the Danish inscription said. It is the only figure still found in Denmark.

On the wall of an old house there was a beautiful coat of arms with symbols of fights with dragons and serpents. The crawling serpent or dragon is a symbol of the soul fallen into matter (crawling on the belly); the spear stands for the human spine, through which the energy of kundalini rises; and the man fighting or the bird eating the serpent are symbols of the soul overcoming matter. On the crest there were two dragon fighters and one stork eating a serpent.

A long dam lead to the island of Rømø. The land around was totally flat up to the horizon, where land, sea and sky met. We drove with the cars onto the beach near the sea – a huge, long beach. Next to the place where we stopped a man tried to direct a kite. Sometimes the wind pushed him away or he fell down for a moment.

Directing the kite – like the soul taming the personality – flying high in life, but keeping the contact to the inner ground.

On the far end of one side of the beach you could see a great number of kites in the air.

The kites seen through the telephoto lense

Though it had rained several times in the morning and there was a fresh wind,the husband of our friends and me jumped into the sea and enjoyed the freshness of the waves.

I felt very much energized by the salt water. Later we had a walk along the beach towards the horizon.

There were lots of shells lying around, especially long ones like little sticks. I discovered a shell which looked different from the others. It looked like a little piece of art. Our friends told me that these ones are new. Friends of them had seen similar ones in Spain, and these shells have come with boats from the south and now also live here, since the sea slowly gets warmer.

The shell immigrant, looking like a little piece of art

Soon again black clouds quickly approached from the horizon. We went back to our cars. As soon as I sat down inside to clean my feet from sand a shower splashed against the windows.

Next morning after meditation and breakfast my friend told me about the difficulties of his work. He is the head physician of the regional psychiatric hospital, and he explained the challenges they have to face in finding a good way between medical demands, finance and the regulatory system. Each system seems to produce certain forms of absurdities and possibilities of abuse, when the focus is on the economic aspect. But without the economic “counterbalancing” (the law of economics, as the wisdom teachings call it) an intelligent organisation would not come about. May different interests have to be integrated to find a good functioning – forcing the structures to adapt.

After some rainy days Saturday started with sunshine – a warm day announced already early in the morning. Our cordial visit ended after morning meditation and a talk after breakfast. In earlier years our friend had worked as a diver. Married to a professional diver she could tell of a number of fascinating undersea experiences, with TV and research diving. After diving in the outer her life turned to deeper dives into the inner, from encounter groups to meditation and methods of healing….

A 1.5 hours trip brought us yesterday from Lübeck to Kiel, another harbour city at the Baltic Sea from where ferries go to Scandinavian countries and cruise ships to anywhere in the world. We had arranged a meeting with a friend in a restaurant next to the Baltic Sea Quay. Our friend had been living in Munich and had come to Kiel because of a job she had found there. She is a good astrologer, and so we took our charts with us and had a long talk about Saturn and Uranus, Lilith and Moon Nodes 🙂

In the background the ships were passing by – and a touch of far-away countries was in the air.

A view from our table at the restaurant

Walking along the Baltic Sea Quay

Later in the afternoon we continued our ride through North Friesland towards a little village near the North Sea where a family of friends is living.

Yesterday it was a cold, rainy and windy day. We went to Travemünde, a harbour town, where first I wanted to jump into the water, but then it started raining and was too chilly.

The beach was nearly empty and gray clouds were chasing over the sky. But it was a great experience to feel the freshness of the sea and the vastness of space.

Lonely Beach Chairs waiting for sunny days

An old lighthouse at the entrance of the harbour

The seagulls on heaps of mussels reminded me of Jonathan Livingston Seagull and his striving for perfection about whom I had blogged shortly.

In the water and on the moisty beach there were jellyfish-mandalas. Our friend said, “From that state we have come, eons ago.” And I jokingly replied, “And our wobbling bellies still remind of it….”

We took the ferryboat to the other side where the former training ship of the German marine, Passat, was lying, a three-master. It is no longer sailing, but is used as a museum. I thought it must be boring for a ship just lying there and waiting… But when we approached the former grandeur of the ship with all the rigging still gave an impressive image of adventures and far-away countries. Are the ship-devas dreaming of valour and daring?

A pilot boat in front of the Passat

A mighty steering wheel: Can we navigate our boats of life well through stormy weather?

The pizzaria where we took our lunch was full of tiny lighthouses, sailing boat models and plates with sailor’s knots. How well do we tangle up the ropes of our life and how difficult it is to untangle them again….

The model of a three-master on the window sill, with the Passat in the background: Big dreams in a small world.

Yesterday morning it was rainy and windy. However, later the rain stopped when we left for a visit of the city of Lübeck. Lübeck was an important trading town in medieval times, with a number of churches and towers with green rust covered tops.

We parked our car near the Petrikirche and entered the huge nave: a high, white room at the end of which two Japanese violin players gave a concert – the sounds beautifully echoing through space.

The church from medieval times had been bombed in World War 2 and later reconstructed. It now was a place open for religious, cultural and social activities of all kinds – a real open space in a sacral ambience.

We took the elevator up the church tower to the platform from where you have a beautiful view over the city:

The old town hall with the market place

The Holstentor

Later we descended again and went over the market place over to the Marienkirche. In front of it there a little devil sitting on a stone:

A plate told the story of this devil:

During the construction of the church the devil joined helping the construction and so the work went on very quickly. He was so cooperative because he thought that a tavern was being built. When he came to know that it was a church he got very angry, rose into the air, got a heavy stone and wanted to destroy the church. He was about to throw down the stone as a craftsman saw him and told him, “Better wait, a wine tavern will be constructed just in front of the church and thus many people will come and go there.” And so it was: Just on the other side of the road there is an old wine tavern which is well frequented. And the devil was happy about it…

We turned around the corner and came to the shop cum café of a famous Lübeck marzipan manufacturer. In the shop window there was the model of  New York city buildings and the statue of Liberty done with Marzipan.

The Empire State building with reflections of the old Townhall of Lübeck

The Statue of Liberty

Street café, all done with Marzipan

We bought a marzipan elephant as a gift for a friend and then went home.

In the afternoon we went for a one hour drive to Hamburg to meet the little WTT group for Cancer Full Moon meditation in the centre of the city.

A little angel on the window sill in the house of our Hamburg friend

A little Ganesha statue blessing on the meditation table

Afterwards we had a beautiful dinner together prepared by our friend

Afterwards we read extracts of the chapter on Cancer in Spiritual Astrology by Master EK and then talked about the qualities of Cancer as the different persons experience them. Speaking about sensitivity the talk came to the reactions one has when others are judging about oneself or about friends. My wife told an experience she had with a coach who said to her, “When someone else is talking bad about a friend of you, what does this have to do with your relation to this friend? You don’t have to let yourself be touched.” By just staying aligned to your soul and not letting get drowned into the judgements of others you don’t get wounded by their words and the repercussions they otherwise have in the surroundings.

At the end my friend took some photos of my wife and me, and my wife wanted that one is put on the blog, too – something I normally don’t do. So here it comes.

Just before starting yesterday for the next part of our journey my friend showed me the sign of Maitreya she once got worked out by a goldsmith friend:

The flowers were full of raindrops when we started our journey northwards towards Lübeck at the Baltic Sea.

In the late afternoon we arrived at the next place in the surroundings of  Lübeck where our friend has an Ayurveda health practice. She showed us the work she is doing – and then moved empty her practice for us to have a place to stay.

I love the Nordic ambiance – red houses, flowers, full green vegetation.

View of the balcony

and looking down into the garden, where an artist has exposed some objects:

A wooden fish looking up

Sun greeting at the entrance

Little angel blessing from the window frame

And of course a little Buddha…

After meditation and dinner we had a walk along a nearby channel constucted over 100 years ago. We had to walk through high reed and nettles – with our sandals… Later it started raining so that we had to walk back. Since there was no official way to the channel, we walked through the garden of the landlord.

How could the horse see us through its hair?

Yesterday afternoon while my wife was out for an exchange with  friend, the friend where we are passing these days took me out on a tour with an e-bike. We went along a small river, fields and forests to a little idyllic moor lake with some boat rentals. We sat on the board of the lake and talked for a while.

Crossing a little river

One of the boat rentals

On the way home the battery went down (it wasn’t full) and so I had to pedal a bit harder.

In the evening the husband returned home. He is a bike specialist and works as a consultant in bike development situations. He had been at a meeting where they were discussing how the legal regulations can cope with all the effects of the new forms of electric mobility. He told me about the difficulties arising out of the e-bike boom – organisation of battery wast disposal, of traffic regulations, of forming technicians for the maintenance and regulating this formation, of discussions ins whose area the work with e-bike falls – electricians, engineers, bike specialist… He explained the difficulties with the development of e-mobility meeting similar problems like with the upcoming of automobiles 100 years ago when the cars were there, but you had to buy petrol in small bottles from the pharmacies…

Other fascinating talks followed in the evening.

On the terrace

In the early morning I enjoyed again doing my yoga asanas on the terrace looking at the ancient church which the Church had sold some years ago. Now there are concerts and other social activities in the old building. In the evening we had observed a young kestrel sitting above the windows of the church.

View from the terrace during early morning asanas

We had a beautiful morning meditation and breakfast together and soon will start for the next part of our journey. Here are some more impressions from inside the rooms.

Orchids in early morning light

Buddha meditating under the orchids

Paper dove flying through the room

Angel enjoying the morning in front of the image of a Madonna from Austria

Another angel with a candle in front of a picture of Nicholas Roerich

A Buddha and a lingam in front of a picture of Roerich

The golden Buddha meditating

Ganesha with the Cosmic Egg

Krishna playing some morning music on his flute

Gandhi smiling from the shelves

Ganesha blessing with a lotus

The tour goes on, with many exchanges and impressions – deep topics, but not much to blog about.

Prayer flags in the kitchen window

I jokingly told some of my friends that we are on a Buddha-tour – everywhere we see Buddha statues, and it’s a sport for me to take some pics of the statues of Buddhas and other spiritual beings standing in the houses and gardens.

We also met various forms of the sign of perfection we also use for the Circle of Good-Will:

This is not a crop circle 🙂

Yesterday evening my wife asked me why I like this kind of traveling – since several of our friends told us that for them such visits would be very strenuous. I mostly don’t feel so. I love these exchanges. Normally at home I don’t have much contact besides work. So I find it very interesting to see how our friends are in life, how they integrate spiritual orientation with all the challenges of everyday life, how they deal with the ups and downs of the path, the inspirations and irritations. It mostly takes some moments to “dive into” the atmosphere and understand the specific rhythms and ways of organizing the daily routine, but we quickly find deeper issues in our talks.

The Sun Chariot drawn by seven horses, the seven rays

Some people, however, “hide” themselves behind smalltalk, or, worse, behind “logorhea” – talking without pause like a waterfall and thus cutting themselves from the flow of exchange. This works like an energy-vampire and leaves you depleted. It is some kind of egocentrism and blockage out of a dominant mind. Few were these situations, but normally not so easy to handle. In such situations I just keep silent.

A Ganesha statue in Bielefeld

This time one question particularly interests us and we ask it our friends: “What (deeper) issues occupy you at the present moment?” Several of our friends are at an age where their parents are getting old and in need of care, especially when they are sick or even suffering from dementia. The other side is, which ways the grown-up children take to – often orienting away from the parents and defining their own ways – basic questions of parents in our age. Then the balance between profession and health, stress…

Living together

One point which is very profound is the conflict between ideals – one’s own or others – and the way they might distort the view of how other people are. Many have gone through very enthusiastic times on the path and have become much more distanced, or have undergone deep reorientations. Some try to hold to an ideal but experience conflicts with others who don’t hold to these concepts or force them to modify.

Butterfly, symbol of transformation – shot taken yesterday in the garden of friends

Some have gone through deep inner crises, where inner wounds of the past had come up, causing pains and demanding attention and healing.

A yard of a little castle where one of our friends is living

Listening to such feelings in an open, attentive way gives relief, for empathy is a great healer. But it also mirrors one’s own stories, and I have to see that I remain centered in my self or quickly come back to it again.

Krishna statue with a crystal globe

My wife yesterday told again an event she had some weeks ago:

In June she was in Munich at a seminar about Radical Foregiveness with Colin Tipping. She took the “direct train” back via Zurich. However, there were railroad works near the Lake of Constance, and they had to change to a regional train and then to another train.

It was a hot day and when they had to leave the intercity train she saw a couple clad in black clothes, tattooed, both very obese and carrying big suitcases. Then man panted. A voice from the load-speakers said in a sharp voice: “Please hurry up to the other platform, the train is leaving soon. … Please hurry up….”

The man was furious: “Incredible, we have paid 200 Euros and this is such a bad service.” They had to cross the railways and walk on the other platform to the regional train. The voice from the loudspeaker kept on reminding, “Please hurry up, the train is leaving soon.” My wife entered the wagon together with the couple. The places were all occupied and so they remained standing at the entrance. She saw that the man was boiling inwardly. For a moment she reflected whether she should talk to the man or not. Then she said, “Inefficiency makes you angry, yes?”

The man looked incredulously and said: “Yes! At my work I cannot be so inefficient, we have to be very precise…” – And that is injust.” – Again he looked astonished: “Yes!”

His girlfriend looked at my wife and just said, “Validating?”. My wife, “Yes.” – Are you working in a care profession?” – “No, I’m becoming a coach.” “Ah!” Later they changed again the train to the next intercity. My wife helped to carry the luggage of the man who had calmed down, and later they sait not far from each other and exchanged some more words.

My wife explained that giving space to another person without trying to solve his problem, just giving presence, helps very much to comeinto contact with oneself.

A fairy bringing light – a candelabra in the house of our friends

Yesterday morning started with a beautiful fire ritual in the garden of our friends.

Fire ritual in front of the Krishna statue in the garden

After breakfast there was a group meeting where we studied some pages from “Esoteric Healing“, about how to deal with blockages in the etheric body.

Later we continued our journey and made a stop at a place at the countryside not far away from my old home town. There we met two friend with whom we had been together over a decade in a spiritual group, where, under the garb of esoteric studies and discipleship training, a lot of atrocities had happened. Those who had been in the group had undergone quite some inner wounds – merciless hurting others in the name of merciful living. The group had dissolved later, a number of them joined the WTT with which we are now associated. We had a deep exchange about these times and what had happened and the path we had taken since. All of us had taken to the work of healing inner wounds and trying to assist others in this.

A ceramic globe in the garden of our friends

Then we continued our journey to the home of other friends near Bielefeld, where we stay at the moment. Again some good talks till late in the night.

OM at the entrance of the house

A blessing Buddha on the other side of the wall with the OM

Yesterday after breakfast and a continuation of an interesting interpretation of my astro-chart our journey continued through Belgium to Germany, to the house of friends in Bonn where we spend some hours – with exchanges, but nothing for blogging 😉 In the evening we continued to Wermelskirchen to the house of our friends where the HQ of WTT-Germany is located. Relaxing talks, some work on the new Vaisakh Newsletter, strolling through the town to do some shopping. Here are some photo impressions from around the house and the garden.

Krishna statue in the garden

A holographic picture of Master CVV

A holographic picture of Sri Kumar in front of his books on Uranus

Miniature sandals, a symbol of the teacher principle

A relief picture of Mount Kailash

Symbol in blue

Symbol of the swan, Hamsa, the pulsation of life