Damanhur: Laboratory for the Future of Humanity

By Virginia Prescott on Monday, June 29, 2009.

Damanhur is an intentional community nestled in the Italian Alps, a little north of Turin. Its 600 or so full-time residents live, work, eat and pray together.

Unlike some spartan eco-villages, people in Damanhur meditate in lavish underground temples with elaborate tunnels and hidden chambers. There they also record music made by plants, and believe they can leave their physcial bodies to travel along the astral plane using technology from the lost city of Atlantis.

Residents call Damanhur "a laboratory for the future of humanity." A three-part documentary on Damanhur is now screening on VBS TV, the free online TV channel of Vice magazine. We've invited the film’s director and producer, Santiago Stelley, to describe this unique social experiment.

VBS TV: Damanhur: Laboratory for the Future of Humanity

(Photo by Alex Jarvis via Flickr/Creative Commons)

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Word of Mouth is all about what's new. Online and on-air, the show looks at our fascinating and ever-changing world, and puts the latest ideas under a microscope. Word of Mouth investigates everything from science and technology, to health and the environment, to new trends in popular culture. The show airs Monday through Thursday at noon and is hosted by Virginia Prescott.