Rituals in the Himalayas (Satis Shroff)

Rituals in the Himalayas (Satis Shroff)

Namaste,
I greet the Godliness in you.
Tika, a Hindu symbol,
A blessing from the parents,
From the priest at the temple,
During a visit to a shrine,
After a puja,
A ritual ceremony.

Faith and belief in God,
Spirituality in the Himalayas
As old and strong,
As the Abode of Snows,
Undaunted by colonialism
And conquests with the sickel sword.

Om namo Shiva,
Rituals reveal the unity,
Between the self and the cosmos;
A light in your innermost self.

Through rituals you become one
With your soul.
You feel it within the molecules,
Atoms and positrons in you.
Be it big or small,
In this eternally moving world,
Nothing is without a meaning.

The ancient rituals
Have each a meaning,
In the endless metamorphosis
Of the individual,
To be in tact with the universe.
It is the daily rituals
That lead us to unity,
Growth of consciousness,
That engulfs all.

In rituals we bundle energy
For the changes in the cycle
Of Death and Creation.
It is the litany of mantras
Combined with ritual offerings,
That create a work of art: the yantra.
Dedicated to the Gods and Goddesses,
In the shrine, temple and pagoda.

Seasonal flowers plucked at dawn,
To beckon and appease the Gods,
Sandalwood tika paste,
Cereals and herbs,
Sweetmeat and fruits.
The beauty of the yantra
Creates harmony.
The chime of the temple bells
Evoke feelings of spirituality.
There is a mingling
Of cultural powers that be,
In peace and balance.

If you’re ill perform a ritual
At the right time,
To restore the balance,
Between illness and recovery,
Between right and wrong,
Between holy and unholy,
Between wealth and poverty,
Between rain and sun,
Flood and drought,
Life, death and rebirth.

— with Freiburger-Nepalese Association-Fna and Seraf Pandey.

 

Namaste, I Greet the Godliness in You! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fotoessay: I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg (Satis Shroff)

I LOST MY HEART IN HEIDELBERG

Ever lost your heart in Heidelberg? Here's a song dedicated to this wonderful city in Baden-Württemberg:
 

I lost my heart in Heidelberg's fair city,
'twas in a gentle summer night,
I was in love, so deep in love entangled,
Her rosebud mouth was laughing with delight.
..What has become of you, my dear, since I had to be wise,
Old Heidelberg, so beautiful, you German Paradise!
I went away in sorrow, left happiness, ease and wine,
I think of you, I long for you,
You are my 'auld lang syne!'

We know the magical powers of witches and shamans today mostly through fairy tales and children's books (Harald Topfer). Sometimes we hear that witches knew a lot about healing. Which healing medication were known in the early days? Prescriptions for magical potions have been passed down with the passage of time. They were said to make people lover others against their will. This is still practiced in many cultures where there are shamans who have good or evil magical practices. The belief in witches began not in the sinister Middle Ages but earlier in the 15th century. In order to protect ourselves from witches (Hexen) we have amulets made, and learn about the different ways of protecting ourselves. In the Tumor Biology it has become normal additionally to use herbal medicine or such amulets to ward off evil spirits because faith or belief in the power of such artifacts blessed by the shaman or witch,if you may, can be beneficial. A great percentage of the effect of medicine is belief and to a lesser degree the actual effect of the medication itself. At the Apocathery Museum in Heidelberg you even learn how to make a salve which won't help you to fly (take a broom or the Lufthansa!) but will enable you to have scented and soft hands.

 It's not the fastest train in the world but it's fun, this rickety, creaky affair that squeaks and jolts all the way to the peak. The ride downhill was faster. Reminded me of the funicular train to the top of Salzburg, Austria. You are rewarded with a majestic view of the Neckar river, as it snakes in the valley below and the Heidelberger bridge, the tourist boats, the cars speeding along the highways, and everywhere lush green, blooming vegetation. The Philosopher's Path looked inviting. The castle garden was extensive and there were students lolling on the grass, tourists walking around in swarms with their respective guides. Your could hear: English, Japanese, Chinese, French and other tongues.

 

Zwei Entlein: two ducks chillaxing despite the many visitors to the castle of Heidelberg which was built in the 13th and 17th century. The early Gothic buildings are the ruins, and was the seat of the Pfälsische Wittelbacher.

 Heidelberg is a wonderful university town.

Heidelberg castle is the epitome of the Romantic and depicts the

 splendour of the Renaissance as well as the sad devastation left behind by the 30 years war. Then the reconstruction, the renewed prosperity and the final destruction during the French-Palatinate War.

The sights of the castle? The King's Hall, a gigantic wine barrel, so big you have to climb a creaky, wooden, spiral staircase and if you're medical-minded,a GP, a pharmacist, stud.med.or cand.med.or a nursing student doing evidence-based-nursing, why, you must visit the German Pharmacy Museum located in the castle. 

Haus zum Ritter: This house was built in 1592 for the family of a wealthy textile trader and is one of the most beautiful Renaissance houses in Europe. Today it's an expensive hotel with a restaurant for visitors from all over the world.

FREIBURGER CHRONICLE (Satis Shroff): Towards a Culture of Remembering the Past (Satis S...

FREIBURGER CHRONICLE (Satis Shroff): Towards a Culture of Remembering the Past (Satis S...: Towards a Culture of Remembering the Past: GRUESOME GURS NEVERMORE (Satis Shroff) The Blue Bridge stretches over the rail...

Towards a Culture of Remembering the Past (Satis Shroff)

Towards a Culture of Remembering the Past:

GRUESOME GURS NEVERMORE(Satis Shroff)

The Blue Bridge stretches over the railroad tracks,

A bronze greyish-blue overcoat hangs near the bridge.

The sleek, white intercity Express glides below,

On its way to Basle (Switzerland).

Shortly thereafter a TGV-train from Freiburg to Paris.

The overcoat reminds us of the trains in October 1940,

That took Freiburg's Jewish population,

400 of them,

To Gurs, a concentration-camp in southern France.

And from there to Auschwitz,

To be murdered.

That was state-organised racism.

The deported Jews had lived in Baden,

Saarland and the Pfalz.

6,504 deported Jews.

Most were forced like cattle in wagons

In the summer of 1942,

Deported to concentration camps in Eastern Europe.

A few could escape,

Many died in the inhuman camps,

Which had barbed-wire, Alsatian dogs and armed guards.

The winter was hard.

Some children were saved by help-organisations.

These survivors are the time-witnesses,

Who have lived to tell

Of the cruelty of deportation,

Life in the Lager Gurs,

1027 kilometres away from Freiburg,

And their rescue from the clutches of the Gestapo

In the end.

Ah, in this very town there are people,

Who want to keep this shameful deed in mind.

The Zeitzeugin Renate Haberer-Krauss came in 2010,

To tell us how it was in those days.

The Basic Law now holds for all,

Irrespective of nationality, faith or colour.

We have realised that without respect and tolerance,

There can be no peaceful togetherness.

Tolerance should not lead to indifference.

Let us march in demonstrative silence,

To the blue Wiwili Bridge,

Where the bronze overcoat is.

Denke, Du, was uns geschah.

Think, yes you, of what happened to us.

* * *

HOPE HEALS (Satis Shroff)

Unto you that fear my name

Shall the sun of righteousness

Arise with healing in his wings

(Malachi)

Bridges of peace, friendship and togetherness

Are built on mutual respect,

Tolerance and Miteinander.

We must talk about the symbols

Of tyranny in your villages, towns and cities.

On Memorial Day we gather with earnest faces,

To honour and remember the people

Whose names are engraved on stones,

Who died in the two World Wars.

The suns and husbands have fallen,

But a new ghost raises its ugly head again,

The Neonazis who work for

The Bundesnachrichtendienst.,

Who receive money for their incompetence,

In Thuringen, Saxony,

Hessen and Lower Saxony.

The lesson of faschism taught us

Never to combine

The police with the secret service,

For it would be akin to the Gestapo,

The Geheimen Staatspolizei.

The sixteen secret services in Germany

Cannot coordinate and cooperate.

Since thirteen years have we given

Neonazis a free hand,

Who robbed banks,

Executed Turkish and Greek migrants.

The constitution makes it possible:

‘Germany for the Germany,

All aliens out!’

Long live the Freedom of Speech.

But prithee, where is the protection

Of the migrants and underdogs

Of the society?

Is a new holocaust in the offing?

Yet there is no way

But the path of peace and togetherness.

The ewig gestrigen and the neos

Are still licking the wounds of war,

Wounds that won’t heal,

For they are infected with hate anew,

With brown-propaganda.

War has always been ugly and brutal.

The widows of the on-going krieg in the Hindukush,

The survivors who don’t understand their own world,

After the trauma of Vietnam, Irak, Afghanistan.

When the NATO sirens are tested,

The air vibrates with a monstrous noise.

Fear makes the olde soldier’s heart beats faster,

His pulse races and he almost chokes.

The memories and the fury of war overwhelm him.

Who will restore the faces we’ve adored?

Love, faith, togetherness and peace

Haven’t been lulled to sleep.

We still hear the clarion call

To the dangers of war,

To the hoarse shouts

Of the Neos in the street,

Who strut and fret,

And believe Auschwitz was a lie.

A silence treads like clouds shadows,

Among the people of Germany.

Hope hasn’t abandoned us yet,

Despite the petite victories of the rightists,

In Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

The people in these lands

Think otherwise.

In every good person there is a bad part,

In every bad person there’s a good trait,

Like ying and yang.

We can only appeal to humans,

Hope and pray for peace,

And the old wounds to heal,

Between humans in this world.