Highden Temple's (and Aotearoa's) First Dark Room

TEMPLES ON EARTH

The landing of a Mystery School and Temple begins in the invisible worlds, then lands into matter on the physical plane. The Temples (and the groups of people who serve them) returning to Earth is now being accelerated by the global initiation we are moving through. For thousands of years, Temples have risen and fallen, serving the pulse of the planetary soul. They are divine tension points that stand in the face of the unknown and remind us how to do the same, especially in times like now, between civilizations.

Over the coming years, the global and individual tension will only increase to support a culture founded upon soul emergence. Temples are not just physical centers where soul initiatory work and sacred community take place–they are vortexes of energy and points of fire that serve as a bridge between the world that was, the present world, and the world that is coming. They are instruments to support the emergence of the soul of the world and the soul of every individual.

As a 7th Ray Mystery School, Highden Temple is one of these points, already grounded on the physical plane and currently in the midst of its second cycle of soul initiation trainings. As the global initiation intensifies, soul community, ceremony + magic, long-term Earth projects, and land initiatives continue to flourish at Highden.

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THE DARK ROOM at HIGHDEN TEMPLE

The SEED Was Planted...

The Dark Room idea came about nearly a year ago when Jonathan Ehrlich and Laura Deva felt this creative initiative come through them while they were immersed in a Dark Community experiment in Highden. They decided to meet in the dark, literally, in Highden’s meditation turret, without words to connect more to this vision and without knowing how the practical steps would unfold. It became clear that this shared vision was also an expression of the magic between their souls. Though they kept the idea close to their hearts, several of their attempts to make the practical steps happen did not work out and they decided to trust that the right person would come along to begin the building…

…and sure enough he did. Julian Briggs came to Highden one day for a last-minute gathering we hosted to bring the wider New Zealand community together and support our syntropic garden project. Laura quickly felt his love for natural building and shared the vision for the Dark Room with him. What started as a quick visit soon turned into an unexpected, yet inevitable stepping into the community. Julian’s unique magic in Earth building, cohabitating with the natural world, and connecting to the wild arrived as the missing piece of the puzzle for the Dark Room to ignite.

Now all the right pieces have fallen into place to be able to reach out to the wider community and ask for funding support. As far as we know, this will also be the first Dark Room in New Zealand. Its design is based on Earth-building, being one with the wild Mystery, and giving the person inside the sense of being held by the natural womb of the Earth itself.

The CREATION Comes to Life...

Self-initiated retreats into the dark have been happening for thousands of years, from caves underground, forest huts, isolation in nature away from tribe, times of self-inquiry, and journeys into our depths that are further anchored by being in a light-proof, sound-proof setting. Some of the core teachings and principles at Highden Temple can be supported through an embodied experience of going, literally, into the dark for a period of time.

Anyone who journeys into the Dark Room at Highden has the community outside as a means of support. Besides having meals delivered and the practicals covered, the person inside the Dark Room will be moving through a rite of passage just as the community outside the Dark Room will journey this rite of passage too.

The Dark Room marks not just a deeper grounding of Highden Temple as a center, but also as a symbol for the vulnerable choice for individuals to journey into their inner worlds, to choose a deeper communion with the soul, and to willingly move through a doorway of initiation and uncharted territory (supported by the outer environment of truly being in the dark).

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PRACTICALS & FINANCIALS

Below is the breakdown of materials + labor costs. The foundation of this design will be mainly natural and recyclable materials, many of them also coming from Highden’s land and neighboring lands.

We are excited to have the building led by Julian (who’s fiercely passionate about wild Earth building and bushcraft) and, during the Dark Room’s creation, to host some opportunities for small groups to come to the land, work with the clay, straw and Earth materials, and complete certain steps of the project through group effort while learning about Earth-building at the same time.

Materials = $21,000

Foundation blocks

Structural timbers

Straw bales

Cob render

Floor joist and flooring

Ply box frame wall plates

Roofing sheets

Toilet and shower

Doors

Fixings

Labor = $16,000

GST = $5400

TOTAL = $42,400