Last month I moved home and city. I finally took the step to leave the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam behind me and moved to Arnhem, a lovely city in the eastern part of The Netherlands, surrounded by enchanting nature and beauty.
In my early 20es I took a seminar with the land artists Marco Pogatschnik and Mary Bauermeister near Kleve, which is not far from Arnhem. We spent the weekend learning about land energies and I remember how something deep within me longed to live in this area.
Over the years I always looked at places in Arnhem and surrounding while my busy life in Amsterdam was running its cause. My soul longed for silence and being in touch with nature spirits, for being nourished by the land energies of rich, old soil. While Amsterdam and most of the Randstad (including Leiden, Rotterdam and The Hague) have been manifested on former sea ground, I always felt that I couldn’t ground there. When tuning deep into the ground below me, it felt cold and wet and muddy.
The moment I moved inland I always felt that around Amersfoort my lower chakras were ‘gaining land’.
Last year, circumstances changed for me and I finally felt the opportunity to leave. Like a surfer on a beach with my surfboard, waiting for the perfect wave but had fallen asleep, fate presented me with circumstances that woke me up, had me grab my surfboard and jump on the wave when it finally came!
I found the apartment of my dreams - a place I have seen in visions many years ago and had forgotten. I’m a sucker for old, stately buildings with high ceilings, beautiful mouldings, huge sliding doors and the sense of ancient glory. In my vision I saw an apartment looking out over trees, the sunlight playing with the shadows of the leaves through the curtains that langure in the soft breeze.
Upon entering my new place for the first time, I could sense the soft, refined energy of the place. Even though it needed a bit of TLC, I could sense that people have lived here happily. The woman who has lived here with her partner before me must have loved the place too as I could sense her energy quite intensely. Very gentle and joyful. Later I learned from my neighbours that an American couple has lived here before me. Things were well kept but since they had rented it, structural things such as walls and floors had to be upgraded a bit.
While gradually making the space more and more my own, I can sense the various layers of former inhabitants. This morning I was cleaning one of the historic lamps that must have been here since the house was built in 1860. Since the lamps are hanging very high, they havent been cleaned for many, many years it seems. While rubbing away the grime the impression of a middle aged lady came up. Upper class, quite stern and pretty grumpy. She seemed to disapprove of other people living here. A very different layer of energy but also very localised. I spoke to her while I was cleaning the lamp and assured her that I will be taking good care of this place, that I love her taste and I appreciate the lamp. What a difference it made to the space! As those lamps hang in the centre row each of the four main rooms, they mark the Tai Chi, the center of the room - which holds energetic significance. Its like energetic command center and in traditional Feng Shui and other traditions, the center of the house has always been marked.
Tomorrow, after my new floor has been put in, I will clean the lamps in the other three rooms and see what will happen there :)
So long!