Truffle ceremony review

Report on open group truffle ceremony

The report below was written by a participant from the past truffle ceremony for participants taking part in a truffle ceremony with strangers. Although this participant is willing to share his story, we have withheld the surname at the participant's request. The report below is beautifully and clearly written and shows exactly why we love this work.

The review

In text

Truffle ceremony Saturday, August 28, 2021
Nataniël

At three o'clock, I arrived at the loft in Schiedam, where I was welcomed by Marcel and Rafaëla.
(the ceremony officiants). She showed me around the loft and then we took our seats on a
number of benches. The other two participants in the ceremony also came in and were briefly
warmly received. Marcel immediately offered us relaxing blue lotus and cacao tea. Below
While enjoying a cup of tea, we then talked about the upcoming ceremony and about what
we could expect. Marcel asked us very specifically about our intention for the ceremony.

My intention was an extension of my spiritual journey, my working towards samadhi. In the
Over the past few months, in the run-up to this ceremony, I have the practice of yoga
intensified to twice a day, adjusted my diet, and focused my self-study more on this
moment. In the week before the ceremony, I read the eighth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, in which
Krishna indicates that the entire material reality is merely an incarnation of his being. Just as the
Just as Greek gods incarnated in an animal or a human, Krishna has incarnated himself in ours.
reality. I have included this in my meditation and have taken it along as an emphasis in this
ceremony.

After discussing our intentions, Marcel offered us a first cup of truffle tea. After drinking
we chatted a bit more, and after about twenty minutes I noticed that my body was calming down and my
My thoughts began to float. I sat down on a mattress and focused on a painting of a
lion's head. Before I drifted off further, I quickly wrote in my diary: 'I want all sorts of things … but
… above all, I want to be.'’
When I shifted my focus back to the lion, it began to undulate and there was a goddess who was over his
danced her head back and forth and invited me inside and even pulled at me.
I lay down on the mattress and sank into a deep sleep. Meanwhile, I stared at the ceiling.
and let the calm wash over me.

After a while, Marcel came up to me and offered a second cup of truffle tea. I had that sitting on
drank the couch dry, and after about ten minutes I felt myself sinking even further. It cost me
subsequently had some difficulty surrendering myself to the trip again. I asked Marcel something and he said:
‘'It is best if you just lie down now and surrender. Is that okay with you?' To this I am again
lay down on the mattress and for a long time, with my eyes closed, I floated away on the music, which
unfolded in colors and forms, but above all in images and small, eternal journeys.
A number of themes took on significant meaning for me during this trip:

Love

The day before the trip, I had a photoshoot with my family. Together with a photographer, we were
in the forest, and there we mostly had fun together, striking different poses. The
was on that afternoon itself, beautiful to see how well we get along together. We are a family where a
It can be a lot of fun and where individuality is important.
During the trip, I experienced the entire afternoon with my family from above, as it were. It was
as if I were floating above the four of us and taking the whole thing in. I was overwhelmed by a
feeling of love and happiness. Love for my children and my wife and the immense happiness that I my
may live with them.

Security

At some point in the trip, things got a bit restless around me, and I got up from the mattress.
where I was lying and started to wander a bit. After a while, I told Rafaëla that I wanted to hide.
under a blanket. She then guided me to a bed, tucked me in under a blanket and said: 'Go here
but just lie back comfortably.' I drifted off immediately. During my trip, I was subsequently taken by Mother Earth into
placed a little boat that bobbed on a quiet little river. Mother Earth sang the most beautiful songs. I
I felt safe and supported in a special way.
This had special meaning for me, as I have always had a difficult relationship with my own mother.
had. I struggled a lot with that in my youth and in my adult life, as the father of a
my own family. After this experience, I immediately felt that it is good as it is. My mother
has made her own journey, and unfortunately, it is coming to an end. I, too, have my own journey and may her
letting go, without having to harbor expectations, but in the infinite security of my
Mother Earth. This gives me the love and space to care.

Power

I enjoy going into nature, alone or with friends, and I have lost my heart to a specific mountain and
a certain brook in Scotland. On my trip, I stood by that brook and on that mountain. In the music, there was
at that moment a scream that lifted me up and whereupon I flew away like an eagle above the mountain
out. This all felt very natural. As if it was perfectly normal that I could fly away. The scream
it didn't seem to come from outside, but came from my own heart and was, as it were, the scream.
of the eagle that I was. In this, I experienced an enormous strength to go my own way and the space
to take to find that way.

Rest

Between the musical pieces, there was sometimes a moment of silence. In those moments, I was drawn away.
of all images and forms and I was several times in the complete emptiness of the universe. I
experienced an enormous peace in it. I was aware that there were stars around me and that there
it was matter. But the nothingness was good and enough.
I found these small, but eternal moments to be the most intense. Throughout my life, I have, partly due to
the life I have lived, but also due to my sensory sensitivity and my introversion, a lot of tension
experienced. To know that there is an eternal place of infinite peace within my being brings immediate peace within me.
body and in my mind. I could already reach this place in my meditation, but not in a way that
I have experienced on this trip. I long to return to this place among the stars, where my consciousness
can be, can enjoy the eternal light of the stars and where everything is good. Where all tensions,
In body and mind, to be still.

Life energy

When I heard voices in the background at one point, I got back into my head. I
I worried about the other person and sometimes doubted myself. I learned from this that I...
in such moments I must give myself space and therefore also take the space to be, to
to clearly indicate boundaries and requests for help and to choose myself. In that, it arises
life energy.

Around half past seven, I was sitting on a chair in the sitting area again. I know it was half past seven because I was talking to Rafaela
asked what time it was. 'Half past seven'. I nodded, thought about it for a moment, and answered: 'Half past seven'
'In the morning?' And as for the time, I really had no idea whether it was evening or morning. She laughed.
and it seemed like a good idea to me to just retreat to a mattress for a little while. When I sat there again, came
they sat with me and we talked about all the things that slowly landed back in my mind
memory. This helped me. After talking and laughing for a while, I lay back down on my mattress.
and the lady next to me also slowly came to again. We talked a bit about what we had experienced.
had and talked about the memories that came back. It was beautiful to be back in this way
to wake up and reinvent everything.

Freedom

During the coming down, I had to very consciously recall my entire life before the trip.
bring. I noticed that I could immediately fill in all the thought patterns myself and choose how I did that.
wanted to do. That showed me that I can do that every day. Daily I can my own thought patterns
arrange it the way I want, and thereby change my actions. As if I can dance in complete freedom in
the reality of existence.

To reinforce this, I have adopted Ram Dass's mantra to use for the time being: 'I am
loving awareness.' I have been reciting this at many different moments of my day over the past few days.
and notice that this mantra also plays in my head when I am talking to people around me, or
during my work. I enjoy that. And I hope this helps to the experiences I have been fortunate enough to have
to consolidate the experiences in my daily life.
When all three of us had landed again, Rafaëla offered us a salad. The first bite tasted really
delicious. As if it were the first bite of food I had ever taken in my life. Afterwards, I had a great need to
to taste things and enjoyed some chocolate for a little while. After this, we danced. I thought
It is wonderful to dance with the others and to be able to move freely. Without the restraint
which I normally experience with that. I consciously enjoyed it and took it in.

Everything subsequently felt as if I was experiencing it for the first time. The first shower felt like I was under a
the waterfall stood, all food tasted more intense, the first chirping of the birds outside sounded like the
the most beautiful sound I had ever heard and the first bird I saw looked as if it had just been created
was.

After I had been in contact with my consciousness in the stillness of the universe, I experienced a
enormous energy to live. After the trip I skipped a night, during which I barely
I was left with fatigue. I tried to sleep because I thought that my body and
my thinking that would need. But my thinking was mainly occupied with all the new patterns
to explore and discover. My body discharged so much after the trip that it seemed as if it had expelled all the toxins.
wanted to part. Both my physical and mental constitution were full of energy after the trip. The first
After the yoga series I practiced after the trip, I was more flexible and energetic than I was before the trip. It seems
or whether the connections in my body have released certain tensions. Also in dealing with the
I notice an enormous change in the people around me. The mantra 'I am loving awareness' continues through
my head sounds during conversations, I am more open and notice that I experience great love and joy in
the contacts I have.