Where to begin?

To recount the experience of such a vast and intense event,
full of inspiring moments, seems almost impossible…
but I trust that the right words will come to our aid.

Joy was no doubt the protagonist:
the pure joy of “being” was the brightest of stars
in a night when all the stars seemed to be shining their brightest.

It is a rare occasion when more than 200 people
come together several hours
without any interference from dissonant notes.
Surely the unpolluted nature,
that reigns in proximity
of the small town of Monte San Giovanni, near Rieti,
with its majestic mountain range
surrounding Monte Tancia,
fostered the unfolding of harmony and beauty:
irresistible simplicity.

Nature, generous as it is, went beyond our expectations,
pulling from its hat moments of pure magic:
all of a sudden, during the eco-trekking hike,
delicate drops of rain accompanied our steps,
and they were very welcomed
considering the unusually warm temperature;
but when we turned to look up to the sky…
there wasn’t even a cloud in sight!
Only blue sky, a thrilling blue as deep as the ocean’s floor!
No, the Earth had not been turned upside down, and yet…

Only afterwards, while seated
on the cushions, chairs, and benches,
did the clouds appear,
and we enveloped ourselves in a moment of deep internalization.
For a few minutes we sang together
the sacred sound of the syllable “OM”,
followed by an enlightening guided meditation.

And nature kept right on pulling things out of its hat:
while Neeraja, the meditation teacher,
guided us with words of inspiration into pure silence,
a grandiose rainbow appeared behind her,
leaving a feeling — as many later described it —
of a deep sense of peace, as if nature,
vigilant within each of us, had begun to reveal itself.

And so we ask ourselves:
is this deep sense of peace a communal note of the heavens?
An inner peace that creates joy,
a unique kind of joy that does not need
something specific to be joyful about?

By then, the balmy gentle evening
had left its place to the darkness of night,
and in a romantic atmosphere,
by candle light, under a sky of stars,
a stage lit up to give way to the enticing concert
for guitar and voice by composer Fausto Ciotti.
With his engaging talent,
that made us feel light-hearted and elated,
his notes reached as far as the sky
and then reverberated back to us,
reminding us that there’s always music that vibrates,
lightly, all around us. Thank you, Fausto!

In the company of these notes
that continued to flutter everywhere,
Astronomitaly experts shared with us
important information regarding light pollution.
This theme is not very talked about,
but by creating awareness on the subject,
we came to realize that we are all responsible
for dampening the stars brightness
with our “artificial excesses”.

Luckily at Monte Tancia, enveloped by nature
and distant from all that is artificial,
the stars, undisturbed, continue to shine bright.
In fact, experts confirm that it is one
of the most beautiful skies in all of Italy.

We were able to touch this beauty
with our very own eyes, by means of professional telescopes.
As if on a powerful space shuttle,
we took off and landed on stars, planets and constellations.
There was only time for a cup of coffee,
and once back on planet Earth we observed:

Infinity is in every star and every star guides us to immensity!

Edited by
the Open Sky Team