E21C

E21C is an international centre for living spirituality, which becomes everyday practical experience with the help of art, culture, gardening, and teaching.

The idea, aims and goals of E21C

E21C (“Europe in the 21st century”/before 2000: “Europe for the 21st century”) has influenced thousands of people in their spiritual and psychological development since 1988. E21C started as a vision. To create a safe, sane place, a place of healing and learning where people could meet, exchange ideas and be inspired to take responsibility. This vision has its roots in the ancient sanctuaries where learning, the arts, and the art of healing were practised, such as Epidauros.E21C is not an organisation, but an open group without fix membership. Participation is formed interactively and by self-organisation, while the centre is anchored in a physical place.The aim of E21C is spiritual education, heightening of awareness, study of the principles that operate through the human being and the universe, and recognition that creative problem solving involves higher modes of consciousness (the ‘see-tank’ as a progressive development of the think-tank). This is attained in the course of personal growth – when we discover who we really are. The ethos of E21C encourages altruism, mindfulness, and selfless expression as choices, which bring us closer to our essence.

The foundation of E21C

The E21C Centre in Herne/Belgium was founded in 1989 by Dr. Petia Prime. She is a retired medical scientist, educator, and a visionary. She paints, sculpts, writes books and music. She has used colour, sound and psychodynamic exercises to create an effective method of psychotherapy, which deals with subconscious emotional blocks in a non-traumatic way. She has taught many doctors and medical practitioners the art of energy medicine.

The philosophical background of E21C

Petia Prime and her associate Reinhold Ritter used to frequent Jiddu Krishnamurti’s talks in Saanen/Gstaad, where they met in 1982. Krishnamurti has influenced the concept and origin of E21C. Another influence was the experience of sacred energy places and their morphic fields: Petia Prime, as a child in Bulgaria during the Second World War, was evacuated to the Rila Monastery. There she also met the Master Peter Deunov. Petia Prime and her late husband were looking for a place to establish an art centre to support young talent. Ritter lived in Dornach, in close vicinity of the Goetheanum. Preceding the foundation of E21C as a spiritual art centre, there were years of intensive contact with the mystic Stylianos Atteshlis (Daskalos) and his circles of healers and researchers for the truth. Personal encounters and conversations with many scientists, mystics, and thinkers, have contributed to E21C: Ilya Prigogine, Mirtala Bentov, the widow of Itzhak Bentov, Thomas Kuhn, David Bohm, Willis Harman, the President of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Gerald G. Jampolsky, the Founder of the Center for Attitudinal Healing, the early American groups of "A Course in Miracles", especially around William Thetford, Hazel Dean-John, the Faith Keeper of the Wolf Clan of the Seneca nation, and others. Equally important was the acquaintance with the perennial philosophy, Christian mysticism (Meister Eckhart and the "Philokalia"), Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, Neoplatonism, Yoga, and Jungian psychology. The Tree of Life as universal anthropic pattern is relevant for the work of E21C. Prime and Ritter are trained scientists who share a lively interest in the development of chaos theory, complexity theory, and the move toward a science of consciousness since the very start of those fields.

E21C as a place

The E21C Centre has become a place for exploring and disseminating new methods of energy medicine. The Centre is housed in the outbuildings of an old farm on 1,75 ha of land, situated in beautiful green surroundings, with its own pond and biotope, creating a habitat for wildlife. The Centre is an experiment in sustainable, spiritual living. The land has been used for organic farming and gardening and is completely free from pesticides and fertilizers. The buildings have been restored according to the latest ecological building standards. Many visitors have commented on the ‘cathedral-like quality’ of the interior of the old barn. Outdoor features include many old trees, an interfaith sacred building (stone cube with glass hemisphere), and a Solar Dome glasshouse (designed as a geodesic dome after Buckminster Fuller), which is a resonance chamber. A strong ley line of positive energy runs through the estate, which is located on old Celtic and Roman settlement ground.

The activities of E21C

The work of E21C includes art in all its forms. Numerous exhibitions and concerts have attracted a local and international crowd to the Centre. Many artists and musicians have performed or shown their work at the Centre, such as: pianists Martino Tirimo and Irakly Avaliani, cembalist Bellina Drandarova, composer (and virtuoso on the ‘Cristal Baschet’) Michel Deneuve, sculptor and poet Frans Wuytack, metal sculptor Karl Schmid, portrait painter Kathy Burke, abstract painter Gert Van Weyenberg, and others. Anne-Hélène Trottier, a specialist in the Oriental and Eastern chanting traditions, performed newly discovered songs by Hildegard of Bingen. The Belgian premiere of “La Vie de Marie” (“The Life of Mary”) after the poem by Rainer Maria Rilke with the music of Michel Deneuve took place at E21C, with the cooperation of the Ostenrijk-Centrum Antwerpen (the Austria Centre of the University of Antwerp) and the Goethe Institute Brussels. Young local artists have held repeatedly group exhibitions. Concerts and exhibitions at the E21C Centre have always been free of charge and usually for the benefit of charitable organisations, such as Oxfam or Médecins Sans Frontières. Numerous scientists, politicians, and members of the European Commission have met at E21C and participated in seminars on ‘consciousness’ and ‘energy medicine’. The E21C Summer School, The International Open Door Days of the Centre, the E21C Healing School, and the Intensive Courses have drawn people from all continents and dozens of nations to visit and experience E21C. The Centre is also a place for silent retreats. Petia Prime and Reinhold Ritter have given regular E21C courses in Brussels, London, Paris, Ravensburg, Munich, Salzburg, and Vienna, with occasional appearances in Boston, Bruges, Ghent, Bonn, Berlin, Klagenfurt, Villach, and in Normandy, Cyprus, Scotland, Denmark, and elsewhere.

E21C and nature

The greatest form of art is the art of self-knowledge. This includes awareness for the response of nature (animals, plants, and crystals) to human consciousness. The readiness of humans for cooperation with nature, kindness, and the intention to help are recognised by other forms of life. The care for preserving nature has led to a noticeable return of wildlife to the area.

Quotation

“Not that God can ever be seen directly, but in a place of His, if we are wise, we know that God is.”

Publications

Numerous articles and books arise from the activities of E21C, mainly in English and German, some in French, and some translated into other languages:
* Petia Prime, "Flying on the Wings of Butterflies: Caring for the Terminally Ill at Home" 1998 ISBN 0-9532942-0-X
* Petia Prime, "Cosmic Kaleidoscope" 1998 ISBN 0-9532942-5-0
* Petia Prime, "32 healing images received in prayer and meditation" 1999 ISBN 0-9532942-9-3
* Reinhold Ritter & Petia Prime," A Technology of the Sacred" 1998 ISBN 0-9532942-3-4
* Petia Prime & Reinhold Ritter, “Spirituelle Bildung” in: Regine Mikula, "Bildung im Diskurs" 2004 ISBN 978-3890195681
* Petia Prime, “Life gives us tremendous opportunities, brilliantly disguised as problems”, Lecture to benefit Médecins Sans Frontières, Brussels 1991
* Petia Prime, "A practical guide for working with crystals", 1994, 2 vols.
* Petia Prime with Reinhold Ritter, "Intuition and Creativity", Lecture at the College of Europe, Bruges, 1993, 1995

This seminar was also given at the Herbert von Karajan Centrum Vienna [http://www.karajan.org/en/centrum/index.asp] and led to the introduction of the instruments of the Baschet Brothers into the curriculum of the schools of Vienna [http://www.mdw.ac.at/imp/html/service/mpz/veranstaltungen/baschet.htm]

* Reinhold Ritter and Petia Prime, "Symbols and their energies in art and healing" 2001
* Petia Prime, "The six-pointed star as a vehicle of consciousness", audiocassette 1993 ISBN 0-953-2942-2-6
* Petia Prime (Arrangements by Michel Deneuve and Krassimir Sterev), "Angelic Articulation" Music CD (Three versions: for Cristal Baschet with Michel Deneuve; for orchestra with Michel Deneuve, Stéphane Belmondo (trumpet) and members of the Orchestre National de France; for accordion and percussion with Krassimir Sterev and Lukas Schiske, Klangforum Wien) 2003, 2004, 2005
* E21C Exercise CDs, ongoing series, since 2004
* "The E21C Newsletter", edited by Reinhold Ritter, since 1988 (intermittently)

The press has reported frequently about the activities of E21C, for example, "The Bulletin" 1991 (Brussels’ English newsmagazine); several articles appeared every year in local papers, such as "De Streekkrant" and "Het Pajottenland", occasionally in nationwide newspapers, such as "Het Nieuwsblad", and in specialised magazines, such as "bio-info". An interview with Dr. Petia Prime was broadcast on Radio France Monde, 2nd May 2003. On this occasion, the composition "Angelic Articulation" had its world premiere.

External links

* [http://www.e21c.info Website of E21C]