Agnihotra in Australia
Lee and Frits Ringma
March 2016 North New South Wales and Queensland
In March this year Lee and Ana Ringma took to the road to share the
graceful healing and blessed relief that Agnihotra and Homa Therapy
brings into people’s lives. We drove up the New South Wales coast starting from Om
Shree Dham in the Hunter Valley NSW, giving Agnihotra workshops all the
way up to Brisbane Queensland across to Toowoomba and then down the New
England Highway. Highlights were well-attended workshops in Wingam, Byron
Bay area, Toowoomba and Armidale.
In Brisbane, a spontaneous workshop took place at Ricky and Salima’s
place. Their 11-year-old daughter Maitri loved Agnihotra so much that she
now has her own pyramid and practices the Fire alongside her parents.
The family have recently moved to Arizona, U.S., and are performing
Agnihotra there. It is fascinating to see how things flow on. For example, at
the workshop there was a Scottish visitor who has since taken Agnihotra back to
Scotland.
A flow on from the Wingam workshop was having a stall at Enviro Fair Taree, as well as 2 well-received radio interviews.
While in the Byron area conducting workshops we stayed in Mullumbimby in the home of Agnihotri Oni Blecher, who kindly offered us her home while she was away. Every morning Ana and I would perform Agnihotra outside in the garden. A Japanese family lived upstairs. The reality is that they left Japan to protect their child from radioactivity from Fukushima; i.e., they are environmental refugees. Fascinated by Agnihotra, they requested Agnihotra ash as an antidote for radioactivity.
There was a well-attended workshop in Toowoomba, hosted by Jannelle Brae, Natural Therapist, where 15 new people took up Agnihotra. Janelle has been performing Agnihotra for several years and is excited for Toowoomba that many people in the area have taken up Agnihotra.
A young woman travelled all the way from Brisbane to attend, and has been
performing Agnihotra with great benefit. Here is her testimonial:
“I can definitely say that I am developing a much more intimate connection with nature, myself and the people around me because of Agnihotra. It amazes me that a small practice that doesn’t take
long (and that we can easily fit into our routines) has such profound benefits on so many levels. I believe it is a practice that a lot of people will gravitate towards as the awareness spreads. I am deeply grateful for being introduced to Agnihotra.”–Mai Hawthorne
Another testimony reads:
“Agnihotra has changed my life in such amazing ways. Firstly I noticed my sense of wellbeing and calmness changed within the first 24 hours of performing Agnihotra. I managed to continue with my Agnihotra as much as I physically could (not twice a day every day – but close). I noticed my entire family seemed calmer and more grounded than usual.
“One week later my husband, who used beer to relax after his stressful days every day 7 days a week, tells me that he’s taking a break from drinking for awhile! I was astounded. Six months on, my husband decided to give up smoking cigarettes, and now after 3 months stopping (after 25 years of smoking) – he proudly claims he is a non-smoker.
We live in the bush and all of the humans, animals and even the land seemed to have a ‘content glow’ about them. It feels so beautiful. I also noticed the potted plants that I was using the ash on, were absolutely booming with green leaves and shining like never before. They look sooo happy !
“….When performing Agnihotra I feel a deepened spirit -earth connection and am ever so grateful for the benefits that my family and land receive.” Anonymous, QLD
The Homa Therapy Retreat was lovingly organized by Tina Gough, Energetic Healer and longtime Agnihotri. It was hosted by ‘The Sanctuary,’ a bush sanctuary and healing retreat. Delicious organic vegetarian food was provided. The owner attended the workshop and took up Agnihotra to support nature as well as his own spiritual practices. Several organic
farmers also took up Agnihotra to support their farming practices. A highlight was Agnihotra sunrise with steaming breath in the tipi, followed by Om Tryambakam Homa in the retreat hall with crystal bowl sound healing. It was a beautiful transformative experience for all.
July 2016 South Coast and Victoria
Frits and Lee travelled a 3500 Km round trip down the beautiful South Coast to Victoria, conducting Agnihotra workshops along the way. Their daughter, Ana Ringma, and visitor from Peru Tania Gutierrez, kept the Fires going at Om Shree Dham, looked after the cows, maintained cow dung cake production and looked after the veggie gardens. This enabled Frits
and Lee to do Agnihotra outreach work to bring the healing balm of Agnihotra to many and to nature.
Departing from Om Shree Dham, the first stop was at Narooma Ecotel where we did the next morning sunrise Agnihotra. To our surprise, 5 people braved the cold in the early morning to attend and 4 of them took up Agnihotra! Narooma Ecotel is an enterprise set up by Stina Kerans and partner. Their passion is to create living structures that nurture community and environment- www.ecotel.com.au, www.sunvillages.com.au.
From Narooma we drove on to the Bega Valley to dedicated Agnihotris, Rikai and Mark Blondel. Their plans are to build a yoga/meditation retreat in Homa atmosphere with Homa veggies on the menu. As well as a workshop with their circle of friends, we had a special Fire and sound healing session down at the bubbling creek on their land. Frits performed the Homas, Lee played the crystal bowl and Mark went into a reverie of ancient tongues.
Our next stop was Lakes Entrance at the home of long time Agnihotri, Cass Roadknight. Two women took up Agnihotra in the area, one a practitioner of Orthobionomy.
The first workshop in Melbourne was organized by Zoran and Gordana in Northern Territory, Dandenong. Mostly members of the Serbian community attended. They also attended the Homa Farming Day at Marko’s luscious organic farm in Drouin. Marko is Zoron’s son. Several members of this community are planning to develop an organic farm, both in Australia and in Serbia, supported by Homa farming principles. They are acutely aware of the deterioration of both food quality and supply and deeply know that growing one’s own organic food as a community is necessary now. They also wish to bring the healing balm of Agnihotra to heal the war scars in their motherland.
Some of the activities at the Homa Farming day included:
• Introduction to patting out cow dung for Agnihotra cow dung cakes.
Most people chose to do this with bare hands, knowing the healing
properties of organic cow dung. In the Vedas it states that cow dung
is not only clean, it is antiseptic and medicinal! For example, in
World War I in Europe, cow dung poultices effectively healed
gangrenous wounds. We noted that the cow dung collected contained
grain seed due to supplement feeding, making the cow dung
unfortunately not ideal for Agnihotra.
• Learning Om Tryambakam Homa. Agnihotra brings in the flood of prana creating a vital biosphere, while OmTryambakam Homa is utilized in Homa farming to add more
nutritional fragrance and heightened vibration to the atmosphere. [Agnihotra establishes the basic healing cycle; other healing fires we teach, such as Om Tryambakam Homa and Vyahruti, strengthen that cycle, and are never a substitute for Agnihotra.-Ed.]
• Homa methods of planting seed. The
planted seed was watered with ash water running over
the right hand. The hand of a regular Agnihotri carries a
heightened healing energy. The seed is first soaked in cow’s urine
which has anti-fungal and fortifying properties. In the absence of
cow’s urine, we soaked the seed in ash water. When planting, we dug a
hole deeper than required , placed Agnihotra ash in the bottom,
sprinkled soil on top on which nestled the seed, then covered with
soil. This encourages the roots to anchor deeply, strengthening the
plant as it seeks out the nutritional and pranic content of the ash.
• Group sunset Agnihotra, imbuing the farm with its fragrance and
prana.
Leonie’s experience:
“What Agnihotra brings to me, and it has done many times in the past , is
a heightened awareness in my consciousness to situations that are not serving me, people etc. It allows my intuition to flourish without question and brings me into alignment with my true self. Anything that does not support my highest self is revealed and has no choice but to drop away.
“…..So many people enjoyed the workshop and have just come out of a meeting with Melody , Carl and a local lady who owns a vegan restaurant and we are going to continue mindfulness
gatherings and start off with Agnihotra. Very special. Leonie, Anglesea,Vic
Sonia makes Ayurvedic skincare and plans to incorporate Agnihotra ash in
some of her products to impart greater vitality. Both Sonia and her 22-year-old son Jade are now practicing Agnihotra together.
Sonia writes:
“Jade and I have been experiencing a lot of purification [since
the workshop and resuming Agnihotra]. I’ve completely given up coffee,
having not had one since just before your stay. I can see how easy it is
to drop unhelpful habits via the daily practice. I have also been
quite unwell with a terrible cough and a lot of mucus that was lodged in my
lungs is finally leaving.I do feel very much like we are undergoing quite the
transformation of my health, which was very much in need as I’ve had such low
energy for so long.” Sonia Lloyd, Surrey Hills Vic.
Ralph and Sushie regularly organize Agnihotra gatherings in their home
and at various sites in the Warburton area. Sushie’s experience:
“….Lee and Frits from Om Shree Dham came to stay with us for 3
nights to run workshops in the Warburton region. There were regular fires
at dawn and sunset and even some special Homas in the early hours of the
morning. During this time I noticed the change in the atmosphere
and actually perceived mantras implanted in the air around our
home, like an energy that was held in the particles of our surrounds. It
was proof to me of the power of the Homas and mantras.
“We also noticed that the birds who usually feed at our place were feeding
very peacefully together. Normally they squabble and squawk and there is
definitely a pecking order. But this time, with both sunrise and sunset
Agnihotra consistently taking place, even the pecking order seemed to
vanish as the different species were enjoying a feed together!
“Also, when I went out to the garden to pick some mandarins from our
heavily-laden tree, I noticed an energy coming out of the leaves, as if
it was beaming out Love. It seemed as if the tree was saying thank you
for our efforts to help nature heal. Our younger plants were growing very
straight and every plant appeared to be very alive and charged with life
force.
“As a result, we are even more convinced that Agnihotra is powerful in
rejuvenating the environment, as well as very nurturing to all life
forms. Thank you very much for the dedication to spreading this
knowledge.” Sushie and Ralph Ballard, Warburton, Vic
Scenes from Om Shree Dham Homa Farm, Australia
Staying at Om Shree Dham
Throughout the year we have people staying at Om Shree Dham to experience Homa Therapy lifestyle. Homas are performed throughout the day and there are many opportunities to participate in Homa Organic farming through helping in the garden. We are building a Retreat and Education Centre and hands-on help is most welcome.
Tania’s Experiences at Om Shree Dham
Tania came over from Peru to have a deepened experience with Homa
Therapy. She stayed for about 2 months.
“I came to Om Shree Dham because I wanted to improve my spirituality and to practice Homa farming. I am a Forestry Engineer and I like everything related to agricultural science and nature. My mother does Agnihotra in Peru and sometimes I accompanied her, but I did not make it a regular practice.
“The experience at Om Shree Dham gave me more than I expected. Practicing Homa Therapy and my experience at Om Shree Dham not only deepened my spirituality, it also improved my health, gave me more knowledge related to agriculture and improved my prosperity. I feel very grateful for Homa Therapy and for the Ringma family because they made me feel like it was my home.
“I stayed for more than two months here. During this time I helped with the farm work, for example, feeding the cows, making cow dung patties for the Homas and working with the vegetable gardens and fruit trees. All this work was complemented with Homa Therapy practices. I did the sunrise and sunset fire, one hour Om Tryambakam daily, the Gayatri, etc. All these activities helped me in a holistic way, the good actions producing good karma in my soul and my body. I am very grateful to God for bringing me here, for permitting me to know the Ringmas and for the good times here on the farm and in Australia. Homa Therapy has helped me a lot.”
Healing a Macadamia Tree
Our macadamia tree was attacked by a plague of some kind of mining insect that was sucking the sap out of the new shoots. Under the mulch we saw a mass of tiny insect eggs. To remedy the situation, Agnihotra ash was sprinkled around the base of the tree and watered in. Then a paste was made of Agnihotra ash, cow’s ghee and clay and smeared over the trunk from the base upwards and on any affected branches; also the cut off ravaged tips were smeared with the mix. The tree, a couple of months later, was completely free of the insect plague, had abundant new shoots despite it being winter, and was outstanding in its shiny, radiant foliage.
For more information on Om Shree Dham, please visit http://www.agnihotra.com.au.
Email: omshreedham@agnihotra.com.au