The Eisriesenwelt Ice Cave

 

 

The Eisriesenwelt (German for "World of the Ice Giants") is a natural limestone ice cave located in Werfen, Austria, about 40 km south of Salzburg. The cave is inside the Hochkogel mountain in the Tennengebirge section... of the Alps.

It is the largest ice cave in the world, extending more than 42km and visited by about 200,000 tourists every year.

The Tennengebirge mountains were formed during the late Tertiary period, during the Würm glaciation period of the Pleistocene.

The mountain range, one of the massifs in the Austrian Alps, is the largest karst plateau in the Salzburger Alps, and the Eisriesenwelt is located at the rim of this plateau.

Although the cave has a length of 42 km, only the first kilometer, the area that tourists are allowed to visit, is covered in ice. The rest of the cave is formed of limestone.

Eisriesenwelt was formed by the Salzach river, which eroded passageways into the mountain. The ice formations in the cave were formed by thawing snow which drained into the cave and froze during winter.

Since the entrance to the caves is open year-round, chilly winter winds blow into the cave and freeze the snow inside. In summer, a cold wind from inside the cave blows toward the entrance and prevents the formations from melting.

Natural Inheritance

Plants are very familiar. They tend to be taken for granted and regarded with placid affection rather than with the facination and interest they deserve. For most people they are part of the view, whether open country, farmland, or townscapes with street trees. Yet they are unique among the organisms with which we share this planet, for they alone contain the pigment chlorophyll which allows them to derive their energy from light.

Outwardly, "they toil not, neither do they spin", but inwardly they are highly active and amazingly complex chemical-producing factories. There is more than one view of plants. To the more comfortably off they include garden or park plants for leisure and pleasure, and the indoor pot plants which provide for town dwellers that contact with the green wild world that seems to be an instinctive need.

By contrast, many people in developing countries depend heavily on plants, but look at them hardly at all from the standpoint of beauty or solace. Crops are there to be cultivated, often with extreme sweat and toil, and wild plants to be exploited directly. The overwhelming need for fuelwood and grazing for animals is often totally unselective.

We use plants in every field of life and have long ceased to rely on those native to our own area. the average Northerner has foods, products, jand material contributed by p0lants from all over the world, many grown far from their original homelands ~ exotic hardwoods from the tropics for flooring and garden furniture, fruit and vegetables from around the world, insecticides from Chrysanthemums, medicine from the Himalayan opium poppy or the Andean coca, spices from the East, dyes from Asia, polishes from the jungle, toiletries from jojoba, grown in the desert!.. ; pot plants from the tropics, oils from the Mediterranean Olive; Soya from Brazil; cotton, sisal, rubber ~ the list is almost endless.

Not very long ago, the plant world seemed inexhaustible, always reasonably renewable. Today it is all too clear it is not. Nevertheless, we continue to wrench plants from the ground or destroy their environment without giving back to nature what nature gives to us!.. and, whether for reasons of pressing immediate need or.. for greed, eradicate natural plant life as we do so. It's a sad fact that few people, whether the local tiller of soil or the modern entrepreneur, have any real regard for the world of plants, either for the plants' sake or for their own.

Connecting with Nature's Spirit

To the ancients, the process of going within themselves by meditating was seen as a vital way to connecting with all that is divine and spiritual. Simple forms of meditation enable us to enter the realm of our dreams and in doing so become increasingly sensitive to the spirits and energies around us.

Throughout history, people have discovered and developed various ways to rise above the mundane reality. In many cultures, people regarded certain plants with mind-expanding qualities as sacred because they enchance levels of perception and bring spiritual insights.

In Indonesia, the Menangkabau medicine men seek sacred visions by traveling deep into the jungle or to the top of high mountains where they await visitations from the spirits. In China, the Taoist priests relied on processes such as visualization and breath control to alter states of consciousness.

Among the Native Americans, there is an ancient healing tradition of using the smoke of plants such as tobacco, sage, and wormwood, which is uncommon in other parts of the world. The Australian Aborigines are said to ahve discovered how to capture the healing essence of flowers through their dreamtime. Their ancient practice of sipping the dew drops that settle on the petals is embraced in the present - day form of flower essences and remedies. Down-to-earth ways of preparing medicinal plants and herbs to treat physical symptoms are common in every part of the world. The plants and their remedies were perfectly suited to the needs of the people who were using them.

Connecting with nature on a spiritual level, throughout history people discovered various ways to harness the life force or spirit energy of a plant. The medicines derived from plants take on many different forms. They may be scented droplets of oils from flowers and leaves, liquids infused with flower petals, homeopathic dilutions of medicinal plants, or the smoke of soldering herbs. What makes them special is their ability to heal on different levels ~ spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical.

Some healers in the past may have discovered plants' different abilities by a process of trial and error, but most shamans and medicine men and women claimed to have received their insights into the healing properties of plants through powerful dreams and visions.

Return to Paradise

Myths and religions from around the world refer to a land of beauty and splendor where the gods or spiritually enlightened people dwelt. This heavenly place is referred to as Lemuria or Mu by the Native Americans, as Dilmun in Mesopotamian legends, as the Garden of Indra situated on Mount Meru in the confines of Kashmir in Indian tradition, and as the Garden of Eden in the Bible.

Within these magical gardens, watered by springs and rivulets, were luminous flowers and trees bearing fruits that conferred divine wisdom and immortality. In the Garden of Indra grew the "paridjata," a flower with every scent and flavor that bloomed all year round bringing happiness to whoever wished for it yet losing its splendor in the hands of the sinful. Legends has it that in Lemuria all beings appeared as shimmering, ethereal entities, and people could "see" the healing energies of plants and flowers.

Quest for Spiritual Protection

As far back as we are able to delve in history, people have worshipped nature and connected it to a higher spiritual reality or divinity.

One hundred thousand years ago, Neanderthals used flowers in their burial ceremonies, and the earliest cave paintings suggest primitive people felt that animals, rocks and trees possessed spirits. A common thread running through all religions is a belief in a divine force of spirit that fashioned everything in nature. From the earliest times, people strove to connect with the sacred as a means of rising above mundane reality.

Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and other ancient religions proposed that matter and material creation had to be transcended in order to attain union with the greater and truer Creation whose domain was true spirit.

Among the ancient Egyptians and other spiritual people we discover a common quest to integrate matter with spirit as a means of bringing heaven down to earth. The pursuit of spiritual perfection and self-purification was felt to hold the key to a better life.