The Great Homecoming: A Return to the Cradle of Civilisation: 28. April – 21. May, 2023

Can’t you hear the echoes of a far distant past? Ancient reverberations from the Orient, the Morning Land, they are beckoning us home?

So I am calling the poets, musicians, artists, philosophers, mystics, healers, the battered and the bruised, saints and the sinners, the vaccinated and unvaccinated?, to a pilgrimage home to our ancestral lands in Anatolia.

This promises to be an epic sojourn back to our oldest roots, followed by a slow, meandering travel through cultures, epochs, and very ourselves, ending in Ephesus and the birth of the modern Western world.

It is time to excavate, out of the deep recesses of our cell-memory and even deeper dimensions of our D.N.A. Therein lies the life-giving, life-serving powers of the Divine Mother, the Goddesses venerated in Asia Minor over the many millennia.

Our journey begins where time began. Some call the area of the Taş Tepeler (Turkish, literally ‘Stone Hills’), on the outer edge of ancient Mesopotamia, the ‘womb of the creation‘. For others it is the mythological location of the Garden of Eden, the original paradise. It is, above all, the true ‘cradle of civilisation’.

Since the discovery of Göbeklitepe some 25 years ago, as many as 28 other such sites have been identified in the area. They are spell-binding both in their ages – all over 10,000 years old, but as well in their utter enormity. As little as 5% has been uncovered Göbeklitepe and Karahantepe, and both are far larger than any temple complex known to man. The architects and the belief system of the folk who created these sophisticated and mesmerising structures remain a mystery. And yet they may hold a vital message for our troubled times?

28, April -2 May: In and around Şanlıurfa

1. Göbeklitepe, a 12,800-year-old temple complex that shook the world.
2. Karahantepe, another amazing c. 13,500 year old site recently opened to the public.
3. Harbetsuvan Tepe: the 11,000-year-old Neolithic Acropolis
4. Sefer Tepe: A New Pre-Pottery Neolithic Site
5. Kurt Tepesi
6. Sanliufra Archaeological Museum: an exceptional collection of artifacts dating back thousands of years.
7. Birthplace of Abraham: the father of the Judeo-Christian faith.
8. Tomb of Job: A man whose faith was tested to the core.
9. Gaziantep Mosaic Museum: the largest mosaic museum in the world with wonderful illustrations.
10. Harran: the world’s first university.
11. Soğmatar: Known for their worship of the primeval sun and moon gods.

9. May

Zeugma Mosaic Museum in Gaziantep: https://anadoluevleri.com/

10.May

Arsemia Roman Bridge of Cendere

Hierothesion of Mithridates

Mount Nemrut: an ancient burial mound

11/12 May

In and around Konya:

Asikli Höyük: The Oldest Village of Central Anatolia

Boncuklu Höyük is the site of a 10,500 year old village

Çatalhöyük: a 9000 year old town

Konya’s Archaeological Museum

Mausoleum of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

Sultanhan caravanserai

Ephesus and Surroundings

Cost:

Option 1: Anatolia (28.4.-14.05.2022): 2999 + 499 EZ: 3,498,00

Option 2: Konya to Ephesus (07.05.-21.05.2023) 1499,00 EZ 250.00

Option 3: Ephesus: (14.05. -21.05, 2023) 1699,00 + 299 EZ: 1998,00: 3499,00 DZ

Option 4: Full Tour: Total: 5,496 EZ Discount for Full trip: 4499,00 DZ 4999,00 EZ

Paul Skorpen Spiritual and Cultural Guide	Paul Skorpen (b. 1961in USA) lives in Germany and is the founder of the Theosis Institute of Teachings and Travel. After a 6 year intensive training, on the island of Cyprus, from the great Christian mystic and healer, Daskalos,he moved to Munich. For over 25 years Paul has been teaching healing and mysticism all through Europe and the USA. The Theosis Institute offers seminar travels to the Holy Land, Patmos, Egypt and Anatolia. We have produced three films, in the German language, of the lost Gospels of Thomas, Maria Magdalena, and Philip (free to view on Youtube). www.theosis.com
Dr. Carla Ionescu Special Guest Guide	“Dr. Carla Ionescu is a Romanian refugee who escaped the Communist regime with her family when she was 10 years old. She is also an adrenaline junkie, an animal lover, and a natural born storyteller. She likes to ride motorcycles real fast, and research through archival documents very carefully.   Carla’s research is focused on the influential nature of Artemis both in the Greek world and in Ephesus. Her recent book, “She Who Hunts: Artemis, The Goddess Who Changed the World” is a comprehensive compilation of all things Artemis, filled with examples of ritual, symbolism and cultural folklore.   As one of the leading experts in the worship and ritual of Artemis, Dr. Ionescu spends most of her time teaching in the field of Ancient History and Women’s Studies, and constructing The Artemis Centre, a virtual (and eventually physical) platform where everyone can learn, collaborate and enjoy stories of mythology and ritual culture. Carla hopes to run the Centre full time, create adventures in goddess travel, and share all her new discoveries with everyone who is passionate about ancient spiritualities  and the mysteries of the divine feminine.   You may reach Dr. Ionescu through The Artemis Centre here: https://artemisresearchcentre.com/ or subscribe to her podcast, The Goddess Project on Spotify/Youtube.”
Yücel Temirodaman Cultural and Historical Guide	Yücel Temirodaman was born in 1969 in Pforzheim, on the edge of the beautiful Black Forest. After graduating from school (Abitur) in Germany, his parents returned back to Turkey; to the beautiful Aegean, to Izmir. For his studies in his home country, he had to complete the final class at the Lyceum in Izmir.During his course at the Faculty of Natural Sciences in Ankara, he did an apprenticeship with state exam as a tour guide (1991). Actively he entered into the tourism industry only in 1994 and accompany German-speaking and English-speaking guests on round trips and day trips through its beautiful and mythical country.The challenge of visiting historical and magical places with guests always awakens his passion and gratitude for his work.