beautiful valleys, Nordenau, Germany

About 100 Kilometers east of Dusseldorf, nestled in the gorgeous tree-filled hills of Germany, bubbles a magical spring.  We stumbled upon it in the most curious of ways.  It started in America, when the day before our European trip, Kevin spilled a bottle of small white pills.  He promptly cleaned them up, but missed one, which I later found on the counter.  I hadn’t seen the pills since our first trip to Hawaii, when Kevin had given me one because I felt sick.  I had felt miraculously better after taking that pill.  As we rehashed that story, Kevin reminded me that the pills came from Tlacote, Mexico and had been made from holy water there.  Curious, I looked it up Tlacote, and happened to find some webpages mentioning it and several other healing water sites.  One of the sites was Nordenau Springs, in Germany.

walking through the forest in Nordenau Germany

This Nordenau Springs was only two hours out of our way if we changed our route from Poitier to Berlin, and so with a few quick changes to our bookings, we were headed to Nordenau.

walking around our hotel, Nordenau, Germany

Nordeau Woods, Germany

We drove into the mountains late at night, so we missed most of the scenery, but we awoke in the morning to find our hotel tucked into the hillside, surrounded by a vast expanse of beautifully changing leaves.  The red, yellow, and green fall trees were cleared in some areas to make way for small cows grazing or horses, and half timber houses littered the valley.  It was a scene from a German Fairytale.  Even our hotel was a step back in time for me, reminding me so much of my German Oma’s house.

We did not stay at Tommes, it was full, but rather a nearby hotel hidden further in the woods.  The proprieter of the hotel was very helpful, and I had great fun practicing my German.  We had a nice German breakfast, and then took a small hike through the woods before driving down to the springs.

Tommes Hotel

inside the cave at nordenau springs

chairs for guests in the cave

It seemed we were to sit here for a while, I had read something about the energy of the cave itself being healing, and so I sat back in my chair, and asked for healing of myself, and of everyone in the room who might need it.  I thought a lot about worth.  Do we feel we are worth the healing?  Why should we receive it when others suffer?  Does the universe want us to heal?  And I thought of Kevin sitting next to me, how he wished me often to feel better, and thought, of course it does.  We all wish for the health and happiness of our loved ones, and for others we don’t even know.  It is this caring that shows us the universe does care, we are worthy of healing.

healing water: the springs where they scooped the water out for us

altar near the entrance to Tommes hotel

I had read somewhere that someone wondered why the cave had been a slate mine all those years and no one had experienced a healing. Why now, when it was a healing hotel?  And I imagined the miners, coming into the cave, thinking of their job, how they would best get the slate out, fights with their wives, worries about finances, all their daily concerns.  I looked around at the people appreciating the cave today, laying still, closing their eyes, truly connecting with the energy of the place, and I think the healing energy was truly there all along. It was just waiting for us to recognize it, appreciate it.  I have often thought that everyone who arrives at a healing place acknowledging its energy, thinking of healings, only adds to the power of that place.  We help create it as healing for ourselves and others. We bring out what is inherently there.

the grounds of the Tomme Hotel

Thanks to everyone at Nordenau.  Although their website is in German, someone was able to speak to us in English when we called and when we showed up.

enjoy the view, Nordenau,Germany