Shri Mataji in Cabella

At the end of a narrow pass through which the rushing river Borbera flows, where the white rocks stand as a guard of honour, the valley opens up. As the road meanders in the valley and gentle hills accompany the traveller, the destination soon appears: Cabella Ligure.

“I see a mountain from my window
Standing like an ancient sage
Desireless, full of love.
So many trees and so many flowers
They plunder the mountain all the time.
Its attention is not disturbed
And when the rain pours like
Many pitchers of clouds bursting
And it fills the mountain with greenery.
The storms may come soaring,
Filling the lake with compassion
And the rivers flow running down
Towards the calling sea.
The sun will create clouds and
Wind carries on its feathery wings
The rain on to the mountain.
This is the eternal play
The mountain sees
Without desires.”

Cabella Ligure is situated in the mountains of Appennino Piemontese Ligure at the confluence of two rivers, the Borbera and the Liassa. There are two interpretations of the meaning of “Cabella”. One historian says that it just means ‘casa bella’ (beautiful house), another interpretation indicates that Cabella comes from ‘Gabea’, i.e. place full of gabba trees (salix – the willow).

There is a legend that thousands of years ago, before the Roman Empire, a kind of cult that worshipped the Mother lived here.
Studies on Celtic mythology agree that first among their deities is the Mother, the progenitor of the tribe of Celtic peoples. Indeed, in the findings and writings that this glorious civilization left us, she is noted as the ‘Great Mother’ of the Gods and Goddess of wisdom, poetic inspiration, metalworking and fertility. She occupied a central place in the heart of the Celts and she was placed at the head of the tribe long before oral tradition can recall….

Piemonte was originally the land of Celts and Ligurians, who worshipped the ‘Great Mother’ and nature. They were the bearers of a Sahaja vision of the world and of a spiritual dimension that survived untouched in the unconscious of its people, despite attempts of repression by Imperial Rome.

At the beginning of the 19th century, when it already had a population of 3000 inhabitants, Cabella Ligure had a strategic position in the valley and was open to all kinds of innovations. It was the connecting point of people from numerous neighbouring villages. With industrialization, the people of the valley moved out to Novi, Vignole and Tortona and the population gradually decreased. By 2017 Cabella’s population had dropped to 526 inhabitants.

When Shri Mataji came to Italy in 1991, She wanted to buy a castle somewhere between Milan and Genoa to serve as a residence as well as a place to host international pujas. Several properties were visited by different yogis and Shri Mataji was interested in one of them, namely St. Giorgio Monferrato, which had more than seventy rooms, twenty bathrooms, and a big hall the size of a football field. But in the end, Shri Mataji bought Palazzo Doria, a medieval castle in Cabella Ligure.

…“his kind of sensitivity if you develop then you will definitely take a very spontaneous decision.
You know I am very good at it. I bought this Cabella in five minutes, really five minutes. When I came here they said, “You can’t go up, because You have a big car.” So the Mayor said, “All right, come along, I’ll take You in my car.”
So I went with him in that car, and I saw it. It was all dilapidated, no doubt. It was all absolutely in a shambles, all right, and looked like a ghostly place, no doubt. And everybody who was with Me, they said, “Ah, what a place, Mother! You can’t buy that.” So I told the Mayor, “I am buying it.” “When?”
“Today. Now!” He was amazed….”

…“Now you should develop that kind of a spontaneous decision. Then you will be amazed how in such a short time you can really achieve such great things”…