The Merkine Pyramid

On one of our last days in Lithuania we stopped by a place called the Merkine Pyramid in the forests of the Dzukija National Park. It’s considered a holy structure and brings thousands of people each year from all faiths who seek its (supposed) healing and spiritual powers. According to the creator of the structure, God spoke the location, dimensions, and materials needed to construct the pyramid (which is covered by an impressive and beautiful glass geodesic dome) to him so that people could benefit from the concentration of the subtle energies of the Earth that the pyramid is said to intensify.

Now I’m not a believer in much, but I do accept that the Earth is a living, breathing thing, so therefore gives off energy. I’m open to the possibility that the Earth’s energy is more concentrated in some locations, and I can *kind of* get behind the idea that those energies can be intensified in some way. So this, regardless of any religious aspect of the intention, was really interesting to me. I recommend it to anyone with an open mind, or perhaps a good suspension of disbelief.

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So, what you do is this: Visit the three crosses at the entrance of the property. Here you are meant to set your intentions for your visit and release all negative thoughts and emotions. From there you walk to the grassy knoll to the right or left of the dome. According to the literature posted, some people feel the most intense energy here. (I’m not embarrassed to admit that I am one of these people.) You then enter the dome. It’s this warm, bright space with light refracting from every triangular panel of glass creating prisms everywhere. You sit on one of the wooden chairs and are encouraged to sing, chant, hum, play an instrument, meditate, paint; whatever your practice is. (I chose to sit silently, which is my default “practice.”) You then can enter the circle of the pyramid, where you pray, meditate, ask, give gratitude — whatever you’ve come to do, from/to whoever/whatever you believe in.

You can then visit the smaller structure next to the dome where there’s a water source pumped from a big tank inside the dome. We called it “dome water” and drank it dutifully from the provided plastic bottles. Two days later while in Rome we both came down with light flu-like symptoms and cursed the dome water. I’m not sure if there was a connection — it’s more likely that our hectic travel schedule was finally catching up to us, but just maybe it was from that dome water. Who knows. I’d drink it again, however. That much I do know.

All in all, I thought this place was pretty magical.