I found out yesterday at Lena's birthday party that Ingmar Bergman had died . He was 89 .

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/31/europe/EU-GEN-Sweden-Mourns-Bergman.php

The first Ingmar Bergman film that I saw was " The Virgin Spring "; a black and white film ( – a Best Foreign Language Oscar winner from 1960 directed by Ingmar Bergman ) and I saw it in France , I can't remember now if it was dubbed or not as The French usually dub films . Anyway it was a long time ago 1971 or 1972 . I remember being totally bowled over and making lots and lots of notes. I wonder if I still have them. I bet they were really profound observation .....ahemmmmm .. it felt like that at the time.

The story of The Virgin Spring :

" The Virgin Spring begins with Karin and Ingeri being sent on a journey to church by their mother (Birgitta Valberg) and father (von Sydow), who are very strict Christians. Ingeri is jealous of all the attention lavished on the spoilt but innocent Karin and tricks her naïve stepsister into continuing the journey to church alone. Karin soon meets two herdsmen (Axel Düberg and Tor Isedal) and a boy (Ove Porath), and offers to share a meal with them. However, events quickly take a horrific turn as the two herdsmen, watched by the boy, viciously rape and murder her. The herdsmen and the boy flee the scene and are later shown being given food and shelter by Karin's father at his home. At this point, the father does not yet know about Karin's fate and the herdsmen are unaware that the girl was his daughter. However, the mother soon discovers that the herdsmen have her daughter's blood-stained clothes in their possession, and when the father is told of this, he exacts a terrible revenge."

In a recorded interview on TV this evening, I heard Ingmar Bergman talking about his life and work. " Scenes from a Marriage " were based on his own experience.He'd fallen in love with a girl called Gunnel and was planning to leave his wife and 4 children to go and live with her in Paris. So , he travels down to Gothenburg from Stockholm . without taking his coat off he goes to his wife who is bed, sits on the bed tells her everything and then goes off to Paris. During the interview he shows a picture of Gunnel and admits that he could have handled things a lot better. *sighs* Regrets . A burden carried for over 20 years.

It is interesting that when a film director dies, his works live on for a long long time.

I think my favourite film was " Fanny and Alexander ".

Blessings to the soul of Ingmar Bergman. May his ghost join the other ghosts haunt Dramaten. the main theatre in Stockholm . I think I'll go there to leave a message in the Condolences Book which is there until Friday this week.

What shall I write ?

These babies are very much like the ones that I gave Lena for her birthday The two halves fit exactly over each other to form a hollow rock ball.

I "programmed " these babies with magical intentions for Lena to find her "other half ". Full moon energies are powerful. An added birthday bonus

Geodes (Greek geoides, "earthlike") are geological rock formations which occur in sedimentary and certain volcanic rocks. they are , volcanic bubbles. Geodes are essentially rock cavities or vugs with internal crystal formations or concentric banding. The exterior of the most common geodes is generally limestone or a related rock, while the interior contains quartz crystals and/or chalcedony deposits. Other geodes are completely filled with crystal, being solid all the way through. These types of geodes are called nodulules.

Healing and magical properties

Spiritual and Healing Properties of the Geode:

Each one (geode) holds special energy.
They can hold just about anything.
Crystals can be placed in the cavity top recharge
An " intention " symbolically can held by them.
The act as a reminder that two halves make a whole
Geodes are excellent for clearing a room of negativity.
They promote harmony and productivity which makes them great for meeting rooms or the entrance to a home.
These are great stones for meditation.
They often contain information for a specific person

Other qualities :

Fertility, Childbirth, Meditation, Freedom of Spirit, Psychic Ability, Dreams, Astral Travel

That's not a love bite on my neck !

It's a mosquito bite

Chance would be a fine thing

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070731/thl-uk-britain-cannabis-b2e59e8.html

" One cannabis joint as bad as five cigarettes "

Is it true ? How do we know that this is true ? Everyday we are told things by the authoririties who back things up with statistics , reports , so called facts and figures. These are people who claim to know what is good for us; people who have their own agenda and reasons for telling us these things.

Critical thinking.
Discerment.
Is it so ?

On reading this article , my intuition says " hang on now ... not everything is as it seems. My gut feeling tells me to be critical. Is it so ? Is it so ?

Thank you Neil. Through your posts and alternative ways of looking at things being fed to us by the media, I am starting to be more discerning, and more critical.

Is it so ? Is it so ? Is it so ?

I ate a lot of cakes yesterday. Far more than I would normally eat and today I feel ashamed that I subjected my body to this sugar bomb. Totally unnecessary says my inner critic.

I feel bad.Shame . Guilt, Remorse. Regret.

Why ?

I had the first bun because I wanted to and it was good. BUT the rest was for social reasons. Eating to fit in. When everyone else is praising yumminess and scoffing the sweet sugery pastries and cakes it's hard NOT to get carried away by it all,

Judgement.

During this morning's meditation of stillness , stilling thoughts, focus on breathing and breath, this question arose :

What is worse - is it the junk food I choose to ingest OR is the junky shameful guilty thoughts that I have about ingesting what I consider to be harmful or unhealthy to my body ?

I know the power of thoughts to create.Consider, then, the impact of judgement.

What is the impact of our judgements ?

“There are three kinds of violence: one, through
our deeds; two, through our words; and three,
through our thoughts. …The root of all violence is
in the world of thoughts, and that is why training
the mind is so important.”

-- Eknath Easwaran

Got back from Lena's island a couple of hours ago.Showered, squeeky clean , still wrapped in towel , realise now It's a mistake to switch on the computer. Of course ...it means getting lost in blogland reading and commenting on blogs

It was Lena's birthday so we , GUnilla , Jill and I went out to help her celebrate I called in at Gunilla's on the way as Jill was coming later.

Found Gunilla sitting outside on the terrace in bright sunshine with Hans , from Switzerland who'd just dropped by. Then Gunilla's Janne came home from the hairdressers , looking very dashing. Janne and Hans apparently are good friends and were planning to go to some jazz club while Gunilla and I were at Lena's.

Lena's ex hubby came to pick us up in the boat. Anxious moments for me climbing in and out of boats It's a wonder I don't fall in. Still , everyone was so very patient and helpful so I didn't fall in

A whole crowd of relatives were already there. Tons of cakes and gallons of tea and coffee. I felt quite sick after a delicious cinammon and cardemon bun, carrot cake and a tiny symbolic bit of lemon meringue cake .I can't eat lots of sweet things. Others were scoffing away like crazy.hehe

Then the relatives left and we gathered on the terrace for drinks and then dinner.
It was nealy midnight when I got home
Feeling eyes close as I type....off to bed I go ..... hope you are enjoying you evening / sleep ...... *gone * xx