News from the Unscripted Self
When you realise there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you – Lao Tzu.
Prague by Night
I love travelling, as doubtless you know by now, and today as promised last time I’m going to talk about Prague. I had the great pleasure of spending a few days there at the end of May beginning of June.
City of Prague
I suppose the first thing that strikes the visitor about Prague is the amazing architecture, and how well it has been preserved. Luckily Prague escaped the worst of WW2 bombings. Among the really splendid buildings are the Minute building, Tyn church and Kinsky Palace (where Klement Gottwald in 1948 declared the country to be a Communist State), the House of the Black Madonna, the Estates Theatre (where Mozart premiered Don Giovanni in 1878), Schwarzenberg Palace (with its distinctive sgraffito façade), the famous Café Europa, and of course Prague Castle itself, a group of buildings that comprise St. Vitus Cathedral, St. George’s Basilica, and the impressive Vladislav Hall, among others, rather than a singular edifice.
But I like to look beyond the obvious. One of my favourite buildings is the dancing building, or locally known as “Fred and Ginger”, as it resembles a couple dancing.
Fred and Ginger doing their thing!
Not far from here is the church of St. Cyril and St. Methodius. During the last war the Czech Resistance assassinated the then Nazi governor Reinhard Heydrich but the coup was botched and the group involved ended up in a battle where unfortunately all the resistance members were killed. You can still see the bullet holes in the wall outside the church.
I remember reading the entire works of Franz Kafka when I was at college – no easy task! – and so I had to visit his former home, now a bookshop, in the notorious tourist trap that is Golden Lane, named thus as it was once home to many goldsmiths, and reputedly alchemists. Interesting city Prague!
Obviously not to miss is the now legendary John Lennon wall. This is a large mural which was started by his fans in the dying days of the Communist regime, and the story at least is that the artists had running battles with the authorities who attempted in vain to paint over it! Today it is a
sea of graffiti but an important part of the city’s heritage. People write personal messages there especially, I detect, newly weds and young lovers.
A working class hero is something to be.
In olden days many houses in Prague didn’t have numbers, but instead were distinguished by pictograms over the door, so a house could be known as the house of the hare, or the house of the two bears, or the house of the three fiddlers, and so on. Thankfully many of these very ornate doorways are still preserved and you can still enjoy them in their original form.
Like this
and this
However, it is in Old Town Square that you get a real sense of the beauty and old-world charm that is authentic Prague. Here you will find people gathering every hour around the famous Astronomical Clock which adorns the Old Town Hall. Not only is it architecturally impressive - it tells the time by the signs of the zodiac as well as in the normal way, hence its name, - but by a series of ingenious engineering manoeuvres behind the scenes mechanical puppets do a little routine when the clock strikes the hour.
This begins with a skeleton (representing Death) ringing a bell, and then figures of Jesus and the apostles appear in a window and perform a kind of dance. When the minute expires a cuckoo chimes and everything freezes again. I take this to symbolise how Time, which holds dominion for a certain span, must one day yield
to the inevitability of death, here expressed in Christian imagery.
Despite its innumerable churches – many of them museums now – Prague is not an overtly religious country. The people are easy going, and after an initial frostiness very friendly.
This Month’s Reading
Spontaneous Kundalini Awakening
Another chance to grab What to do if you’ve had a (Spontaneous) Kundalini Awakening,
Again ta all who bought it.
And new this month:
Consciousness and Amnesia
Here I argue that we are not the helpless beings we often think. That's really a state of amnesia and what we are instead is pure consciousness.
Enjoy.
“Nothing is more important about the quantum principle than this, that it destroys the concept of the world as "sitting out there," with the observer safely separated from it”,
John Archibald Wheeler.
Distant Healing
Thoughts and prayers to the peoples of Israel and Palestine. This is URGENT. Do not take sides. I’m writing this month’s issue a little early so by the time you read it hopefully a peace treaty will have been brokered.
Dig this!
"How beautiful it is to do nothing and then rest
afterwards."
Spanish proverb
A Request!
Because I do a lot of travelling I’m half toying with the idea of starting a separate travel website. I’d be interested to hear what you guys think, and any ideas you have. You can let me know by hitting the reply button or leaving a message
here.
Ta
Back to normal next month!
Take care,
Talk to you soon.
