aart_hilal

Forum : Angels by Paulo Coelho

2009-06-30T06:34:05Z

Question from Paulo Coelho's blog:

I got a gift from a reader, Agnieska from Poland it is the painting of my guardian angel.
I wrote a book about angels I believe in angels. The book is called The Valkyries, it takes place in the Mojave Desert and there (and not only there) I had a very strong experience with angels.
Having said that: I want you to share in this forum your experience with angels.
Meaning, moments that you know that your angel is taking you out of trouble; moments that you know that your angel is helping you to get the things that you want.
And of course I want you to discuss with us your beliefs in angels. This very important because even though people talk a lot about angels, they are not truly paying attention. Normally because they dont notice that angels use other people to talk, to act for us.

Warrior Of Light Issue nº 201 – The magic instant by Paulo Coelho

2009-06-29T04:45:00Z

We have to take risks. We can only truly understand the miracle of life when we let the unexpected manifest itself.

Every day – together with the sun – God gives us a moment in which it is possible to change everything that makes us unhappy. Every day we try to pretend that we don’t realize that moment, that it doesn’t exist, that today is just the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow. But if you pay attention, you can discover the magic instant. It may be hiding at the moment when we put the key in the door in the morning, in the silence right after dinner, in the thousand and one things that all seem the same to us. This moment exists – a moment when all the strength of the stars passes through us and lets us work miracles.

Arash Hejazi Interview for BBC

2009-06-26T04:23:03Z

Arash Hejazi Interview for BBC http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2009/06/25/arash-hejazi-interview-for-bbc

Iran by Neda

2009-06-25T12:04:14Z

Paulo Coelho wrote on his blog:
My best friend in Iran, a doctor who showed me its beautiful culture when I visited Teheran in 2000, who fought a war in the name of the Islamic Republic (against Iraq), who took care of wounded soldiers in the frontline, who always stood by real human values, is seen here trying to resuscitate Neda - hit in her heart.
http://www.paulocoelhoblog.com/2009/06/22/iran-by-neda

24.06.2009
Paulo discovered that his friend Arash Hejazi was the doctor trying to resuscitate Neda.
http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2009/06/24/the-doctor

Forum : What do you see when you stare at a blank wall?, by Paulo Coelho

2009-06-15T15:13:45Z

I asked this week to friends to stare a blank wall – what do you see?

In my case, I’m used to stare to a blank wall or a candle – but I don’t try to empty my mind because this is impossible. I rather try to follow my train of thought on what happens inside of me and I’m not entirely conscious.

When I wrote the post on staring at the blank wall, I remember I was trying to think about songs, then about the name of the artist, at the same time I was thinking about of the plumber that had to show up in order to fix something in the house. Then I started to thinking about useless things and then I felt like having a coffee – but I still had two minutes to go. So these two minutes took an eternity and then I tried to make time run faster. This is when I get distracted and think about nothing. Then, all of the sudden, you realize that three minutes of your life have passed.

Having said that - meditation is quite interesting. If you do that every day, for only three minutes, if you relax and try to calm yourself by starring at a blank wall or candle, or even closing your eyes and say to yourself “I can spend 10 minutes of my life in silence” – then you will see how things will improve. Because you unconscious mind goes to your conscious mind and somehow you start having intuitions that once were buried and now you can see.

So: stare to a blank wall and share here what you see.

Paulo Coelho
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Warrior Of The Light Newsletter N. 200

2009-06-11T10:46:54Z

Animal promiscuity

Recently I read an interesting polemic article in the American newspaper New York Times (25/03/2008). Written by Natalie Angier, the text is based on the research of prominent biologists and psychologists concerning monogamy. The conclusion that they reach is impressive: conjugal infidelity is present throughout the animal kingdom.

And that’s not all: studies have shown that certain species “pay” for sex, while others reward their “lovers” with presents and affection. To complete the picture, jealousy and machismo are also to be found there: females are violently attacked if they copulate with another partner.

Of course we are not animals, but the similarities mentioned above are very revealing. Some of the more interesting parts of the article are worth transcribing.

1] Many species are raised from a very tender age to marry someone chosen by the family. They fly and play together, they sing and dance together. In other words, they are raised to impress the community with proof that they were born for one another.

More on: www.warriorofthelight.com

Paulo Coelho
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Forum : Who supports you?, by Paulo Coelho

2009-06-08T14:06:40Z

Now you can see who is behind the camera it is Paula.

I would like to know who is behind your camera? Who gives you strength and support to carry you? Because everybody in this world has someone behind the camera Paula is not the only one I have many people who support me in my work and enable me to keep on doing what I do.

So share here who are the people that support you in your path?

Paulo Coelho
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

A Creative Promotion

2009-06-05T07:45:13Z

Paulo Coelho's polish publisher, Basia Stepien, decided to ask the readers to write a screenplay to show a "trailler" of the book "The Winner Stands Alone" in Polish cinemas. Great idea, great result!

www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Workshop : The Winner Stands Alone

2009-06-03T10:30:41Z

Throughout the month of June, Paulo Coelho will be conducting a workshop around his new title: The Winner Stands Alone

Visit Paulo's blog!
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Forum : secret and hidden art, by Paulo Coelho

2009-06-01T11:43:23Z

Sometimes we are afraid to say that we like some art… In my case, earlier on in my life, I loved ABBA - but it was politically incorrect to say that in public since it was considered a too sweet and low…

I also love writers such as Henry Miller and bestsellers such as Stephen King. It would probably be more politically correct to say that I love Baudelaire – which is not the case.

So, what are your secret, hidden artists that you like but believe others don’t?

Paulo Coelho
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Warrior Of The Light Newsletter N. 199

2009-05-28T11:19:11Z

How the city was pacified

An old legend tells of how a certain city in the Pyrenees mountains used to be a stronghold for drug-traffickers, smugglers and exiles. The worst of them all, an Arab called Ahab, was converted by a local monk, Savin, and decided that things could not continue like that.

As he was feared by all, but did not want to use his fame as a thug to make his point, at no moment did he try to convince anyone. Knowing the nature of men as well as he did, they would only take honesty for weakness and soon his power would be put in doubt.

So what he did was call some carpenters from a neighboring town, hand them a drawing and tell them to build something on the spot where now stands the cross that dominates the town. Day and night for ten days, the inhabitants of the town heard the noise of hammers and watched men sawing bits of wood, making joints and hammering in nails.

At the end of ten days the gigantic puzzle was erected in the middle of the square, covered with a cloth. Ahab called all the inhabitants together to attend the inauguration of the monument.

Solemnly, and without making any speech, he removed the cloth.

Paulo Coelho
more on: www.warriorofthelight.com
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Forum On : UFO’s, by Paulo Coelho

2009-05-25T14:44:00Z

Weekly Association: The Circle, by Paulo Coelho

2009-05-18T16:26:29Z

The circle is the most used geometrical symbol and its shape reminds the shape of the Sun and the Moon.

For ancient philosophers, such as Plato, the circle represents the perfect shape. It is said that the Temple of Apollo in the land of Hyperborean had a circular shape – which reminds the shape of Stonehenge in South England as well as Plato’s description of the island of Atlantis.

Mystical systems represent God as a circle that has a center everywhere and the circumference is nowhere – proof that God’s perfection is unattainable to man.

The Egyptian symbol of eternity was a string closed by a buckle, in other cultures infinity would be depicted as a serpent biting its own tail (Ouroboros).

Now you take the floor: what do you associate with the circle?

Paulo Coelho

www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Association of the Week: The Triangle, by Paulo Coelho

2009-05-11T11:43:00Z

The triangle is one of the most elementary symbolic figures due to its geometric aspect: it’s basically the simplest way of linking three points in space with straight lines.

Yet not all triangles have the same meaning. In excavations made near to Lepenski Vir in the Danube, there was found many blocs of stones shaped like triangles and inscriptions in bones also with triangular shapes. These vestiges date from the Stone Age and are mainly composed of inverted triangles which most probably refer to the feminine sex.

In more recent times, including in Alchemic texts, the inverted triangle would symbolize water (reproducing in a geometric fashion the shape of a drop) whilst the triangle with its point up would refer to the masculine element of fire.

In the system drawn from Pythagoras (Born between 580 and 572 BC, died between 500 and 490 BC), the delta letter symbolized the cosmic birth, whilst for Hindus the same letter would represent the goddess Durga – source of life and incarnation of femininity.

In the Christian era, the triangle was increasingly used as a symbol of the Trinity and later on, during the Baroque period, God’s eye was incrusted at its center. Such a vision can also be found in the Zohar: “God’s eyes and foreheads form in the sky a triangle and they reflect mutually in water in the shape of a triangle.”

Now you take the floor: what do you associate with the triangle?

Paulo Coelho,
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Association of the Week : The Eye, by Paulo Coelho

2009-05-04T16:29:20Z

The eye is always associated in traditional cultures with light and spiritual perceptions. According to ancient beliefs, the eye was not a passive receiver of light, but rather a source of light.

It is believed that such was the power of the eye that certain creatures would have magical powers in their eyes. It is the case of Medusa in Greek mythology that would petrify anyone that would look at her. In Ancient Ireland, Balor, the king of Fomorians,, would use in the battlefields his bad eye against his enemies. This belief in the bad eye gave rise in many cultures, especially Mediterranean ones, to many amulets supposed to protect people.

The positive connotation of the eye is nevertheless wider and thus the eye is associated with knowledge and by extension with the power of foresight. But the access to this type of vision – that goes beyond the mere appearance of things - is usually achieved by the sacrifice of this very organ. The wise man Tiresias, Apollo’s priest, was blind. The Scandinavian God Odin also gives one of his eyes to the Giant Mimir for knowledge. In Christianity the All Seeing Eye of God is represented inside the sun of a pyramid – which means that God sees all everywhere and always.

Now you take the floor: what do you associate with the eye?

Paulo Coelho
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Mango T-Shirts

2009-04-27T16:52:43Z

Mango and Paulo Coelho have develop this project together in which they will be printing quotes of the writer in T-shirts.
The 22th april was the worldwide release and the money of the sales will be sent to my Institute in Brazil that takes care of 450 children.
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Association of the Week : The Hand, by Paulo Coelho

2009-04-27T16:28:57Z

The hand is the part of the body that most often is used symbolically. We find it already in prehistoric drawings in caves such as Gargas and Pech Merle in France as well as in other continents such as South America and Australia.

The hand expresses actions and feelings that can be either positive or negative depending on the circumstance. In Semitic cultures, the hand represents power and very quickly it was used as a symbol for royal power. To touch then something with the hand is a magical act. We can also find this in the West, where it was believed that the king of France could cure his subjects by simply placing his hand on them.

There is also a distinction between the right and the left hand. In Ancient China for instance, the right hand would mean the way of action, whilst the left hand would lead to the way of non-action. In the west, the right hand would be seen as the way of the just whilst the left hand would lead people to the wrong path.

Now you take the floor: what do you associate with the hand?

Paulo Coelho
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Association of the Week: Bells, by Paulo Coelho

2009-04-20T15:56:46Z

Bells represent in many European civilizations not only musical instruments but also cult objects supposed to gather humans and supernatural creatures. That’s how they became symbols of cults in many traditions.
In Ancient China there were many legends that spoke of bells that could fly towards very specific places and announce, by the sound they would emit, good or bad omens.
In Tibet, they are opposed to the symbol of the diamond and are considered as the feminine and the material world whereas the diamond symbolizes the perfect world.

Now you take the floor : what do you associate with Bells?

Paulo Coelho
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Warrior Of The Light Newsletter N. 196

2009-04-16T11:09:47Z

The Warrior of Light and his temperament

The Warrior of Light can afford to live each day different from the next. He is not afraid of crying over old regrets or feeling happy at new discoveries. When he feels that the hour has come, he casts everything aside and departs for the adventure he has dreamed so long about. When he understands that he is at the limit of his endurance, he leaves the fight, without feeling apologetic for having done one or two crazy and quite unexpected things.

The story below illustrates what I mean.

A man in quest of sanctity decided to climb a high mountain with just the clothes on his back and remain up there meditating for the rest of his life.

Soon he realized that one set of clothes was not enough, because it would get dirty very quick. He descended the mountain, went to the nearest village and asked for other clothes. Since everyone knew that the man was in quest of sanctity, they handed him a new pair of shoes and a shirt.

Paulo Coelho
More on: www.warriorofthelight.com
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Association of the week: Wine, by Paulo Coelho

2009-04-13T14:55:51Z

The traditional symbolism doesn’t link wine with the state of drunkenness. The only exception is when the drinker is in a state of “mystical drunkenness” - meaning in communion with the divine.

Wine in Ancient Cultures was reputed to dispel curses, reveal lies (in vino veritas) and could also be drunk by the dead when people would spell wine in the earth.

The idea that wine is “the blood of the vine” goes back to very ancient perceptions that later on were incorporated to the Christian symbolism of the Eucharist.

In Islam, the attitude towards wine is double: for the mystic current of Sufism – wine is considered to be a way of attaining the divine, whilst in other currents, wine is believed to be a curse that the angels brought to mankind after the fall of Adam. It is believed though that in paradise, people would drink the sweet wine of eternity.

Now you take the floor: what do you associate with wine?

Paulo Coelho
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Association of the Week: Bread, by Paulo Coelho

2009-04-06T13:58:49Z

Bread is the nutritional cornerstone of all the civilizations that handle the growth of cereals and the art of baking.

The Egyptians knew for instance 40 different types of bread and of cakes and they would commonly use the words “bread” and “beer” during their rituals. These two essential types of food would be the present in the afterworld.

In ancient Orient, bread was never cut but always “broke” which meant figuratively that “many would eat together”. Gradually this food was considered in the symbolic sense and the twelve bread shown in the Temple (Ancient Testament) are the symbol of the food for the spirit.

In the New Testament, reference is made to the fact that “man cannot only live of (material) bread” and so, during the Eucharist, men receive with the wine, the bread of life, which is the food for the soul.

The cycle of transformation of the cereal can also be transposed to the life of man: being planted, then mown and cooked. This way the soul would also be prepared for the divine feast.

So now you take the floor : what do you associate with Bread?

Paulo Coelho
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

Warrior Of The Light Newsletter n. 195

2009-04-02T09:13:37Z

Challenging the teacher

Is the bird alive?

The young man was at the end of his training, soon he would go on to be a teacher. Like all good pupils, he needed to challenge his teacher and to develop his own way of thinking. He caught a bird, placed it in one hand and went to see his teacher.

'Teacher, is this bird alive or dead?'

His plan was the following: if his teacher said 'dead', he would open his hand and the bird would fly away. If the answer was 'alive', he would crush the bird between his fingers; that way the teacher would be wrong whichever answer he gave.

'Teacher, is the bird alive or dead?' he asked again.

'My dear student, that depends on you,' was the teacher's reply.

More on: www.warriorofthelight.com

Paulo Coelho
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

El Alquimista de las Palabras (2001)

2009-03-31T20:05:41Z

Caros leitores, aqui esta um documentário que foi feito sobre mim em 2001 para o Discovery Channel. Ele dura 46 minutos e esta em português com subtítulos em espanhol.
Com amor Paulo

————

Caros lectores, aquí esta un documentario hecho sobre mi para el Discovery Channel. Dura 46 minutos y esta en portugués con subtítulos en castellano.
Con amor Paulo

http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2009/03/30/alquimista-palabras/

Association of the Week : The House, by Paulo Coelho

2009-03-30T11:04:29Z

With the disappearance of the nomad hunters of the glacier age, the house became the symbol of the center of existence for the new sedentary. The house is then disposed most of the time according to cosmic orientations, houses as well as cities being built in relation to the stars.

The eldest houses in the world were discovered in Jericho and at Çatal Hüyük in Anatolia. They were built 6500 years B.C, meaning before the appearance of urban civilizations and contemporary to the development of agriculture.

The house then crystallized the beginning of civilizations. It became then the symbol of stability for mankind inside the cosmos. In Buddhism, the house is associated with the body, and one is supposed to destroy the roof in order to evade the material world of illusions.

In psychotherapy, the presence of house in dreams represents the very dreamer: the house can than appear as in construction, new, abandoned…

Now you take the floor: what do you associate with the house? Furthermore, if you were to describe yourself as a house – how would it be?

Paulo Coelho
www.paulocoelhoblog.com

The Guardian interview

2009-03-24T20:54:53Z

The Guardian: Some people see you as a guru. Do you accept that?

Paulo Coelho: Of course not.

The Guardian: Is it flattering?

Paulo Coelho: No. It’s totally out of reality.

The Guardian: Are you a political writer?

Paulo Coelho: Everybody is a political person, whether you say something or you are silent. A political attitude is not whether you go to parliament, it’s how you deal with your life, with your surroundings. I am at least giving the readers the sense they are not alone. But instead of trying to answer the question, “What is the meaning of life?” I try to give some meaning to my life.

The Guardian: When you were 17 your parents had you committed to an asylum.

Paulo Coelho: Yes, three times, and also I was in jail three times, but I never saw myself as a victim. This is part of my journey. My parents wanted me to follow their dreams, not my dreams, and the simple fact that I didn’t accept that does not make me a criminal or an outcast. I thought, “One day I will write about it,” and I did. I wrote Veronica Decides to Die, and the book was about this: accept your differences and this is how you make a difference.

You can listen 3 minutes of the interview by clicking here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2009/mar/19/paulo-coelho-question-time

Or you can read the whole interview by clicking here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/19/paulo-coelho-interview