In
these extraordinary circumstances, where Covid has united the
entire planet in its strange way, many are plagued by loneliness -
the psychic epidemic of modern society. Articles of warning and
advice on the subject are tumbling all over the internet: loneliness
hurts, has thousands of faces, myriad causes, is contagious and
deadly, causes anxiety, sadness and affects the body much like
chronic stress…
But
how can it be prevented? Humans are social creatures, and we need
other people to function normally… In short, there is a whole
bouquet of literature, therapies, instructions, as well as
meditations, crystals and potions… to combat this inner sense of
isolation, rejection, emptiness…
But
what if the loneliness comes as an intention? Can we accept it as a
friend to help us to repair the most important relationship we
experience in life - the relationship with ourselves?
Last
year’s lock down and collective state that
accompanied it removed literally all the people I thought were my
friends from my life. The fear of an unknown illness proved stronger
than our connection. After several weeks of feeling sorry for myself
and wallowing in feelings of rejection, insignificance, worthlessness
… I woke up one morning determined: Enough self-torture! Maybe I am not shaped in the image of a successful woman, but this is my
life and I AM ENOUGH to have a good quality day!
I
made the decision to be my own best friend first, and I will no
longer tolerate self-criticism or want to change into a socially
respectable person - but focus on acceptance and
self-support ... Then help came immediately from friends (unknown to
me personally) on Facebook.
At
the right time, I read posts with encouraging messages:
“Thank
you to everyone who left me. In doing so, you have enabled me to stop
searching around, to stop relying on others, and to find the strength
within myself.”
“If
you have been waiting for an ‘enlightened soul’ - a friend who
understands you, sees you, accepts you and supports you … know that
you have been waiting for yourself.
I
have spent the following days accepting painful feelings and learning
about their origins. But I also notice the other side of the coin I
have been given. Through all the moving, job changes, as well as
constant spiritual development, I may not have really been able to
form lasting relationships with the people around me, but I found
another connection in the solitude I found beneath the layers of
loneliness.
I
first learned that there was another, diverse and wonderful world out
there through books. I first found support, understanding,
acceptance, adventures, solutions to problems … among their pages.
While I wondered how well my nature could be understood by an author
from another world, even another century, I realized what wonderful
and timeless friends they can be.
One
of the greatest storytellers and Jungian psychoanalysts, Clarisa
Pinkola Estes, a great advocate of solitude, says:
"Solitude
is not an absence of energy or action, as some believe, but is rather
a boon of wild provisions transmitted to us from the soul. In ancient
times, purposeful solitude was both palliative and preventative. It
was used to heal fatigue and to prevent weariness. It was also used
as an oracle, as a way of listening to the inner self to solicit
advice and guidance otherwise impossible to hear in the din of daily
life."
"Long
ago the word alone was treated as two words, all one. To be all one
meant to be wholly one, to be in oneness, either essentially or
temporarily. That is precisely the goal of solitude, to be all one."
What
kind of world have I discovered?
I
compensated for the lack of close relationships with humans by connecting with
animals and nature. My dog became my best friend, and my favorite
pastime was exploring unknown corners of the world. It was only
during the time I spent ‘alone’ that I noticed how sensitive and
loving beings with their own purpose actually are animals.
The
door to the world of exploration different energies, consciousness,
cosmic mysteries, telepathy, astral travel, unconditional love,
respect and appreciation, timeless communication and connection with
all beings and everything … has opened up. A world of oneness that
is truly magical and where you are never alone. But without the
solitude disguised as loneliness that kept gently kicking me towards
new teachings and realizations, I would never have realized it.
When
I learned new things, cleared up painful patterns of childhood
abandonment, when I became my own best friend and greatest supporter,
only then did new friends come along.
One
of the greatest gifts the universe sent me to illuminate the dark
corners of the human soul was writing my first novel - Train to Heaven onEarth. As Clarisa says, creativity really lit up the underworld of
repressed emotions ... Writing this book has changed my life, now I
live by the sea, which is what I have always wanted, and I have
fulfilled a few other dreams too. If you need some soul food, help
finding your own light, or just meaningful reading pleasure, this is
the right address.
I am inviting you to dive into the world of a young teacher, accompanied
by a faithful canine friend. She is on the quest to find her purpose in a
world full of false images, illusions and secrets - but also love,
friendship, adventure, humor, spirituality, ‘coincidences’ and
revelations …
The physical, emotional, mental, and above all
spiritual journey begins with an overture on a beautiful Croatian
Island, explores the lives of the people of Slovenia, and also includes
some fuego rhythms from European Hawaii – Canary Islands.
The
people the heroine meets and the unplanned adventures break the ideas of
a modern woman and man, romance, school system, media, spirituality ...
She realizes that nothing is as it seems. If you want to board on this train be ready for a varied journey with nine stations:
STATION 1: THE SEA STATION 2: SOCIAL NETWORK DATING STATION 3: EROTICS STATION 4: DYING BY INSTALMENTS STATION 5: ASCENDING INTO THE SPHERE OF SPIRITS STATION 6: MATURITY EXAM STATION 7: NEW BEGINNINGS STATION 8: THE HEAVEN ON EARTH STATION 9: RETURN
The
novel has a first-person narrator and contains several genres - social,
women, romance, adventure, spiritual, and a lot of autobiographical and
psychological stories mixed with my imagination ...
But I followed my grandmother's advice and made it simple - just like I listened an advice from one of my favorite authors: "I
hope you will go out and let stories, that is life, happen to you, and
that you will work with these stories... water them with your blood and
tears and your laughter till they bloom, till you yourself burst into
bloom." Clarissa Pinkola Estés
And who am I? The author?
My
homeland is Slovenia. In 2008 I finished studies of Slovenian language
and Sociology of Culture in Ljubljana with a thesis on female literary
characters in modern novels. Since then I teach Slovenian and write.
My first short stories were published in some erotic magazines and in Collection of erotic stories: Touches and promises (2011). I continued with different literature. Short story Try Again and once more and one more time: Mladika, literary contest in Trieste (Italy, 2012) – 1st prize. Novella The Rainbow Year 2013/3013: The Annual Collection of Slovenian Fiction Stardust 2012. Blogging
for my websites Playground of Life (2013-2019), Dance of
life&dreams (2020- ). Train for heaven on Earth is my debut novel.
After
many years this gift from the universe that changed my life is here for
you too. Like a good soul stew, it took a long time to make – 27 years
to grow and prepare, 7 years to cook, and 6 to cool and be just right.
First comments:
“So
interesting, so juicy, so authentic that I could not stop reading it to
the end. Even, the parts where the heroine is sad or disappointed are
written with humor. Some funny paragraphs and pious wishes made me laugh
out loud ...” Ana, language professor
“I am thrilled! I do
not know the last time I read a book that grabbed my attention so much.
After reading it, I decided to say NO to everything that was stealing my
energy and precious time!” Slavica, Assistant Head of Shue Store Sales
Special
thanks to Alexander N., my oldest student (he was 75) and truly
inspiring person, who proofread this book for free: Thank you for
everything! I know you are watching from heaven above … His words:
“You managed it, and made it beautifully!!! For me, as a man, it was
quite interesting … Never forbid yourself to dream!”
Writing
this book was a dream come true and if you decide to join this ride I
would be grateful for feedback on your reading experience. Have you felt
this world? What did you learn? Realize? How did it make you feel?
I will start with the words of my rational mind, which struggled to get me
through the university and now is screaming:
“OMG, SERIOUSLY?! Do you believe in invisible friends?! What is wrong with
you?! Time to visit a psychologist… 😳😊
But this is just one part of my brain, others point in a different
direction. And as one of my pupils once said: If you don’t see or don’t
want to see a rabbit in a plantation of tall clover, it doesn’t mean it’s not
there.
I grew up in a Catholic family, and every night before bed, in addition to
the obligatory fairy tale I listened, I always said also a simple prayer to the
guardian angel:
Angel sent by God to guide me,
be my light and walk beside me;
be my guardian and protect me;
on the paths of life direct me.
Amen.
Although I completely renounced my faith during my studies, there were
still a few incidents when I thanked for the invisible help. In one of them, I
narrowly avoided a serious car accident - as if someone grabbed the steering
wheel and turned it in the right moment...
After university (not believing in anything turned out to be a very empty experience), I replaced the
religiosity of the Catholic church and academic atheism (accompanied by Karl Marx's celebrated dictum, "religion is the opium of the people" ) with spirituality.
Masses were replaced
by meditations, activations … with angels and other invisible forces. However…
Have you seen what happened to Doreen Virtue - one of the greatest names
in this field? I certainly don't want to quote the Bible all the time and
constantly beg for mercy… surrender my power to ‘higher forces’ ...
However, I can’t deny
… in moments of loneliness I often feel something … During one
such evening, I sought harmony in music, and I started thinking about angels:
If they exist, why do I feel all alone? Why don't they stand by my side? Why
can't I see them? Why don't they show up, just like any honest creature would?
Of course, I wasn't
aware of the fact that in such a case I would run through the door like a crazy
screaming maniac ... 😱 😀 Despite my interest
about the invisible/unknown I'm scared about it – and drinking the whole bottle
of aspen (Bach's drops) didn’t help.
The very moment I thought Why I don't see my guardian angel /
guide, if he/she/it was supposed to be by my side, trance song started
playing on the radio, which had a verbal input. I got goosebumps all over my
body, shed some big tears, and my mood immediately improved. This was the text:
Can't you see me? I'm here for you, sitting in the dark, seeing your lonely heart. You have the key, believe in us.
‘Coincidence’ also stood by me when I woke up one morning with an important
decision (life:death important). On the way to work, I crossed the
road and three cars stopped allowing me to cross. The first had registration
number 444, the second 777, the third 555.
A few moments later I heard Annie Lennox singing from the bar which I passed: ''It's
an orchestra of angels and they're playing with my heart ...''
The course of Slovenian I teached at that time started a few minutes later with a gift from
my student named Fatmire (the name reminded me of faith, but it has a slightly
different meaning in Albanian: fat - happiness, mir - good). She offered me chocolate hearts and told me she was celebrating her 44th birthday.
You probably already
know about the meanings of angel numbers? There are so many explanations on the internet that
you can pick what you need. I am more interested in the probability of such a 'coincidences'.
With all these synchronicity I am increasingly inclined to believe that
angels (or something else on that level) really do exist. But I'm not entirely sure what and
how...
Has anyone watched the movie Interstellar? Or have you read The
Guardian Angel’s Journal (Carolyn Jess-Cooke) in which the heroine returns to
her earth life as her own guardian angel?
Maybe the comforting energy, I sometimes feel around me, is me - from the
future? I know that in my visualizations I often travel back to the past, where I hug and comfort my
younger, frightened self ...
But a Venetian friend who was supposed to see invisible energies also saw a
bright image in my aura, surprisingly similar to my late Ukrainian grandmother.
Who/what did he see? Guardian Angel or maybe some other guide?
Angels also represent an important part in my book Train to Heaven on Earth. In this novel, I have mixed a lot of stories from my life
with my imagination (which I believe is a conversation with your soul), so I
can’t label it as an autobiography. But this part of the quest for purpose,
happiness and love is real. So if you need a little soul food, you can find a more detailed description and reading possibilities on amazon.
What about you? What do you think? Feel? Know? What are your experiences
with angels?
Since my childhood I have been dreaming of a peaceful and harmonious coexistence of humans and animals. And yes, I always wanted to have a bear, a wolf and a tiger as my best friend - to love and caress them, play with them and cuddle them ...
In these documentaries on YouTube people live my dream.
When I started to think about writing a blog about it, I realized that half of the documentaries are little older, all about living with wild animals, and mostly from a men perspective. Their experiences are based on observing the outside - knowing the behavioral characteristics of the animal, carefully observing their movements ...
While in the other half the subjects of living with animals are woman. They demonstrate communication with animals on the basis of telepathy - so from an inner point of view. If you have a pet close to you, you know what they talk about ...
The man Who Lives With Bears
The first one that caught my eyes is a documentary following a retired schoolteacher Charlie Vandergaw who lived among black and grizzly bears in the Alaska. It's not about a Grizzly man (Timothy Treadwell) - he was eventually killed by them.
Charlie Vandergaw says: "I do not consider what I do to be even remotely similar
to what Timothy Treadwell did. I try hard not to invade the bears’
space."
Every
summer for more than 20 years he stayed in a wood cabin
in the Alaskan wilderness. A former hunter realized that bears are not evil beasts. He
defies conventional wisdom by feeding them and using food as a way
of proving his theory that humans and bears can live safely alongside
each other ...
During centuries wolves were characterized as blood-thirsty beasts,
enemies of owners of ranch and killer of helpless live-stock. To overcome deadly misperceptions the cameramen-naturalists Jim Dutcher and his wife Jamie camped six years during the 1990s in the wilderness of
Idaho - living with the covey of wolves - the Sawtooth Pack.
In the Sawtooth Mountains
they were observing the wolves' social hierarchy, recording their
vocalizations, filming their activities, and earning their trust. What
they discovered were animals devoted to one another, capable of
emotional bonds and affection resembling those of human families.
Although it is now known that some of the claims are false (for example: Alfa male and female are not the strongest but actually the parents of the pack), the documentary is a wonderful depiction of the coexistence of the two species.
Hailed as a modern-day Tarzan, a naturalist Olivier Houalet, raised five cheetahs from young cubs and after four years tried to released them into the wild. He worked with the Cheetah Conservation Fund and they have built up a refuge
and rehabilitation centre for big cats in Namibia.
He studied and copied their body-language to gain their trust and help them to bond, develop a vital
pecking-order and become self-sufficient.
'I understood that I had to think like these cheetahs ... I had to become like they are in order to enter their world,' he said.
Sometimes he was attacked by his charges, but - 'It's a small price to pay for returning such animals to where they should be,' he insisted.
The world of animal communication was introduced to me by Ana with her incredible story of how leopard Diabolo became Spirit. I cried like a baby and she became my greatest heroine.
Anna Breytenbach is a professional animal communicator and has been practising for 18 years in South Africa,
Europe and the USA with domestic and wild animals. Her conservation
experience includes working with cheetahs, lions, wolves, baboons and
elephants in educational and rehabilitation programmes.
Her goal is
to raise awareness and advance the relationships among humans and other
species, on both the personal and spiritual levels. In her communication and conservation work, Anna lives her
personal mission of being a voice for the animals and the wilderness.
She sends messages to animals through pictures and thoughts, and receives messages back.
She can feel the scars hidden under a monkeys fur, she can understand
the detailed story that is causing a birds trauma, she transforms a
deadly snarling leopard into a relaxed content cat ...
Wild birds land on her
shoulders, fish gather around her when she swims, and wild unfamiliar
baboons lie on her body as if she is one of their own ...
Penelope Smith - the pioneer of interspecies telepathic communication
Another heroine of mine. You can meet her on her website animaltalk.net:
Communicating with animals telepathically throughout her life, Penelope Smith
discovered in 1971 that animals could be relieved of emotional traumas
and other problems through the same counseling techniques that helped
humans. The training and experience that have contributed to her success
are her educational background, with bachelor's and master's degrees in
the social sciences; years of training and experience in human
counseling, nutrition, and holistic body energy balancing methods;
research into animal nutrition, anatomy, behavior, and care; plus the
firsthand education from the thousands of animals she has contacted.
For over forty years, Penelope has been the founding pioneer for the field whose name she originated, interspecies telepathic communication.
She has
developed tried-and-true telepathic communication techniques, which
complement current scientific knowledge and traditional methods. Her
methods foster people's ability to understand and communicate with
animals on many levels - physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Penelope feels
that the sacred connection we make through telepathic communication with
other species is essential for human wholeness. She believes that
everyone is born with the power to communicate with other species, and
that, although it is long lost for most people, it can be regained for
the benefit of all beings on Earth.
These are not documentaries but webinar interviews with her - teaching communication with our animals (more then worth watching):
Animal communication - Understanding how animals think and feel
Presentation on youtube says the following:
This film tells the story of Laïla Del Monte, a world-famous animal communicator. Animal communication is the ability to understand what the animal feels using intuition and empathy.
This phenomenon, born in the USA, is now spreading to Europe. Quite a few certitudes are being questioned and just as the latest discoveries in ethology show, the frontier between Man and Animal is becoming thinner.
Through a series of encounters with specialists, Laïla shows that animals feel a wide range of emotions and that they do, in fact, have a conscience. This is a unique testimony, which broadens the way we look at animals and invites us to undertake the very same journey within our inner selves.
Sleeping Beauty and the magic Fairy Kingdom is called Slovenia in Michael Moore's documentary Where to invade next. It caught his eyes because of all the natural beauties and because we are one
of only 12 countries in the world where you can study for free.
So ... Let me share some things about my beloved country ...
Slovenia covers less than 0,004 % of the Earth's surface but 1 % of the total biodiversity of Earth.
Bled
with its lake, island, castle, cream cake and pletna is the most
attractive tourist destination in Slovenia.
More than half of the coutry is protected, with almost 60 % of its total area covered in forest.
In the book Veronica Decides to Die the author Paulo Coelho set his story in the capital city of Slovenia - Ljubljana.
Ljubljana
is a holder of the title 2016 European Green Capital and has been
recognized as a Tree City of the World; Ljubljana is often translated
as ‘the loved one’.
Coelho (trough Veronica) says the following about this former Yugoslav republic:
A strange country for which no one knows where it is except those who live here. Nobody knows where Slovenia is. Yet, it exist and it is out there, among the mountains that surround it, and here, in the square before her eyes. Slovenia is her country ...
"If they don't know where Slovenia is, Ljubljana must be the ninth wonder for them," she thought. Like Atlantis or Lemuria or those Lost Continents that stir the human imagination.
Slovenia
has more than 10,000 caves, the largest is Postojna cave, the largest
show cave in Europe, which is home to the olm - a rare animal species
referred to as the ‘baby dragon or human fish’.
Vilenica
Cave at Lokev is the oldest
show cave
in Europe. The first tourists to the cave
were recorded in 1633.
The
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian movie was filmed in Slovenia,
also Death Train, Winnetou.
In the chapter where Coelho describes the reasons for writing his book, he compares Slovenia with his Brazilian homeland - just as some people think that Slovenia is a city in Germany, many foreigners think that the Argentine city of Buenos Aires is the capital of Brazil.
Slovenia
is home to white horses called Lipizzan – and Lipica is the oldest
European stud farm continuously breeding one of the oldest cultural
horse breeds. Horses are usually born black, then change slowly over 6 to 10 years to their trademark white color.
The
linden tree is a symbol for the Slovenian people; it can survive
centuries and it represents love, friendship, and loyalty – the
oldest is 700 years old and has a circumference of 10 meters (Najvnik
Linden tree in Koroška region).
My homeland is also mentioned in Sharon McErlane's book Our love is our power:
"Slovenia lies in the middle of an area surrounded by many cultures - Germanic, Croatian, Italian, Serbian, Muslim and others. It is situated in the middle of the mountains, close to the sea, and its location resembles a button on a coat. Slovenia connects and holds things together.
Awareness in Slovenia is inherently spiritually elevated by nature, although it is currently somewhat blurred and closed. During this time a certain spiritual awakening is taking place, but consciousness has been dormant there for a long time, so the process will take some time.
To illustrate the deafness that hangs over this land the grandmothers showed me the picture of an ostrich with its head in the sand and the picture of a person who is constantly turning its head away. The Slovenians have experienced so many negativity, bloodshed and wars that many of them have fallen asleep.
Woman and men here have begun to awaken from the Sleeping Beauty sleep that has kept their country in power for so many years. They want to awaken even more and are interested in serving the world ...
This country will establish itself as a spiritual center, as a 'button' that actually holds everything together ... The handshake will be particularly important in the Balkans, where war, mistrust and separation have prevailed for so long ..."
Soča river - due to its emerald-green water, the river is marketed as "The Emerald Beauty". Territory of Slovenia measures 20230 square kilometers and has almost 27,000
kilometers of rivers, streams and other waterways.
Planica is the second largerst ski-flying hill in
the world where more than 40 world records have been achieved.
So ... what has happened here in the past?
Slovenian area has been inhabited since
prehistory. In Hell Cave in the Loza Woods where recovered two stone tools from
Paleolithic.
In the Cave near Cerkno was found the oldest known musical
instrument in the world – Divje Babe Flute (it is believed to be 55,000 years
old).
Near Ljubljana Marshes was also found the world’s oldest securely dated
wooden wheel and axle.
In the Iron Age Slovenia was inhabited by
Ilyrian and Celtic tribes until the 1st century BC, when Romans conquered
the region. During the Migration Period region suffered invasions of many
barbarian armies, most cities were destroyed …
The official theory says that our slavic
ancestors of present-day Slovenes settled in this area in the end of the 6th
century. They establshed the independent principality of Carantania. In 8th
century Christianization began andCarantania lost its independence to Bavarian overrule in 9th
century.
Carantania coat of arms
In the 15th century, the Habsburg domination was challenged by the Counts of Celje, but by the end of the century the great majority of Slovene-inhabited territores were incorporated into the Habsburg Monarchy.
The territory of the Counts of Celje
Between the 15th and the 17th centuries,
the Slovene Lands suffered many calamities. Many areas, especially in southern
Slovenia, were devastated by the Ottoman-Habsburg wars. The western Slovene
regions became the battlefield of the wars between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Venetian Republic. Until the early 18th century
this lands also witnessed many peasant revolts.
Between 1805 and 1813, the Slovene-settled
territory was part of the Illyrian Provices, an autonomous province of the
Napoleonic Frenc Empire.
Following the dissolution of
Austro-Hungarian Empire after WWI on 29 October 1918 independence of the new State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was declared.
Waterfall Kozjak near Kobarid - settlement is known for the 1917 Battle of Caporetto, where the Italian retreat was documented by Ernest Hemingway in his novel A Farewell to Arms.
On 1 December 1918 the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs merged
with Serbia,
becoming part of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, itself
being renamed in 1929 to Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Following the
re-establishment of Yugoslavia at the end of World War II, Slovenia became part
of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia
Slovenia’s War of Independence in 1991,
also known as the Ten-Day War, was the first
war in Europe since World War II. On 25th
June of 1991, after hundreds of years of resistance and unwillingness to
submit, the nation’s dream came true and Slovenia finally became anindependent country.
“Today dreams are allowed. Tomorrow is a
new day” – words from a speech by the then President of the Presidency of the
Republic of Slovenia, Milan Kučan, on the declaration of Slovenian
independence.
Slovene language was the glue that kept the nation together
throughout the centuries.
It was the first written Slavic language and is considered to be one of the most archaic languages in Europe.
The Freising manuscripts (Slovene: Brižinski spomeniki or Brižinski rokopisi) are the first Latin-script continuous text in a Slavic language and "the oldest document in Slovene.
The first mentions of a common Slovene
ethnic identity, transcending regional boundaries, date from the 16th century
when the Protestant Reformation spread throughout the Slovene
Lands. During this period, the first books in the Slovene language (Abecednik in Katekizem, 1550) were written
by the Protestant preacher Primož
Trubar, establishing the base for the development
of the standard Slovene language.
Slovene was the 12th language in the world with a complete
Bible translation (Jurij Dalmatin, 1583).
It is one of the rare Indo-European languages which still uses dual - a grammatical number that some languages use in addition to singular and plural. It is also the only official Language of European Union that uses dual.
The language does not possess any
vulgar, curse words. Usually when we use traditional curse words it
sounds more sillier than it does offensive. What do you think about: “Tristo kosmatih medvedov” (Three
hundred hairy bears), or my favorite: ”Naj te koklja brcne!“(A hen should
kick you!)? 😇 😅
Slovenians believe that our national
identity developed and was preserved through culture and arts. On 8th February we celebrate Slovene Cultural Holiday - Prešeren day. It is the celebration of the Slovenian culture and is marking the anniversary of the death of the Slovene national poet France Prešeren on 8th February 1849.
Through his poetry Slovenians became equals, in the literary sense, of other
European nations. Today, France Prešeren is known as the greatest Slovenian
poet and one of our greatest symbolic figures.
A part of his poem Zdravljica (“A Toast”) - written in the form of a wine glass - was adopted as our national anthem: God's blessing on all nations / Who long and work for that bright day / When o'er earth habitations / No war, no strife shall hold its sway / Who long to see / That all men free / No more shall foes, but neighbours be!
Coelho in Veronika decides to die wrote this about him:
“In the small central square of Ljubljana,
the statue of the poet stares fixedly at something. If you follow his gaze, you
will see, on the other side of the square, the face of a woman carved into the
stone of one of the houses. That was where Julia had lived. Even after death,
Prešeren gaze for all eternity on his Impossible love.”
The Prešeren Monument in Ljubljana with a sculpture of a muse above him.
How about LOVE situation in this Republic of sLOVEnia, with sLOVEne people and sLOVEne language?
Well ... We have our one Julia - Prešeren's unrequited love. She was the
daughter of a wealthy merchant from Ljubljana. Prešeren fell in love with her after
a chance meeting at church. For many years she was the inspiration
for his love poems. He also dedicated some of the most beautiful ones (Sonetni venec - A Wreath of
Sonnets) to her. He never forgot her.
Prešeren also wrote Krst pri Savici (The Baptism on the Savica), the Slovene national epic. It is a narration about a hero and the woman he loves in the period of violent Christianisation
of the predecessors of the Slovenes. In the great battle the pagan hero loses his army - only he survived. In the meantime his Bogomila has been converted to Christianity. Although he now accepts her faith, they cannot be together because she has promised her life to God if he survives the battle ...
So, no happy ending here ... And I have more ... You think the Romeo and Juliet story was tragic? Let me introduce you the Counts of Celje and the story about Frederick and Veronica of Desenice.
While his sister Barbara of Cilli became the Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia by marriage to Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, Frideric was Politically married to Elizabeth of Frankopan. But he was in love with Veronica of Desenice and after the death of his wife, he secretly married Veronica.
Frideric's tower in Celje castle
Veronika was minor nobility and
Frederick's father Hermann II was greatly opposed to the marriage. He had his son arrested and,
while holding him prisoner, initiated a trial against Veronika accusing her of witchcraft.
She was acquitted by the court, but (despite the court's ruling) incarcerated in Ojstrica
Castleand murdered by being drowned - supposedly on the orders of Hermann II.
Veronica's song (filmed in Celje castle) - forget about My heart will go on, this is (for me) the most beautiful sad love song- ever. 💘
What about modern love stories?
Well ... I don't know what to think about Melania Trump - the current American First Lady who grew up in Sevnica, about 40 kilometers from my home town ... But I had a good laugh when i read about the secret language (she talks with her son and her parents) in White house, which not even the secret service understands. 😎 😊
The valley of my childhood - Mirna Peč (in translation Quiet Furnace)
As far as the current situation in Slovenia is concerned ... Well ... like elsewhere in the world much fear, anger, hate, separation ... can be felt ... But I hope = I dream that we will recognize our country as the promised land it isand discover all the love and peace, unity ... with which we are blessed ...
The prime part of the identity of a country is beekeeping
(in a population of two million there are around 90,000 beekeepers. Slovenia is also the only European Union Member State to have protected
its native bee, the Carniolan bee (Apis mellifera carnica). The
Carniolan bee is now the second most common honeybee in the world, famed
for its docility, hard work, humility and excellent sense of
orientation. UN General Assembly proclaimed 20th May as World Bee Day on the initiative brought forward by Slovenia.
The Solkan bridge is the world's longest stone-arch bridge railway.
Trboveljski dimnik (The Trbovlje Chimney) is the tallest flue-gas stack in Europe.
Slovenia has 24 gastronomic regions, 365 varieties of
food and drink specific to a certain region or town. And the
World’s Best Female Chef 2017 was Ana Roš (her 2 Mishelin Star Restaurant is in Kobarid).
Na Golici is a Slovenian polka instrumental composed by Slavko Avsenik. It is considered the most played instrumental tune in the world, it has been covered more than 600 times all over the world.
Someday maybe to become crusaders of love and peace ... 😃 Well, the legend says, that in the past crusaders on their way to the holy land, stopped on one of the beautiful hills here to rest and then decided never to leave this place. About this true story wrote Amos Oz in his novel Judas:
"... Until one summer evening, at sunset, they arrived in a small valley surrounded by high mountains, in the middle of the country we now know as Slovenia. In their eyes this valley was a divine oasis, full of springs and meadows and green pastures, adorned with small forests and vineyards and flowering orchards, and there was also a small village built around a well, a stone paved square and granaries and barns with sloping roofs.
Hayracks are a unique cultural symbol of Slovenia and the country is also known as the Land of Hayracks.
Sheep grazed on the slopes, and here and there were peaceful cows in the meadows, and geese walked around. The villagers were calm and relaxed, and the dark-haired girls were happy ... So the crusaders conferred and decided to call this blessed land Jerusalem and end their arduous journey ...
They built twenty or thirty modest huts, assigned a field to each man, paved the roads, built a small church with a beautiful bell tower. Finally they married girls from a nearby village, had children who grew up in their Jerusalem and splashed happily in their Jordan, walked barefoot through the forest of Betlehem ...
And so they live to this day ... a pure life, a free life in a holy city in the Promised Land ... and all this without bloodshed and endless battles with hostile unbelievers. In their Jerusalem they live peacefully and happily, each under his own vine and fig tree. Until the end of their days ...
There is a vineyard for every 70 people.
The world’s oldest vine (more than 450 years old) is firmly rooted in the heart of Maribor.
