She says, "Gypsy "Roma" peoples have long had a history of persecution and misunderstanding, it's something I have always wanted to do - to celebrate Gypsy culture. My book celebrates the penchant Gypsies have for finding treasure old and new and creating art. It celebrates the adventurous Gypsy spirit."
You must take a quick trip over and check it out, It's a beautiful place.
Wikipedia says, "The term bohemian, of French origin, was first used in the English language in the nineteenth century[1] to describe the untraditional lifestyles of marginalised and impoverished artists, writers, musicians, and actors in major European cities.
Bohemians were associated with unorthodox or antiestablishment political or social viewpoints, which were often expressed through free love, frugality, and/or voluntary poverty. The term emerged in France in the early 19th century when artists and creators began to concentrate in the lower-rent, lower class gypsy neighbourhoods.
The term bohémien was a common term for the Romani people of France, who had reached Western Europe via Bohemia.
Literary Bohemians were associated in the French imagination with roving Gypsies (called bohemians because they were believed to have arrived from Bohemia), outsiders apart from conventional society and untroubled by its disapproval.
The term carries a connotation of arcane enlightenment ('let me tell your future'), but may also carry a pejorative connotation of carelessness about personal hygiene and marital fidelity.
The term 'Bohemian' has come to be very commonly accepted in our day as the description of a certain kind of literary gypsy, no matter in what language he speaks, or what city he inhabits .... A Bohemian is simply an artist or littérateur who, consciously or unconsciously, secedes from conventionality in life and in art.
I have been thinking about the gypsies of Bohemia in olden times, who traveled by caravan late at night from one town to the next town, to set up camp and eek out a living, I am having a hard time in actually getting a clear definition of just what Bohemian Style is. I feel like a townsperson, I think I see the picture, but then poof...I see the back of the wagon just breaking the horizon in the distance.
(3.) A Gypsy. An itinerant person; a vagabond. [Sense 3, translation of French bohémien; see bohemian.] bo·he·mi·an (bō-hē'mē-ən) n. A person with artistic or literary interests who disregards conventional standards of behavior. ~[French bohémien, from Bohême, Bohemia (from the unconventional lifestyle of Gypsies, erroneously supposed to have come from there).] bo·he'mi·an adj., bo·he'mi·an·ism n.
(5.) bohemian "a gypsy of society," 1848, from Fr. bohemién (1559), from the country name, from M.Fr. Boheme "Bohemia," from L. Boiohaemum (Tacitus), from Boii, the Celtic people who settled in what is now Bohemia (and were driven from it by the Gmc. Marcomans early 1c.). The modern sense is perhaps from the use of this country name since 15c. in Fr. for "gypsy" (they were believed falsely to have come from there, though their first appearance in W.Europe may have been from there), or from association with Bohemian heretics. It was popularized by Henri Murger's 1845 story collection "Scenes de la Vie de Boheme," the basis of Puccini's "La Bohème." Used in Eng. 1848 in Thackary's "Vanity Fair."
"The term 'Bohemian' has come to be very commonly accepted in our day as the description of a certain kind of literary gipsey, no matter in what language he speaks, or what city he inhabits .... A Bohemian is simply an artist or littérateur who, consciously or unconsciously, secedes from conventionality in life and in art." ["Westminster Review," 1862] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bohemian
That was a lot of information, all well and good! But I am talking Bohemian Style. Boho. I have a certain preconceived idea in my mind, but then I try to research it a little I get a different picture depending on which source I am using. I really do love how people put it together in their homes as a decorating style, and that is what I am searching for.
I myself am looking for a fresh update. It seems to be a lovely melange of color. The above pictures are a very modest and moderate interpretation of color when it comes to decorating with a boho style, the norm is to apply the glorious color to the walls, and incorporate massive dark wood furniture and accessories are eclectic and personal but not shy either. Bold. I am still in my research stage, but I love what I see so far.
It has a very 60's 70's feel, I think this will be a fun exploration. More to follow.
A common thread of course that runs between the news of Michael Jackson and the Iranian Conflict is death. So as much as we think 'oh those poor people' or 'that guy had-a-great-career/was-terrible' the real difference between yesterday's culture focus and today's is Deathcame calling. I know I am going to tire of TV, before the news shows wring every last drop of post mortem publicity out of Anna Nicole, ooops intentional error, Michael Jackson.
But it really does make me wonder, and start me thinking. Have you ever seen a dead body? It's just astounding, because there is no life in the body. Life animates 150 pounds of otherwise inanimate lifelessness. I cannot lift 150 lbs. But 'something' does. And it resides in me. And animates me. For those people that I've lost through death, as I looked at the remaining body, I mourned. Because they were gone. They were not in the body.
I have always been connected to things unseen, even before I put a Name and a Belief to things of the spirit. An hour after I got the news of my father's unexpected death, and I was making plans to travel to my mother, I felt my father's spirit as I was standing by the kitchen table that my husband made. And my dad said, 'nice table Cookie'. So yes, you feel things of the spirit, and hear things of the spirit, but not with your body, with your spirit.
Thankfully, I don't hear of feel things like that too often. That would be unnerving.
But I do watch carefully the things that I am spiritual about. The spirit governs the body like a bridle leads a horse and makes it obey. There are a lot of spiritual bridles, horoscopes, tarot cards lots of other stuff that I don't even know about, angels and demons and a world in between. Try as he might, as much as he wishes, the horse cannot remove that bridle. He relies on his master to free him.
I have a few things that bridle me. One problem that reoccurs frequently; I get angry. It is not the outward expression of a slammed door, although I've slammed my fair share. But it is the inward festering when I am slighted, disrespected, tread upon. Especially if I have trusted someone and been betrayed. My anger will not go away. The Bible calls it a strong hold.
The dictionary defines stronghold: a strongly fortified defensive structure. A fortress; A place of refuge, survival or domination by a particular group or idea.
A Biblical stronghold is a major spiritual flaw, if left to fester, it will poison the body. My first hand experience is, I need help losing that festering lingering kind of anger. My anger is tied to a lot of things and if I may be honest, it takes up so much time to go through the whys. I am created a complex individual and I can outsmart my own self. Finally, after I have jumped through those hoops I get mad that I've wasted so much time being angry. Actually, desperate is a better word, I get desperate. Because, you guessed it, I am still mad. (shakes head, sad smile)
At that point I give it up to the Lord. I am so stubborn, I hang on to it for the longest.
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." [1 Peter 5:8-9]
I don't make God happy when I am mad, but I do make the Devils from Hell dance with glee. When I fester in my own self righteousness pity or blame, the Devil is chewing on me like a bone. It takes me a while, days sometimes. Prayer after prayer, days sometimes. Like I say, sometimes I just see red. In the middle of nothing, 'pop' the thought strikes.
And that's a stronghold. When it just won't go away. Those feelings, those thoughts. And through prayer my Master removes that bridle.
Here's a great website from someone who deals with this stuff. Strongholds
Very informative.
My attention is still with the Iranian revolt. I am still seeking news of Iran and their desperate search for freedom. We've all seen it, the conditions in a land where they have no freedom and the people want to be free, its heartwrenching. I don't get the politics of it all but it sure makes me more and more thankful for my own freedom.
This song is perfect, and Cheryl Crow had her beginnings with of all people, Michael Jackson. Peculiarly, I come full circle. See what I mean, God is woven through everything.
“Redemption Day,” by Sheryl Crow
I’ve wept for those who suffer long But how I weep for those who’ve gone Into rooms of grief and questioned wrong But keep on killing It’s in the soul to feel such things But weak to watch without speaking Oh what mercy sadness brings If God be willing
There is a train that’s heading straight To heaven’s gate, to heaven’s gate And on the way, child and man, And woman wait, watch and wait For redemption day
Fire rages in the streets And swallows everything it meets It’s just an image often seen On television Come leaders, come you men of great Let us hear you pontificate Your many virtues laid to waste And we aren’t listening
What do you have for us today Throw us a bone but save the plate On why we waited til so late Was there no oil to excavate No riches in trade for the fate Of every person who died in hate Throw us a bone, you men of great
There is a train that’s heading straight To heaven’s gate, to heaven’s gate And on the way, child and man, And woman wait, watch and wait For redemption day
It’s buried in the countryside It’s exploding in the shells at night It’s everywhere a baby cries Freedom
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