Dreaming of Venice again . . .

Saw the movie The Tourist last week and that got us all dreaming of going to Venice again really SOON! The cinematography was gorgeous, of course we will watch any movie that is filmed in Venice just to get the feel of what it is like to be there again. Our next girl trip is planned for September, but I'm not sure we can wait that long. In the meantime, here's a few more Venice movies we played on Netflix last night:

Dangerous Beauty - Jacqueline Bisset, Oliver Platt, Catherine McCormack, Rufus Sewell, Fred Ward

A Secret Affair - Janine Turner, Paudge Behan, Fionnula Flanagan

Casanova - Heath Ledger, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Lena Olin, Oliver Platt, Omid Djalili, Lauren Cohan, Charlie Cox, Natalie Dormer, Victoria Arbiter






And a few more we will watch in the near future:

The Merchant of Venice - Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes

The Comfort of Strangers - Christopher Walken, Rupert Everett, Natasha Richardson, Helen Mirren

Only You - Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr., Bonnie Hunt, Joaquim de Almeida, Fisher Stevens, Billy Zane

Everyone Says I Love You - Alan Alda, Goldie Hawn, Woody Allen, Drew Barrymore, Lukas Haas, Edward Norton, Julia Roberts, Gaby Hoffmann, Natasha Lyonne, Natalie Portman, Tim Roth

The Italian Job - Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Seth Green, Donald Sutherland

The Talented Mr. Ripley - Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman

A Classic:
Summertime - Katharine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi

BOOK OF RITUALS

We are almost done with The Zengari Book of Rituals! It's been in the works off and on for a couple of years now. We have been gathering ancient rituals from around the world to help you celebrate and commemorate all the different events of life. From birth-days to funerals and everything in between. A really complete book to go with your altar and your tent. Containing directions and prayers, affirmations and ceremonies from many religions and beliefs all in one place. We will post it on the website soon for a down loadable purchase and then shortly thereafter we will have it bound in old Italian leather and offer the real book for shipment. Thanks so much for your patience and support!

Keep looking for LOVE, PEACE & ADVENTURE!!

W & A

Spotlight on Spirit Series: People - Ricky Martin

We both recently finished reading Ricky Martins' new book ME. Now just so you know, we are not embarrassed to say that we have been Ricky fans since we were young. He's just so cute! We used to make up our own dances to his Menudo songs, we watched him on General Hospital, and we found him very sexy in the La Vida Loca days. He has always seemed like a very genuine type of person and his book only serves to re-enforce that. Some of you might be surprised to see Ricky in our category on spiritual people. We are pleasantly surprised to see place him here.

This book definitely reveals a beautiful spiritual journey. One of the obvious issues Ricky deals with is his homosexuality. It seems he tortured himself for a long time on this, while many of his fans were not too surprised when he finally came out with the news. He really lets us inside his mind and eventually his heart and takes us on this journey of self-acceptance with him. The beauty is the message of love that comes through. He had to wait until the moment was right and he was in touch with the deepest parts of himself before he could reveal his truth to his public.  His story reveals a great depth and capacity for true love, and isn't that what life is really all about? "I'm a romantic!" he says. "And I do believe in perfect love. I believe love never hurts. I believe love is trust, peace, calm, confidence; being playful and mischievous. In other words, for me love is freedom . . ." Shouldn't we all be so clearly able to define what it is that we believe and seek from love in our lives. To us his point is being true to yourself and seeking and believing in true love, who cares if it is with a man or a woman. We hope this book will contribute to overcoming prejudice and will help to lead the world toward living with an open heart, accepting people for who they are and encouraging each person to look within themselves and embark on their own spiritual journey.

Our main motivation, however, in writing about this book is to help bring attention to the cause that Ricky Martin has become dedicated to. It is so clear that he has found his true purpose on this path.
From the website: http://rickymartinfoundation.org/

PEOPLE FOR CHILDREN: Our principal project launched in 2004 was created to educate, denounce and abolish human trafficking and modern day slavery, with special emphasis on children. As advocates of human rights, we aim to serve as a catalyst for awareness, raising efforts on the grave issues regarding child exploitation.

Did you know that every year more than 1 million children become victims of human trafficking? Mostly girls and many younger than you would even imagine. There are many horrifying statistics, but it is so nice to see caring celebrities who will use their notoriety to bring attention to a worthy cause and help to make the world a better place. We are joining Ricky's cause and we hope you will do the same. We all know that it can sometimes seem overwhelming to hear about how bad things are in certain parts of the world, we usually feel helpless to make a change. But the small things really do contribute to a larger whole. Not only can we all join the cause and donate or purchase merchandise, we can help to raise awareness and the more that we become aware, the more we put our energy toward bringing about change.

We've been wanting to do a trip like this . . .

April was once told by a fabulous psychic that she was an orphan in a past life raised by the Franciscan monks in Assisi! And that one of her spirit guides is one of those monks . . . he loved her so much that he couldn't leave her. So needless to say we have been wanting to make a trip to Assisi ever since.

I heard Wayne Dyer talking on Hayhouse radio today about an upcoming European trip he has planned. Here is some of the info from the website and link if you want to check it out.

Experience the trip of a lifetime to 3 of the most Sacred Sites in the World!
Assisi • Lourdes • Medjugorje
Our guided tour will feature lectures in each country from Dr. Wayne Dyer
JUNE 19-28, 2011

Assisi the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the religious order in1208 and St. Clare, the founder of the Poor Sisters which became the Order of Poor Clares after her death. Saint Gabriel Of Our Lady of Sorrows of the 19th century was also born in Assisi. Churches include the Basilica of San Francesco of Assisi (pictured on the far left), Santa Maria Maggiore, The Cathedral of San Rufino, Basilica of Santa Chiara, Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Chiesa Nuova, Santo Stefano and Eremo delle Carceri a small monastery with church at a canyon. In Assisi we will hear Dr. Dyer speak in the Abby of St. Pietro – a Benedictine Monastery built in the 13th century and established in the heart of Assisi. From the Basilica we go to a masterpiece called the Porzuincola (pictured above) which is a structure built around the little church that became the home of St. Francis.

Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. Famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes that are reported to have occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous. At that time, the most prominent feature of the town was the fortified castle that rises up from a rocky escarpment at it's center. Following the reports that Our Lady of Lourdes had appeared to Bernadette on a total of eighteen occasions, Lourdes has developed into a major place of Roman Catholic pilgrimage and of alleged miraculous healings.

Today Lourdes is the largest pilgrimage site in France. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes (pictured on left) is a place of mass pilgrimage from Europe and around the world. The spring water from the grotto (right) is believed to possess healing properties. The Roman Catholic Church has officially recognized 67 miraculous healings which were stringently examined for authenticity.

After a three hour scenic tour along the one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world we arrive at one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Europe. It was in the small village of Medjugorje that on June 24th 1981, six local teenagers claimed that the Holy Virgin appeared and spoke to them.

Since then, the village and its surroundings have become a booming attraction for visitors from all over the world hoping to glimpse the Virgin Mary on Apparition Hill (or Visionary Hill as sometimes called), where she supposedly was first seen.

Click the link below and go to upcoming events, then scroll down to the European Journey!