The Teddy Bear
September 1997

Almost 50 years ago, when Uri Geller was a tiny baby living in Palestine, he was lying in his pram beneath a window when a nearby soldier fired some shots. Two bullets hit the window and shattered the pane, which fell onto the sleeping baby. However, a tiny Steiff bear in the pram was lying across Uri's face and saved him from some terrible injuries. "Ever since then, I've felt something really special towards bears," says Uri, "I always had them as a child and they were the first gifts I bought for both my children when they were born".
US vice-president Al Gore has reason to be very grateful to Uri and his bears. "The Vice President's son was in a very bad car accident," says Uri, "so Al sent me a letter asking me to pray for him. I went to my son Daniel's room and picked up his bear and we all hugged it and sent positive energy into it. We sent the bear to A1's son and got a letter a few weeks later saying he'd got better very quickly.
Big buy Last year, Uri hit the headlines when he paid £11,500 for a giant Steiff at Sotheby's. "I knew that the money was going to a Romanian orphanage," says Uri. "I also felt that the bear had a lot of positive energy so I wanted my Uri bears to be made in his image." The bear was named Matsko, which is Hungarian for "bear", and Uri is now producing a range of special junior Matskos which he sends out to families who ask for his help. "Parents with sick children write to me and I send them a bear free of charge," says Uri. "I hold the bears and put feeling into them and I believe they carry that power with them." Children with illnesses such as cerebral palsy and leukaemia have benefited from Uri's bears, dozens of which have now been sent out. Uri's special energised bears are also on sale at Asquith's teddy bear shop, where, says owner Joan Bland, they're enormously popular. "I've been making a whole rainbow of bears for a long time," says Joan, "because the colours are very important, they give off energy. An amethyst-coloured bear, for instance, will help you have good dreams. Blue is a very good healing colour and green is excellent for asthma. Uri wanted me to make his bears and we now have a terrific rapport. People often buy the bears for friends or relatives who are sick. Each bear comes with a world Passport of Peace, which is orange: a psychic colour."
Reaching out Uri is incredibly enthusiastic about his arctophile undertakings. "If I get a serious offer from a manufacturer, I might venture out into world of teddy bears".
he says. "I'd love to market a line of Uri Teds."
"I have a strange explanation for the power of bears," says Uri. "I believe that everything has life in it. I'm a religious man and I feel that there is no end under God, just infinite space. Just as there is no end to outer space, there's no end to inner space either. When I pick up a bear, I feel that in just one strand of its mohair, there could be an infinite world planets, galaxies, universes. I feel life there, bears are not just objects. They have a very special identity, a secret inner life. That's why they give pleasure and comfort and healing energy. If you like, they're tools for the mind. You do have to be open to these things, though. If you're sceptical, you close the door."
Special touch Uri first recognised his powers when he was just four years old. "I was eating soup" he says, "and the spoon started to bend." We asked if he felt his abilities were unique or part of something we all have access to. "It's a struggle to answer that, he confesses. "Sometimes I believe we all have this power, that's it's something in all our minds. You know, we only use about 10% of our brain. At times, I believe my powers come from outside me from some higher source."
Uri now lives in a small village in Berkshire with his family and four dogs and is pretty busy. "I'm working on my magazine, Encounters," he says, "which covers paranormal and unexplained stories. I've just completed my second novel, Ella, about a girl with special powers, and I'm also looking to buy a football club!
If you'd like to find out more about Uri's bears, contact Asquith's on 01491 571978 or find the Uri Geller website at http://www.urigeller.com
Uri's novel Ella will be published by Headline Books in the autumn of 1998.