Saturday, February 2, 2008

Witches


I am finally reading "The Witch of Portobello", by Paulo Coelho. I've been intending to read it for a while now, but life kept getting in the way. Well, life and the fact that procrastination is a hobby of mine. Check my profile, I don't lie. Haha. I LOVE Paulo Coelho. I always include his book "The Alchemist" in my list of all time favorite reads. I love his use of metaphor and symbolism to tell a simple story. He is deeply spiritual without being overtly religious. Anyway, I'm only a little ways into this book, but I love it already. Why did I procrastinate on this one for sooooo long? One passage has already gotten itself stuck into my brain:

"We women, when we're searching for a meaning to our lives or for the path of knowledge, always identify with one of four classic archetypes.

The Virgin (and I'm not speaking here of a sexual virgin) is the one whose search springs from her complete independence, and everything she learns is the fruit of her ability to face challenges alone.

The Martyr finds her way to self-knowledge through pain, surrender, and suffering.

The Saint finds her true reason for living in unconditional love and in her ability to give without asking anything in return.

Finally, the Witch justifies her existence by going in search of complete and limitless pleasure."


Which one would you identify with?

But anyway, Mr. Coelho is one of my most cherished friends on MySpace (except for my family/ friends on there. You all are, of course, cherished way beyond Paulo...). Actually, I have once again grown tired of MySpace, but I keep my profile page up there because Mr. Coelho does write the most amazing blogs on there and he does this at least twice a week. I look forward to reading those. Also? He makes a huge effort to answer personal messages on there, which I think is just cool beyond belief. I don't actually write to him a whole heck of a lot. In fact, the only time I did write to him was to send a few words along with my friend request. But he answered me. And he thanked me for letting him know how much I enjoyed his work. I was all excited about that because he is a super-star in my most humble opinion.

P.S. Although I don't spend much time on the MySpace scene anymore, I DO keep in touch on Facebook. If you are so inclined you can find me here:

FaceBook Stuff

2 comments:

Em said...

Interesting archetypes. I'll have to think about that for a while.

Anonymous said...

I really think I see a little bit of each in all of us, but I guess that defeats his point. I have never read his books, but I will definately put them on my list. I love to read, I read all kinds of books. His sound interesting, and how cool is it that her posts and responds to your e-mails. I love that!!! I like to e-mail authors, if I really liked their books or it they wrote something that really touched me. Just to let them know. Some respond, some don't. It means a lot, when they do.
Thanks for this post, I am looking forward know to his books. I have always seen the Alchemist at the book stores, and I have been tempted to get in.
Have a great Sunday.
XOXO