Paulo Coelho - The Witch of Portobello

Today I finished reading, 'The Witch of Portobello', The Sunday Times Bestseller. Bought it in Doha airport on my way back from Kenya for about $10AU. I needed something fictional and short yet interesting to read so I wouldn't fall asleep on my 6hr airport stopover. I chose this book because I had previously read 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho and enjoyed it very much.

Main character: Athena
Other characters: Edda, Heron, Andrea, her mother...

Athena was adopted from Romania by a Lebanese couple. They raised her comfortably until they had to move to London due to civil war. Athena developed an interest in religion from an early age. When she divorced her husband Lukas, she could no longer recieve Communion and severed ties with her church. She discovered dancing from the owner of her apartment after her separation. The dance ritual was called 'the search for the Vertex' and had Polish origins.

"Dance only to the sound of percussion; repeat the process every day; know that, at a certain moment, your eyes will, quite naturally, close, and you will begin to see a light that comes from within, a light that answers your questions and develops your hidden powers." p.64

Athena committed herself to this dance and started seeing results at work. She inspired her fellow staff members to do the same (dance in the mornings before work to stimulate the body and mind) and their bank started experiencing amazing productivity.

She was promoted to work in Dubai. There through a client, she met an old man, Nabil, who taught her the ancient practice of calligraphy. Each movement he said, was to be guided by the soul. After much practice and repetition, she mastered the technique. But when she was ready to move on, Nabil said, now, she had to master the blank spaces in between the letters.

Athena took the initiative to find her birth mother Liliana in Transylvania and learn about her gypsy roots. Her mother talked about her worship of St.Sarah, the patron saint of gypsies and taught Athena about the Great Mother (the earth, sky; mother of all creation).

Athena moved on to selling real estate in Dubai and made big bucks. When she had made enough money to support herself for the next three years she moved back to London. She maintained ties with Heron, the British journalist whom she met on the voyage to meet her mother. Through Heron, she met Andrea, an actress at a local theatre company. Their initial contact occured when Andrea wanted to interview Andrea about her experiences with gypsies as she was putting on a play about the female face of God. Athena obligued and then started mentoring a group of actors at the company.

Athena doubted her teachings but was guided by Edda, her own teacher. She encouraged her to learn through the process of teaching, to be guided by her students along the journey and the Great Mother. Athena hadn't yet filled the blanks and was still looking for inner peace.

The theatre group ended up turning into a mass affair every Monday night in Portobello. Athena discovered an ability when in trance (by dancing against the rhythm of the music) to connect with Hagia Sofia, the Great Mother in her soul. This happened because the soul disconnected from her body and a space opened up. She recruited followers. Hagia Sofia could diagnose illness and communicate messages to specific people from the the spiritual world. She danced with the congregation and ended with a sermon. A local priest got hostile and condemned the activities as devil worship. He attempted legal action. When things started getting out of control with the media and Athena's son, Viorel was getting teased at school, she stopped the meetings. Two weeks later her body was found murdered in Hampstead, beyond recogniseable.

Quote about collective energy (to help you achieve a trance like state):
- Edda to Athena: "...groups are very important because they force us to progress. If you're alone, all you can do is laugh at yourself, but if you're with others, you'll laugh then immediately act. Groups challenge us. Groups allow us to choose our affinities. Groups create a collective energy, and esctasy comes more easily because everyone infects everyone else." p.184

Quotes about teaching:
- Nabil to Athena: "What is a teacher? I'll tell you: it isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows." p.93
- Liliana to Athena: "Learn, but always learn with other people by your side. Don't be alone in the search, because if you take a wrong step, you'll have no one there to help put you right." p.i148
- Edda to Athena: "You need to teach what you don't know, what the mother wants to reveal through you." p.161
- Edda: "There is only one difference between a teacher and disciple: the former is slightly less afraid than the latter. Then, when they sit down at a table or in front of a fire to talk, the more experienced person might say: 'Why don't you do that?' But he or she never says: 'Go there and you'll arrive where I did,' because every path and every destination are unique to the individual." p.257

Quotes about personal development:
- Edda to Athena: "Re-programme yourself every minute of each day with thoughts that make you grow. When you're feeling irritated or confused, try to laugh at yourself. Laugh out loud at this woman tormented by doubts and anxieties, convinced that her problems are the most important thing in the world... most of our problems come from following rules." p.181
- Edda to Athena: "When you're washing up, pray. Be thankful that there are plates to be washed; that means there was food, that you fed someone, that you've lavished care on one or more people, that you cooked and laid the table. Imagine the millions of people at this moment who have absolutely nothing to wash up and no one for whom to lay the table." p.181

THE GENESIS OF ATHENA (end of book):

• In this book, Paul Coelho wanted to explore the feminine side of divinity, to plunge inside the heart of the Great Mother. He felt the need to question why society had tried to lock away the feminine side of God.


• The novel sprang from both reality and fiction. The reality ~ in 2005, he met a Romany stewardess in Transylvania who had been adopted by an Austrian family and had gypsy roots. The rest of the story came from other places and himself.


• Through Athena he tackles the notion that not everything in society can be explained (there are mysteries we should respect and honour) and he attempts to 'unveil the shackles of dogma'.


• Athena embodies his feminine, compassionate side. He sees part of himself in this character.

INTERVIEW WITH PAUL COELHO (end of book):

• the book is about ppl who dare to take some steps towards an unconventional spiritual path


• a witch is a person who never complied with the established rules, and always tried to dare and go beyond


• love is hard for most of us to accept because it can take us to heaven or hell


• I dance because I think it's important to be emotionally well-balanced. I lose control through dance once a week


• my religion (Cathololism) is more important than the men trying to guide it. I don't always agree with the pope, priests and bishops. For me, Mass is the most perfect ritual.


• I don't know why my books appeal to people, I write to understand myself. Through the process, my thoughts, like a puzzle, become clear.


• I write a book every two years. And I write a book in one month because it is being written in my soul.


• Every second year in January, I need to see a white feather. And the day that I see it I start writing.

ME:

This story has inspired me to dance. Uninhibited-like. I would die if anyone caught me dance my silly style. I just throw my body into it and jump up and down and wiggle my butt. Some music is better than others. This is Africa (Waka Waka) by Shakira is a current personal fav. Through this book I also learned about witches. I don't think I've ever read anything specifically about the history or orientation of witches. I also learned about gypsies and some information about the country Romania as well. Didn't know Transylvania was in Romania.

Paul Coelho is an amazing writer. I like that he is inspired to write a book in a month. I love that he looks for the white feather as a sign to start writing. I love signs myself but in recent times, I've been put off them. I've been trying to take CONTROL of my life and put less dependence on signs. Still working on a perfect medium/balance. The books certainly helped me to reconsider their importance again.

Athena reminds me of someone I know. Whenever I visualised her in the book, she took on the form of someone I consider witch-like in real life and who radiates elements of both goodness and evilness. I can see parallels. I think it helped to have a set image of her in my head, it made the story come alive. It's interesting... the relationship I have with this witch-like person in real life is similiar to the relationship between Athena and Andrea in the book. There is distain for each other... they try to live in harmony but it seems unnatural.

Moving on, the interview at the back of the book - what genius. It fuels food for thought. Especially for someone like me who needs prompting to explore a narrative. Coelho is a beautiful author and his work, very complete. I read another book recently, 'The Life of Pi', with notes at the back. It makes all the difference and can be of great inspiration for book club discussions. Some potential things I would be interested in discussing with others are:

- what do you know of witches and gypsies?

- what part(s) of Catholocism do you agree with?

- what are your blank spots?

- do you agree with the notion of collective energy?

- do you think it's realistic for me as an almost qualified primary school teacher to adopt a philiosophy that I should learn as I teach? How far should I take that extreme?

- what do you think of the statement: we fear love because it can take us to heaven or hell?

- have you ever been in a trance? Do you think it's similiar to the Buddhist concept of Nirvana?