Brida By Paulo Coelho

 

“Brida” is a pursuit for enlightenment, a quest for knowledge, a search for love, a journey towards completion!

 

Just like all other novels of Paulo Coelho, “Brida” revolves around philosophy, mysteries of universe, spirituality and is additionally nestled with search for love/soulmate.

 

Brida, is the story of a 21-year old Irish girl on the quest of knowledge to learn magic/witchcraft to become a wicca. Witchcraft has been rebuked for the evil practices and wrongdoings but here we see the positive application of wicca for self-discovery of the soul. In the process she is introduced to the Tradition of the Moon and Tradition of the Sun. But mostly, Tradition of the Moon is touch-based which Brida picks up. Under the Tradition of the Moon, there are four pillars-

The first pillar is of time-travel, through which one ends up learning about thyself. Pernicious consequences of using witchcraft for controlling destinies have been cited, in of the instances when one who tried doing so was banished into loneliness.

The importance of using this craft for self-discovery and good causes has been strongly dwelled upon.

The second pillar is of soulmate (my favorite aspect 😊) This part piqued my interest and appealed me the most. I know the soulmate theory in the novel was rebuked and strongly debased. I am not trying to convince the readers but I personally admired it the most.

One of the quotes from the book regarding soulmate is-

“But how will I know who my Soulmate is?” Brida felt that this was one of the most important questions she had ever asked in her life.

By taking risks’ she said to Brida. ‘ By risking failure, disappointment, disillusion, but never ceasing in your search for Love. As long as you keep looking, you will triumph in the end.”

 

The third pillar is of the four rings of revelation. The four rings are the four paths for discovering the wisdom of the world for self-discovery. It depends what ring the woman is assigned for self-discovery.

I am mentioning the four rings here for my self-notes in the review, you may skip this part-

 

First ring is “The ring of virgin” - 

The Virgin has the power of both man and woman. She is condemned to Solitude, but Solitude reveals its secrets. That is the price paid by the Virgin-to need no one, to wear herself out in her love for others, and through Solitude, to discover the wisdom of the world.

Second ring is that of saint-

The Saint has the courage of those for whom giving is the only way of receiving.  The Saint offers everything for others.  Through Surrender, the Saint discovers the wisdom of the world

 

Third ring is of martyr-

The Martyr has the power of those who cannot be harmed by pain and suffering.  She surrenders herself, suffers, and through Sacrifice, discovers the wisdom of the world.

 

Fourth ring is of the witch to which Brida belongs,

The Witch discovers the wisdom of the world through Pleasure.

 

The fourth pillar is of reincarnation, as time-travel has been spoken about in the tradition of the Moon.

 

There are many favorite quotes, but few of the lovable ones are -

“Do not try to explain feelings. Live everything intensely and treasure what you feel as a gift from God.”

 

“I learned that the search for God is a Dark Night, that Faith is a Dark Night. And that’s hardly a surprise really, because for us each day is a dark night. None of us knows what might happen even the next minute, and yet still we go forward. Because we trust. Because we have Faith.”

 

“The whole Universe is moving all the time, and we must do like-wise.”

 

I felt a strong lingering of "The Alchemist" and "The Pilgrimage" in this work(maybe more but I have read just these two).

The magic theorems, esp. soulmate theory is looked upon with trepidation, but I personally enjoyed the book for the structured approach, so an endearing 4-star for Brida 😊

NB- This book has had a huge impact on me during my formative years, now that's what I refer to is called "the power of writing"