The Witch of Portobello (P.S.)

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But all I know is this...the protagonist of the book, Athena, follows a winding path to enlightenment in the form of a female deity. And along the way she struggles to transcend society's expectations of her. The book is about the power that everyone has to find their own spirituality and fight against the norm. And in spite of myself, the novel made me feel able to make my own decisions, both practical and spiritual. Normally a woman has to choose from one of these traditional feminine archetypes, but Athena was all four at once.” — Deidre O’Neill (pp. 12)

Our protagonist searches for a path within people, dogmas, and motherhood. Athena finds a sensual spiritual compass by putting herself in her body, integrating a deeper state of presence. She becomes a guru, taking on the persona of Hagia Sophia. Then Athena grows a following that attracts both good and evil attention.

Witch of Portobello

Few writers are able to accomplish what Coelho can in just two to four weeks—which is how long it takes for him to write an entire novel. This novel made me sad for Paulo Coelho because I was disappointed, the only good in this novel is a novel way and style in the narration is to talk about the protagonist of the novel but the perspective of those who were in her life, we can say such as investigative journalist but a very deep language and philosophical The concentration and joking needs a very high understanding.

I think that the fact that it is told from multiple narrators really enhances the story. It is interesting to hear the different opinions on Athena and her teachings. I've encountered multiple narration in other books and hated it, but in this book it works very well. My only criticism is that because the characters are never really explored in depth, sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between the different narrators, however this is a minimal issue. I have always had a very strong spiritual sense, rooted in the Catholic teachings, as this is how I was raised. I genuinely find comfort in the rituals of the religion, but find myself very at odds with the "Church" and it's doctrine as defined by mortal men over the centuries.Our main character had aspirations for her life and thought she knew what would bring her happiness. Athena went off to college and found young love, then dropped out of college, got married, and had a baby – it was all part of her plan. But something was always missing. Athena was unsettled within her marriage and the restrictive rules of the church that inhibited her search for God and herself. While venturing to understand it all, she discovered spiritual guides along the way that brought her closer to the answers she was looking for. Would Athena's life have been more meaningful, more useful, if she had, as Andrea McCain suggests, joined a convent and devoted herself to a life of service to the poor? Amazingly, Coelho survived these horrific experiences. He left the hippie lifestyle behind, went to work in the record industry, and began to write, but without much success. Then, in the mid-1980s, during a trip to Europe, he met a man, an unnamed mentor he refers to only as "J," who inducted him into Regnum Agnus Mundi, a secret society that blends Catholicism with a sort of New Age mysticism. At J's urging, Coelho journeyed across el Camino de Santiago, the legendary Spanish road traversed by pilgrims since the Middle Ages. He chronicled this life-changing, 500-mile journey—the culmination of decades of soul-searching— in The Pilgrimage, published in 1987. Mr. COELHO: I think that this is a recurring theme in our lives since the dawn of human kind. We want to answer this classical question, who am I? So I think that most of our works are for art, or whatever we do, including science or religion, tried to answer that question. YDSTIE: In fact, I think some scholars suggest the Virgin Mary and the veneration of the Virgin Mary in the Catholic religion is actually vestigial goddess worship.