Secret of the Alchemist

Many readers will have read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and in fact it is a gap in my own reading probably because I never reviewed it when it came out… Colm was part of the sales and marketing team for HarperCollins in Australia and one of the first to spot the book's potential – after reading it, he rang his colleague in the US with a pre-order of 20,000 copies and a backup of a further 30,000. Thereby hangs a tale, as well as this book, which also recounts his original meeting with the author at which he promised him that Love would fulfil his dreams but he would have to decide what he wanted. This book offers the same powerfully transformative alchemical process to the reader, but how many of us actually formulate this during our lives and undertake the necessary inner journey towards true empowerment? In a sentence, the ultimate secret of the original and this book is the power of using the alchemical process: 'listen to your dreams, follow the omens, commit to transformation, face your greatest fears, invoke the power of Love in all things and make it finally happen.' (p. 162)

The book takes the reader through the unfolding stages of the hero's journey as depicted in the original book. This requires and develops focus, concentration, commitment, faith, perseverance, courage and integrity on the path to discovering the treasure, the centre, the gold, the philosopher's stone. It is much easier and more comfortable to conform rather than undertake the transformational work and achieve in the process true fulfilment and empowerment in the service of the common good. However, this is the deep calling and desire of our souls, our inner core; and the path taken by, among others, Paracelsus and Jung. We are alchemists in our own world, so it is our choice to walk this path – or not. The temptation is always to move onto the next book rather than apply the key insights to our own lives. This book is different in conveying an essential practical message and for its invitation to a full engagement underpinned by Love.