world of creation

At first, this story was a film script, but the author, fallen in love with her characters, chose to give them a new existence in a real novel, since each hero of the book has his own right to happiness. Marie Lancel is a romantic dilogy that brings together, in a mysterious way, unexpected events and touching, funny and sometimes surreal characters to give this plot a twist that is both adventurous and sophisticated.

The search for true love becomes a single objective, which transforms the lives of all the protagonists. Deeply immersed in the quest to realize their dreams, they discover another dimension of reality, a new way of being that will guide their ambition.

Recently, Marie Lancel by Anna Bondareva has been published in France!

In order to please her aunt and spend one more day with her, Marie decided to visit the fortune teller and listen to a forecast of her future. On a late October morning Marie Lancel together with her aunt, Edita, went to the sixteenth arrondissement of Paris to visit a soothsayer. Was this Paris, or seeing Edita, or something else altogether? But it was the first time in a long time since Marie felt a warm wind of hope in the air and her sense of being was no longer sealed with grief and anger.  As they walked pass the large Avenue Foch, Marie began recalling childhood memories: “My darling, Edita! Do you remember how you used to pick me up from school, before the end of my lessons, under a fictitious pretext… and then we would go to the cinema and watch films starring Louis de Funès?!” Edita felt a swift kick back to her past, and all of a sudden she felt much younger. “And now the cinema has become completely different, and I no longer go to see the films. Everything has changed so much, and Paris is no longer the same city, the one it used to be; I even stopped following the news, as it simply became unbearable. I don’t believe in politics, you know me!”

“What nonsense, auntie! There is always something to see and discover!” Marie said as she smiled, “We shall be going with you to our favorite theatre in Montmartre, and we will not care what film we will watch, let it be a surprise! No further discussion! After the fortune teller, we will go straight to Montmartre, although I promised myself not to go to this quarter, but I do not fear the past anymore. Now I just feel that all of it does not matter so much. This does not mean that I have forgotten everything. On the contrary! It’s just that something has changed in my perception, and my memories are no longer hurting me. They are somewhat painless, vague dream sequences; like an old diary, which I can look through from time to time if I want to.”

Marie felt comfortable with Edita. She could talk to her for hours and not feel bored; Edita’s voice and the smell of her Chanel 5 perfume did not changed over the years, all reminded Marie of her carefree Parisian youth. The women climbed a spacious circular stone staircase that led to the top floor. The door was ajar and they went into a large living room. Despite the day, the curtains were drawn; only a small floor lamp emitted light at the end of a long corridor. In the salon, oriental music played softly and in the center of the room there was a table full of candles, covered with purple velvet cloth, on which there were numerous wax stains. The whole place looked vintage and shabby; a deck of Tarot cards were laid out on the table.

Marie headed straight to the table and began to examine the cards. At that moment, a woman with dark hair and bright flowery clothes approached Edita to say hello. Marie spoke to the gypsy fortune teller, “ I just have had a déjà vu! I have seen you somewhere, for sure! Wait a moment…that’s right! You were in my dream! ”

Marie was shocked by what was happening, she was sure that this gypsy woman was exactly the one in her visions, and aunt Edita was somewhat worried: “Can it really happen?! My dear Marie! With you, I always have incredible adventures!” The Gypsy gazed intently into the pretty face of Lancel, who stood by the large window and watched the street pigeon perched on the outer window cornice. The Gypsy said:  “Now go and take a card from that table, and I’ll tell you what you need to know.”

Marie heard this phrase in her head and was not sure exactly where the voice had come from; whether it was the voice of a woman fortune-teller, or just a mental call, like hypnosis. The actress, Marie, approached the table in the center of the room and drew out a card from a large deck. On the card of the major Arcana, The Lovers, were depicted by a naked man and woman, staring at a large angel above them. An angel sat on a cloud with arms crossed, multi-colored wings developing behind him.  ”Now get two more cards!” Fortune teller directed her order to Lancel without moving her eye lids. Marie did not try to resist and pulled out two more cards: “Okay, here you are!” The Gypsy looked at the cards for a minute, and continued to preach:

“The Third and Seventh Arcana mean that you have complete control over your destiny; you will be able to direct your life along the path you desire but only on one condition. You must connect the great energy of love, the secret center for everyone and everything, which is conventionally designated as “Omega”. Once you manage to free yourself from your habitual patterns of perception, you will meet true love. She will find you herself. It doesn’t take long to wait!” As soon as Marie was about to ask her question, the Gypsy began to chant in an incomprehensible language, and Edita, noticing the actress’s confusion, went up to her and whispered in her ear. “I told you that we have the right to only one question; she already answered you, now it’s time for us to leave.”

Leaving the building, Marie stopped for a moment and turned to her aunt, and with some confusion spoke: “Omega” is the center of love, a point of universal reference, an exhaustive abundance, in which external attributes lose their properties, dissolving in an unthinkable stream of pure vibrations of angelic beauty. How do I know all this?!” At that very moment, private detective, Mr. Lyndon, was getting prepared in the entrance. He was clearly in a hurry, and Edita instantly recognized him.

An extract from the book  Marie Lancel by Anna Bondareva

In the ancient world, from China and India to Greece, alchemists struggled to find a universal cure for diseases. This would extend through the ages and later be addressed by alchemists. Alchemy is a medieval chemical science, a type of speculative philosophy focused on trying to alter fewer valuable metals into gold; a magical solution intended to discover a means of prolonging life indefinitely.

Fool’s gold is a substance that is found in rock and resembles gold very much.

Gold is one of seven metals of alchemy. It could also be used by other disciplines to represent other things, such as its use to represent the sun in astrology. But in Alchemy, gold represented the perfection of all matter on any level, including that of the mind, spirit, and soul.

In the game of Tarot, The Fool card is numbered as “zero”, which is associated with the notion of  unlimited potential. Various philosophical meanings could be found in tarot cards. When meditating on it carefully, one could try to imagine how to turn any situation into a positive outcome, by playing it around from a different angle and ‘taking it easy’ or ‘acting like a fool’. This specific technique is also used in some martial art practices, such as pretending to be a drunken body, so that your enemy does not notice you are in fact preparing for the next combat strike.

The Fool Arcana is also considered the Fool’s journey through life, and as such, he is ever present and therefore needs no number. The Fool is always ready to begin everything from scratch, dropping behind all the heavy duties and memories from his or her past, and clearing out the inner space for a new road full of incredible adventures. The new road movie will begin and as does every film, good music is always needed. This meditative approach leads to healing; it can definitely bring tranquility in difficult and anxious times.

People tend to create cages of gold for themselves; building houses, and seeking profit.   Quite often, it takes the best years of a person’s life. We all undoubtedly need to be singled out; we do need to become free as a bird in order to feel all the charm of the flight, to actually enjoy the sky scenery!  We shall leave our cage, albeit incredibly beautiful, but still a cage. Since early times, people have been looking for a sacred meaning in alchemic elements in order to make nature serve their purposes, such as healing.

With the help of music, we have the opportunity to conduct healing rituals.

Yet how can the most unsightly or unpleasant, suddenly turn into something attractive, speaking of human beings? Everything depends on the energy, and all energy is subject to transformation.  When applying a sincere effort, we all are, like the ancient alchemists, potentially able to become magicians.

The poison of negative emotions can destroy the good side of an individual. Therefore, one should carefully tune one’s emotions. The question is similar to the one posed in the Harry Potter world, whereby a magic hat chooses which camp each student will attend, asking the fundamental question of ‘will you become good wizards or vice versa?’

The path is unpredictable, and inspiring music can become very helpful, just give it a try and wait for the outcome.

 

When one hears the word ‘extravaganza’, its somewhat bizarre sounding name already keeping us intrigued.  It promises something mysterious and out of everyday rhythm, a certain departure to another world with the help of a supernatural power; like in a story by Edgar Allan Poe where the Angel of the Odd appears to the main hero and makes him confess that the bizarre really can occur. The 19^thcentury British dramatist, James Planché, was known for his extravaganzas. Planché defined the genre as “the whimsical treatment of a poetical subject.” At the same time, extravaganza could be associated with an expensive and elaborate theatrical production, something truly spectacular! The term derives its origins from the Italian word stravaganza, meaning oddness or strangeness. Is definitely something out of the ordinary; always transcending the boundaries of generally accepted norms. An extravaganza musical work is often characterized by freedom of style and structure. All these can be applied when speaking of Anna’s new piano album of the same title ‘Extravaganza’. The incredible and incendiary mood of her danceable sharp piano compositions, combined with the atypical harmonies inherent in the neoclassical style, together create a truly unique quality album. To end this year on a high note, these most enchanting piano pieces will even bring the gloomiest mood out of stagnation.

 

Each season of the year has its unique qualities and purpose. Autumn is the time to collect fruits, fruits of all kinds. Trees begin looking and sounding differently, whenever the wind blows.The Forest in Autumn”, Gustave Courbet

Even the remaining birds that have not yet left for the season are rarely singing.  The sky fills with heavy rainy clouds while each ray of sun is perceived almost as a miracle. The aroma of fallen leaves rises up in the air and mingles with the smell of burning logs in the chimneys of cozy houses. Unforgettable yellow, incredible shades of red; sometimes autumn leaves become so crimson that they appear nearly purple.

But the main color of autumn is gold, a color with a purely cosmic origins. Gold pre-exists the formation of the Earth, the strongest forces in the earth’s mantle are unable to change the composition of gold’s atomic nucleus.

This is what autumn is like. We can no longer change the currency of events; all the aims we pursued since the start of the year now come to their final state, and we have to just accept the cause and preserve what is left. It gets darker earlier, days are shorter and tasks are less demanding. Autumn is there for us to enjoy the existing achievements and gather all the forces for the coming winter and New Year.

As inspiring and fairy as the French autumn forest, the new piano album by Anna Bondareva  L‘Automne was recorded in France. Let’s feel this golden warmth of French autumn via an extravagant piano music.