love. As a human being, she absolutely has a fear of pain caused by love. However, that fear should not stop her in loving other human beings. This moment shows that
Brida is no longer afraid in taking risk for now she understands that life cannot is about taking risk.
B. Occultism as Represented by Major Characters
In this second part of analysis, the writer analyses how occultism in Paulo Coelho’s Brida is represented through the major characters. Analyzing this part, the
writer uses the theory given by Blavatsky which states that occultism consists of two parts. They are occult science as practical occultism and theosophy as theoretical
occultism. Therefore, the writer divides this chapter into two parts. The first part discusses occult science and the second part discusses theosophy.
1. Occult Science
In chapter II, it is stated that Helena Petrovna Blavatsky uses term occult science in referring to practical occultism. Occult science can be various. Melton
states several practices of occultism. They are exploring one’s past lives, divinatory, witchcraft, psychokinesis, and magic 2001:1135.
The writer finds the occult science described in Paulo Coelho’s Brida is witchcraft which includes exploring one’s past live and magic. Witchcraft in Paulo
Coelho’s Brida is represented by Wicca.The characteristic of Wicca does strengthen the position of Wicca as the major character who does stand for the occult science. As
described in previous part of this chapter, Wicca is a mysterious character. Wicca shows some oddities which are inexplicable. Similar to Wicca, Witchcraft in Paulo
Coelho’s Brida is also a mystery. It cannot be explained by logic. Besides, Wicca who is mysterious, acts as the one who teaches the whole practices of witchcraft
though there are two teachers described in Paulo Coelho’s Brida. There are Magus as a teacher of the Tradition of the Sun and Wicca as a teacher of the Tradition of the
Moon. Therefore, the writer argues that Wicca is the one who stands for witchcraft in Paulo Coelho’s Brida.
As stated previously, the occult science which is described in Paulo Coelho’s Brida is witchcraft which includes exploring past lives and magic. According to
Wicca, the first thing she has to do before she teaches Brida is that knowing her gift. In order to know the gift, Wicca explores Brida’s past lives. There are two methods
which Wicca uses. The first method is using a vision through tarot cards. Another is using a vision through such a time travel. From the vision of tarot cards, Wicca
notices that at some point in one of Brida’s past lives, she set along the road of magic 2008:46. Besides, from the vision through such a time travel, Wicca knows that in
Brida’s past lives, she was a reincarnation of a female witch who lives in the Cathars era named Loni. Loni was a woman who can discern spirit during her life time
2008:66. Therefore, it is known that Brida’s gift is discerning spirit. The second type of occult science in Paulo Coelho’s Brida is magic. As stated
in chapter 2, that witchcraft is the practice of magic which is performed by the practitioners who are usually women who have psychic powers 2001:1678.
Therefore, in this sense witchcraft cannot be separated from magic. There are two types of magic and two laws of magic stated by Frazer. The first one is positive
magic which suggests the believers to do certain thing in order to get certain desirable effect. The other one is negative magic or it is called taboo warns the believers not
to do certain things in order to prevent undesirable effect Besides, there are also two principles of magic. They are law of similarity and law of contact or contagion. Law
of similarity is producingany effect a magician desires merely by imitating it. On the other hand, law of contact is producing certain magical effect resulted only from the
parts of human’s body http:ebooks.adelaide.edu.auffrazerjamesgolden index.html, June 15,2013.
In Paulo Coelho’s Brida, magic which is presented by Wicca is positive magic which has both law of similarity and law of contact within. These kinds of
magic are presented through several rituals taught by Wicca. For example, there is a positive magic with law of similarity which Wicca asks Brida to do. It is a ritual of
drinking water which is cut using a dagger. In order to do this ritual, however, there are some order must be followed. The author describes the order directly as below.
…There was a ritual she had to perform whenever the moon changed its phase; she would place a cup of water on the windowsill so that the moon was
reflected in the surface. Then she would be stand so that her own face was reflected in the water and the moon’s reflection was right in the middle of her
forehead. When she was completely focused, she would cut the water with the dagger, causing the reflections to break up and form smaller ones.
This water had to be drunk immediately, and then the power of the moon would grow inside her. 2008:96
Based on the description above, it is obvious that this ritual is a kind of positive magic with the law of similarity. It is a positive magic since by doing this
ritual, it is believed that the power of moon will grow inside the believer, Brida. There is also a law of similarity within this ritual. It is by imitating the moon itself by
placing a cup of water on the windowsill so that the reflection of the moon can be seen on the surface of the water.
Besides, there is another ritual taught by Wicca which represents positive magic with law of similarity. It is a ritual where Wicca teaches her apprentices about
the secret of herbs. The author also describes directly about this ritual as below. Once a week, they went to the wood, and Wicca taught her apprentice the
secrets of herbs. For Wicca, everything in the world bore God’s signature, especially plants. Certain leaves resembled the heart and were good for heart
disease, while flowers that resembled eyes could cure diseases of the eye. Brida began to understand that many herbs really did bear a close resemblance
to human organs, and in a book on folk medicine that Lorens borrowed from the university library she found research indicating that the beliefs of country
people and witches could well be right. 2008:98
From this description, it is stated that according to Wicca, plants bear God’s signature. According to Wicca, certain plants which resemble certain human’s organs
can be used to cure certain diseases. It is a kind of positive magic with the law of similarity because this ritual teaches the apprentices to cure certain diseases by using
certain plants which resembles or imitates certain organ which wants to be cured. Another kind of magic taught by Wicca is a positive magic with the law of
contact. It is a ritual which has aim to awaken Brida’s gift. Wicca asks Brida to
separate good and bad clothes. Wicca also asks Brida to wear all the good clothes every day. Wicca explains this ritual as below.
“..The clothes you brought are part of you, and they represent those special times when you left the house wanting to splash out a little because you were
happy with the world, times when you’d been hurt and wanted to make yourself feel better or times when you thought you should change your life.”
“Clothes always transform emotion into matter. It’s one of the bridges between the visible and the invisible. Some clothes can even be harmful
because they were made for someone else but have ended up in your hands.” “Get rid of any clothes that were not intended for you,” Wicca went on. “And
wear all the others…”2008:106.
From these Wicca’s statements, it can be concluded that this ritual is a kind of positive magic with a law of contact since this ritual uses Brida’s clothes as the
magical link. It is important to perform this ritual since according to Wicca, this ritual can awaken Brida’s gift. In order to awaken the gift, Wicca uses clothes as the
medium. According to Wicca, clothes are part of human being not only because human being wears them anytime but also because they represent moments in human
life. However, Wicca also believes that certain clothes may be harmful if they are not belongs to certain human beings. Therefore Wicca suggests Brida to wear only
clothes which are good for her.
2. Theosophy
The second part of occultism is theoretical occultism or it is called theosophy. As stated in chapter II theosophy, especially modern theosophy, has three objectives.
They are universal brotherhood, study of world religion and study of mystery of nature including the psychic and spiritual powers latent in a man. Those objectives
can lead one into self-transformation through a different way of looking at one’s self and the world. The self-transformation also can help one in finding wisdom in one’s
life. In this sense, wisdom is really personal. Therefore, according to this theory, the writer divides theosophy into two parts. The first part is self transformation which
involves the objectives in theosophy. The second part is personal wisdom in theosophy. The writer describes these two parts in theosophy as below.
a. Self transformation
In Paulo Coelho’s Brida, the major character who stands for self transformation is Brida. However before going further about the self transformation,
it is necessary to discuss the objectives in theosophy described in Paulo Coelho’s Brida and theosophy as a different way of looking at one’s self and the world. It is
required since self transformation does not come without those objectives and it also cannot be separated from a different way of looking at world.
There are two objectives of theosophy which are described in Paulo Coelho’s Brida. They are the study of psychic power latent in Brida and study of religion
especially Catholic. The first theosophy’s objective described in Paulo Coelho’s Brida is a study of psychic power latent in Brida. In Paulo Coelho’s Brida, the first
step Brida must do before learning magic is that knowing what kind of gift she has. It is necessary because it determines which way of learning magic Tradition of the
Moon or Tradition of the Sun is appropriate. In order to know her gift, Wicca as a teacher of tradition of the Moon sees Brida’s past lives through the vision from time
travel and tarot cards. From the vision of tarot cards, it is known that in one of her past lives, Brida set along a road of magic. Besides through the vision of time travel,
it is known that Brida’s gift is discerning spirit. Therefore, related to the first objective of occultism, a psychic power which Brida has is discerning spirit.
Second objective of theosophy which is described in Paulo Coelho’s Brida is study of religion. Paulo Coelho’s Brida speaks a lot about faith. It tries to describe
faith by using the term of Dark Night. Actually, Dark Night is a name of first lesson Brida has in learning magic. It is a lesson in which Brida must stay alone in a forest
during a whole night. There is only Brida with no light at all in the middle of the forest. During this lonely Dark Night Brida gets herself in panic. She is terrified of
the images of wild animals and ghost which may appear before her. However, Brida realizes that she must overcome her panic so that she can pass
the lesson. She starts to remember what is taught by her grandmother when she was child. Her grandmother taught her about some words taken from Psalm 91 which
begins with “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High…” 2008:15. Reminding those words, Brida then believes that there are God and Guardian Angel.
Brida has faith that God and her Guardian Angel will guide her going through the lonely Dark Night. Having faith in God and her Guardian Angel is the only way
which can help Brida goes through the Dark Night; a situation in which Brida is alone and cannot see anything. Otherwise, Brida knows she will despair. Brida starts to feel
calm for she understands now the difference between danger and fear. She understands that what frightens her is only her fear. It is a thought of wild animals
and ghost which exist in her mind, not around her. At the end, Brida succeeds in passing her first lesson, Dark Night.
Going through Dark Night, Brida has sense that her first lesson is not merely about the struggle while staying alone in the forest for a whole night. More than that
experience, Brida realizes that every moment in life is a Dark Night. It is proven through Brida statements below.
“I learned about the Dark Night.,” she said to the now silent forest. “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 2008:17.
Through Brida’s statement, it is obviously stated that each day is a Dark Night for everyone since human beings can never know what may happen in the next second.
However human beings still continue their own life simply because of having faith. Hence the term of Dark Night is used to define faith. Faith is a moment when human
beings knows nothing yet still continue their own life or their own path. Besides presenting Dark Night as the first lesson in order to define faith,
Paulo Coelho’s Brida also touches upon experience owned by the Virgin Mary. It is described through the moment when Brida and Wicca are at a Japanese restaurant. As
described in previous part in this chapter, Wicca admits that she is a teacher and she knows her limit. She knows that there are things in this life which are only known to
God. Therefore, according to Wicca, the only thing she can do toward things she cannot know is simply she accepts it. In order to explain her idea, Wicca then
mentions an experience of the Virgin Mary. Wicca mentions it as below.
“As soon as we accept this, life takes on a sacred meaning, and we experience the same emotion the Virgin must have felt when, one afternoon in her
otherwise very ordinary existence, a stranger appeared to her and made her an offer. “Be it unto me according to thy word,’ said the Virgin. Because she had
understood that the greatest thing human being can do is to accept the Mystery.” 2008:138-139.
As stated above, Wicca mentions an experience of the Virgin Mary. It is an experience when an angel comes to the Virgin Mary and tell her that she will have a
son and she must named him Jesus. Responding to what the angel told, the Virgin Mary answered “Be it unto me according to thy word.” This Mary’s reaction toward
the shocking news brought by the angel shows an act of having faith. It is an act of having faith that the Virgin Mary can accept inexplicable thing in her life without any
question. She accepts her fate that she will have a baby even though it does not make sense for she is still virgin. This Mary experience can describe what faith is. Faith is
an act to accept inexplicable things in life because of knowing that God will always guide human beings.
Besides mentioning the experience of the Virgin Mary, Paulo Coelho’s Brida also touches upon an experience of Jesus. As stated in previous part of this chapter,
Brida finally enters the church before she has doubt within. After entering the church, Brida just sees the image of Jesus who is nailed to the cross. Brida realizes that image
is an answer for her doubt before entering the church. That image of Jesus who is nailed to the cross explains to Brida that Jesus, as a human being, also has a doubt but
he also continues his path. That is what a priest taught her when she was a child at a
Sunday catechism class. Soon Brida realizes that Jesus, a son of God, also faces a Dark of Night.The author describes what Brida feels as below.
She looked again at the image, and for the first time in her entire life, felt closer to it. There perhaps was a man, frightened and alone, facing death and
asking: “Father, Father, why has thou forsaken me?” If he said that, it was because He wasn’t sure where He was going. He had taken a chance and
plunged, as all men do, into the Dark Night…2008:172-173
According to the priest and also what Brida feels, it is described that Jesus, who is a son of God, faces a Dark Night. Although he knows that he is a son of God,
but he still has a doubt because he is a human being. However, Jesus still has faith in his heart so that He still continues his path as a son of God who must die on the cross
in order to save all human beings. This time the author again defines what faith is by mentioning this experience of Jesus. Faith means keep going forward in each moment
in life though human being has doubt. By understanding the sense of faith, Brida now has a new way of looking at
world. The word “a new way” indicates there is“an old way”. Therefore the writer argues it is necessary to know Brida’s old way of looking at her world. Before
learning magic, Brida is confused with her life. Since Brida thinks that her life is really complicated then she tries to find the answer. It is proven through the dialogue
between Magus and Brida as below. “Why do you want to learn about magic?” he asked.
“So that I can find answers to some of the questions I have regarding life, so that I can learn about the occult powers, and possibly, how to travel back into
the past and forward into the future.” 2008:3
This dialogue happens when Brida meets Magus at the first time. Based on Brida’s answer, it is stated that one of her reasons in learning magic is that she wants to find
answers to some questions of her life. From this answer, the writer argues that Brida is confused about her life so that she thinks she needs an explanation for her
confusion. How Brida is confused about her life can be proven through her way of thinking toward her life. For example, when Brida almost gives up in reading tarot
cards, Brida thinks that life is not fair to her. Brida’s thought about her life is described by the author as below.
Once again, she felt that life was not treating her as it treated other people; it gave her every chance to achieve something, and just when she was close to
her objective, the ground opened up and swallowed her. That’s how it had been with her studies, with her certain boyfriends, with certain dreams she had
never shared with anyone. 2008:36-37
From this description, it is shown that Brida is confused about her life. Brida is confused with her life since she thinks that her life is complicated. She argues that life
is not fair to her. Life offers her opportunities to get close toward her objectives. However suddenly things happen and throw her far away from her objectives. That is
how life treats her studies, her love life with former certain boyfriends, and also with her dreams which she never shares.
The author also describes another Brida’s thought which proves that she is confused. It is a moment when Brida remembers her childhood experience with her
father as the writer describes in the analysis of Brida’s characteristic. Right after remembering that experience, Brida feels that her life is so complicated. The author
describes Brida’s thought as below.
Even in that most important area of her life, she had failed to commit herself. After her first romantic disappointment, she had never again given herself
entirely. She feared pain, loss, and separation. These things were inevitable on the path at all. In order not to suffer, you had to renounce love, and the only
way of avoiding them was by deciding not to take that path at all. In order not to suffer, you had to renounce love. It was like putting out your own eyes in
order not to see the bad things in life. “Life is so complicated.” 2008:75
From those two descriptions of Brida’s thought toward her life, it is shown that Brida is confused about her own life. She feels that life is complicated and she is
hopeless toward her life. These thoughts build Brida’s way of thinking before she learns occultism. Because of her thought, Brida thinks she needs answer or
explanation toward her life which is so complicated. However after learning occultism, Brida now understands that she does not need to understand life. Now she
understands that she does not need to find the answers. She only needs to accept her life. She needs to be brave enough to accept the mystery of life. Being brave
absolutely requires faith. It is proven through Brida’s new way of thinking as described by the author below.
…She didn’t need to understand the meaning of life; it was enough to find someone who did, and then fall asleep in his arms and sleep as a child sleeps,
knowing that someone stronger than you is protecting you from all evil and all danger.
When the ritual was over, she said a little prayer in gratitude for the steps she had so far taken. She was grateful because the first person she had asked about
magic hadn’t tried to explain the Universe to her; instead he had made her spend the whole night in a dark forest. 2008:141
Based on this description, the writer finds that Brida changes her way of thinking toward her life. She then realizes that she does not need to find answer to her
confusion toward her life. Having someone who loves her whole being in her
confusing life is enough. Besides, Brida is also grateful for the first thing she understands in magic is about Dark Night.
This new way of looking toward her world and herself leads Brida into self transformation. Before learning occultism, Brida is an ordinary young girl who is
faint-hearted. She used to think that her life is complicated then she thought that she needed an answer. Before knowing occultism, Brida used to be afraid of taking risk in
her life. She used to be afraid in making decision though it was her own consideration. She used to be afraid of totally loving someone because she was afraid
of loss, pain and separation. However after learning occultism, Brida is a young girl with the psychic
power within herself. She is a girl with a gift which is discerning spirit. Besides, she is no longer a faint-hearted girl. Now she is brave enough to accept her own life
without any answer required. She is a brave girl who dares to take risk in her life by deciding her own path on the road of magic and just walk through it. Now Brida
transforms into a brave witch. This transformation of Brida’s characteristic does not come immediately. She has the transformation because she has the new way of
thinking which is affected by the sense of faith. Brida now understands that having faith is about keep moving forward though human beings have doubt, having faith
means simply accepts the mystery of life, and having faith also means being brave enough though human beings know nothing about what will happen toward life since
God will always guide human beings. After passing the phases in learning magic,
Brida is officially initiated as a witch. Finally Brida is a brave witch since she has faith.
b. Wisdom Besides self-transformation as represented by Brida, there is another part in
theosophy. It is wisdom. As stated in chapter II, wisdom is really a personal. It must be discovered and experienced by a man for himself.
A major character who stands for wisdom is Magus as a teacher of the Tradition of the Sun. As the writer describes in first part of this chapter, Magus is a
wise teacher and a wise man. For Magus, being wise does not happen in an instant way. He must pass a tough experience before he can be such a wise man and a wise
teacher. That tough experience happens when Magus is a pupil of the Tradition of the Moon.
Before becoming a teacher in the Tradition of the Sun, Magus was once a pupil in the Tradition of the Moon. Magus and Wicca were pupils in the same
Tradition. One day the Teacher said that Tradition of the Moon was not appropriate to Magus. However, Magus insisted to learn that Tradition since, according to Magus,
Tradition of the Moon was more interesting with lesson of rituals. Therefore the teacher let Magus learnt the Tradition because the Teacher argued the Tradition of the
Moon might lead him to the appropriate one; Tradition of the Sun. At the beginning, everything went right. Magus and Wicca learnt the same Tradition and they fell in
love each other. However, both of them knew that they were not soul mate for each
other since they do not see the signs of Soul Mate. Tradition of the Sun notices a Soul Mate through the point of light from the eyes. On the other hand, the Tradition of the
Moon recognizes a point of light above the left shoulder of a Soul Mate. Although they do not see those signs, they decided to keep their love till their time would end
up. One day everything changed. Wicca met another man; an ordinary man who even did not know about magic at all. They fell in love each other and Wicca realized that
her time with Magus ended up. Magus, however, could not accept that Wicca fell in love with another man.
He even begged and implored Wicca not to leave him, yet Wicca just ignored it. One day, Magus could no longer stand the pain. He then infringed one rule in the
Tradition of the Moon. It was a rule which forbade the pupil to interfere with one’s free will. Magus interfered Wicca’s free will to love another man. The author
describes it as below. One night, when he could stand the pain no longer, he ate of the forbidden
fruit. Using the power and knowledge that the wisdom of Time had taught him, he removed that man from the woman he loved…However, his Teacher
knew. His Teacher always knew everything, and the Tradition of the Moon was implacable with those Initiates who used Black Magic, especially to
influence the most important and most vulnerable of human emotion: Love 2008:150.
From this description, it is stated that Magus infringes the rule in the Tradition of the Moon. He also uses black magic to remove the man whom Wicca loves. Therefore he
must responsible for what he has done. The Teacher condemns Magus into a lonely forest till he finds his Soul Mate.
Magus’s interference in Wicca’s free will and using Black Magic sends him into the lonely forest. During his lonely days in the forest, Magus learns the
appropriate Tradition; Tradition of the Sun. His teacher is right. Tradition of Moon will lead him into the appropriate Tradition; Tradition of the Sun. Besides, this
experience also becomes a reason behind Magus’s wisdom. As the writer describes in the previous part which discusses the characteristics of Magus, it is stated that Brida
wants to stay with Magus for she knows that Magus is actually her Soul Mate. However, Magus chooses to let Brida goes with her boyfriend since Magus does not
want to interfere in Brida’s free will to love Lorens; her boyfriend. His tough experience teaches Magus in making such good decision in this situation. He asks
Brida to go with her recent boyfriend instead of allowing Brida stays with him. Magus does so for he now understands what he has learned during his loneliness in a
forest. Magus explains it to Brida as below. “People give flowers as presents because flowers contain the true meaning of
Love. Anyone who tries to possess a flower will have to watch its beauty fading. But if you simply look at a flower in a field, you will keep it forever,
because the flower is part of the evening and the sunset and the smell of damp earth and the clouds on the horizon.”
‘That is what the forest taught me. That you will never be mine, and that is why I will never lose you. You were my hope during my days of loneliness,
my anxiety during moments of doubt, my certainty during moments of faith. Knowing that my Soul Mate would come one day, I devoted myself to
learning the Tradition of the Sun. Knowing that you existed was my one reason for continuing to live.”
“Then you came, and I understood all of this. You came to free me from the slavery I myself had created, to tell me that I was free to return to the world
and to the things of the world. I understood everything I needed to know, and I love you more than all the women I have ever known, more than I loved the
woman, who quite unwittingly, exiled me to the forest. I will always remember now that love is liberty…” 2008:209-210
The statements above show how wise Magus is. His quality as a wise man and a wise teacher comes from the process of learning his mistake. He learns to accept his
lonely days for he knows that one day his soul will set him free from the punishment. Till one day Magus finds Brida. However at the end, Magus just simply sets Brida
free though he knows that she is the one whom Magus waits for so long. Magus lets her go though she is his soul mate. Magus does so because he does not want to
interfere in Brida’s free will to love his recent boyfriend; Lorens. He does so for he has his own wisdom that love is liberty.
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION
