The Alchemist: pgs:1-33 Andalusia and Tarifa

AAAAh!  What a great book!  I had to tell myself to stop and write a summary of what I had read or else I would never stop reading.  I don't know if this is how everyone reacts to this book but I feel an instant connection with the main character "Santiago" and I have a hard time putting the book down.

Santiago starts out in a seminary until the age of 16 because that's what his parents want and that's what will bring pride to the family.  Santiago expresses his true desire, to see the world!  So his father gives him enough money to buy a flock.  When we come into the book two years later he has 60 sheep.  He knows each one of them by name and knows their likes, dislikes, and attitudes.  They have become his family and he has a true connection to them.

There is a point in the book where the merchants daughter is surprised that Santiago can read (because he is a shepherd)  I think there are many times when I have had this same prejudice.  I look at a person and think I istantly know so much about them because of the job they have chosen, or spouse, or car, or any number of things.  But the truth of the matter was that Santiago loved traveling... he felt like it was his way of getting to know God and living the life he truly desired, and his sheep made that possible.  Santiago says to the girl:

"Well usually I learn more from my sheep than from books" (pg.5)

My mother probably hates that I love this quote.  First of all she is a librarian with her masters degree in library science so for her books and education are really high on the priority list.  This is where I connect with santiago.  I feel that I learn so much from life experience at a rate which is so much faster than I could ever learn in a classroom.  I feel like a sponge, I soak up the things around me.  The same is true of me when I am in a classroom, it's just that it seems like formal education keeps requiring that my sponge soak up the same thing over and over and over again.  Now I know there is something to be said for repetition and routine and I will say that I do think a lot of good comes from books and that reading from them is a "true principle"... something God wants us to do.  In D&C 88:118 He says "...seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom.  Seek learning even by study and faith."  I feel like education has been dumbed down far too much just so that "everyone can succeed".  That's a whole other subject though!  I'll try not to get sidetracked!

Santiago has the merchants daughter in his minds eye.  He probably doesn't let a day go by without thinking about her.  Like he says, he has seen beautiful places and beautiful girls, but she holds a special place in his heart.  It's funny that she does, because he thinks that he is probably nothing special to her.  I wonder how many times in life this is true, when we don't even know how fond someone is of us.

In life there is a coutenfeit for everything.  I think that the author is trying to show us this with the Gypsy woman and the King Melchezedek.  You see, the gypsy woman is self interested seeking gain she is a person of the world.  While the King Melchezedek is a man of God who only desires what is best for Santiago.  You have to take a step back to see this because it could appear otherwise since Melchezedek takes 6 sheep from Santiago (including the one that gives the most wool)  This is not because he needs the sheep or the money... he is a KING!  He has everything he needs, it is because he needs to see that Santiago is willing to sacrifice part of what he has in order to obtain what he wants.  You can see this principle every day when a church asks you to pay tithing or diezmo in spanish which is one tenth of gain.  Does God need money?  No, but he needs to know that we do not value money above Him.  Santiago thinks to himself "Here I am between my flock and my treasure." (pg. 27)

Santiago thinks he has gotten off easy by not having to pay the gypsy woman until Melchezedek reveals how "gypsies are experts at getting people to do that"  (pg. 25)  The funny thing is that santiago was raised his whole life knowing that gypsies are tricksters and yet he still falls for their tricks.  Oh how I am guilty of that! 

Melchezedek says:

"If you start out by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work toward getting it."(pg. 25)

There are so many great lessons that Melchezedek teaches:

Talking about Santiago's new book he says it is good but also "irritating"  he explains that it is irritating because like many other books "It describes people's inability to choose their own Personal Legends.  And it ends up saying that everyone believes the world's greatest lie"  He goes on to explain that the worlds greatest lie is that we are controlled by fate and that whatever happens is what was supposed to happen.

William Ernest Henley says it best when he says:
"I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul."

Melchezedek goes on to say that when we are young we know what our personal legend is.
"At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible.  They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives.  But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend."

Call that "mysterious force" whatever you want... the devil, the other, demons, or just the mysterious force.  But there comes a time in our life where we stop believing that we can do what we want to do and be who we want to be without harming others.  There is a french man named Rémi Gaillard who lost his job at a bookstore and so he decided to start living by his life's motto which is "C'est en faisant n'importe quoi qu'on devient n'importe qui" in translation: "It's by doing whatever that you become whoever".  He is now famous for using his skills to be a prankster, you can see him on youtube, he is hillarious.  But I think that just like him, there are things that happen to us in life that offer us an opportunity to change.  It is our decision whether or not we are going to pursue the new path/oppotunity or not.  Melchezedek tells us that "To realize one's destiny is a persons only real obligation." "And when you really want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it."  Some people call that principle "the secret" some say it's God blessing us.  There are hundreds of explanations, and I think that there is more than one right answer... but that those right answers are all based in what I would call "the real right answer" but I'll talk about that later.  Last note on that and "the univers" I love the way it is said that "there is a force wanting you to realize your personal legend, so it whets your apetite."

More lessons from Melchezedek:

"In  the long run, what people think about shepherds and bakers becomes more important for them than their own Personal Legends."

For anyone who has read to this point this makes perfect sense, but if not let me explain.  The baker in the book wants to see the world just like Santiago.  He also knows that the quickest way to see the world is to become a shepherd and do it while you work.  But the baker cares more about what others think of him than he cares about realizing his dreams and seeing the world.  "Bakers are more important people than shepherds.  Bakers have homes, while shepherds sleep out in the open.  Parents would rather see their children mary bakers than shepherds."  This is so true!  Don't marry a dreamer parents will tell you, mary a man with an education, a good job, and with his head on his shoulders rather than in the clouds.  Well to each his or her own right?  I won't give out marriage advice :) I'm no expert!  But this makes santiago think of the merchants daughter.... and that there is probably a baker in her town that she could marry.... and we know that a woman can make a man do crazy things.  Lucky for us Santiago tells us that his sheep mean more to him than the girl because they depend on him.... they are his family afterall!  I guess what I got from this part and some other parts is that we need to choose what we love and go after that.  Matthew 6:21 says "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."  The baker has learned to ignore his heart and go about his daily business to take care of his "needs".  While santiago listens to his heart, listens to the omens, and gives up the things he loves to find his "true need" which is that treasure he is seeking.

Another lesson from Melchezedek is kind of an expansion on him saying that "the universe conspires" to help you achieve your dreams.  He talks about a man who is about to give up on his dreams of finding an emerald after 5 years of hard work and no luck... so Melchezedek turns into a stone... falls on that guys foot which causes him to get mad and throw the stone which cracks open a stone with a giant beautiful emerald.  We need to be persistant and determined.  Lucky for that guy he had some help.... but I think far too often people do all the work and give up right before they hit the payload and someone comes behind them and hits it first try.  Don't get me started on the feelings that causes for both parties.  The bottom line is don't give up no matter how much time and effort it takes.  If it is your hearts true desire you can achieve it or be content with giving your life to trying.

"...when each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises." (pg. 27)

My parents tried to teach me about gratitude my whole life.  And I think it took someone being ungrateful towards me to really open my eyes to the importance of gratitude.  Some say feeling greatful for something and not expressing it is like wrapping a gift and not giving it.  Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.   JFK said: "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation isnot to utter words, but to live by them."  Thank you loses meaning quickly if our actions speak otherwise.

The initial reaction I had as a reader towards Melchezedek was that I was kind of mad because he gave the same advice that the gypsy did which was that the treasure was near the pyramids in Egypt.  Later on I felt much better about Santiago paying him because really he recieves so much for his sacrifice initially and also great advice for the rest of his journey.  Initially he is given a Urim & Thummim which in this book is are a black and white stone that will help him make decisions.  But I think the most valuable thing he recieved from Melchezedek was the learning of how to understand, recognize, and follow omens.  And right after Melchezedek had taught him this thing a butterfly appears which Santiago's grandfather had taught him was a "good omen" thus cementing this new teaching into his head and making him want to follow his dreams.

So Santiago sets out to follow his dreams and search for the treasure.  A treasure by the way that we have no idea what kind of treasure this is.  He stands on a tall castle wall in Tarifa and looks over to Africa.  My friend told me he wants to do that someday... I think I do too :)  I think that as Santiago looked over to Africa he was playing out the many different situations in his head, so he would be ready for anything.  I feel like I do this a lot and Santiago shows us that he does this on pg. 17 when he is planning on telling stories he has read to the merchants daughter and passing them off as his own.  He says she'll never know the difference because she can't read.  Clever boy!

There is a paragraph on page 15 that really connects me to Santiago.  I am currently out and about traveling and making new friends each day.  Santiago says that travel is appealingto him because:  "he always made new friends, and he didn't need to spend all of his time with them. When someone sees the same people every day, as had happened with him at the seminary, they wind up becoming a part of that person's life.  And then they want the person to change.  If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angy.  Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."  That speaks for itself I think.  Its the reason I moved to California right after my mission, it's the reason I'm not a police officer, and finding how to cope with it may be one of the banes of my existence.

Anyway... the start of the book is just power packed with great life lessons and there's so many things that I like like about it that I didn't even touch on. ( Hard to believe with how long this summary is huh?)  What a great beginning and keep reading because it just keeps on getting better!