Polar Star – A Collection of Fantasy
Tales by Michela Castello
Review
by Maria Teresa De Donato
Defined by its author as a "pure invention" and the "fruit of [her] imagination", this collection of fantasy tales has a very profound meaning in itself. With a fundamentally poetic language, Michela offers ideas for great reflection on the meaning of Life, of its really important elements that need to be treasured and make it meaningful and worth living.
Her remarkable intellectual acumen, combined
with a depth not only of thought, but also and above all of feelings, of inner
richness, transpires in every page of this book. Michela – who is blind –
actually sees very well because she does so with her heart. By seeing with her
heart and by attuning to the frequencies and vibrations of whomever or whatever
surrounds her, she grasps very subtle feelings, sensations, and perceptions
that the human eyes (i.e. 'sighted people') are rarely able to 'see', let alone
to understand. Hence, what is commonly considered a physical 'disability' becomes
a tool the other senses are refined with, and that allows her to overcome the
distractions her sight imposes upon herself.
The 'voiceover', the Polar Star, this great Light that illuminates her path by offering her teachings of Life and that in some of her stories is identified with 'Paul', allows for various interpretations. However, whatever the emblematic meaning that the reader will want to attribute to this character, or rather, to this more or less constant presence, the aim is to bring back 'Melissa', the protagonist of this literary work, but also and above all the same reader, to an awareness, to the elevation of the Spirit above the Flesh, above futile desires, meanness and baseness including envy, jealousy and gratuitous malice that many, too many humans, embrace as a lifestyle and behavioral pattern.
The pure, true, not necessarily erotic, but rather spiritual, universal, Agapē Love, which we are all potentially able to feel not only towards ourselves, but also towards everyone and the Whole as "we are all Beings of Light” (Castello, 2016, p. 63), characterizes every single page of this book. Love, therefore, but also Awareness and an invitation to live Life in the most complete, loving, gratifying possible way, to the extent granted to each of us, and in full respect and harmony with everything and everyone. We are all perfect as we are because what the eye sees is only a 'dress', a 'shell', an 'armor', but not the deepest essence of our true Being. Each of us has a specific mission to carry out in this world, a mission that must be identified by not getting lost in the noises and din or in the banal pleasures of everyday life but by looking 'beyond the curtain'. Only by looking beyond appearances we can see the beauty of Life, of Nature, and the true value that they have and live and enjoy everything, contributing – starting from ourselves – to the formation of a better world.
Thank you, Michela, for bringing this "kind of deep bond ... perhaps dating back to the dawn of time." (Castello, 2016, p. 11)
A beautiful collection of fantastic, deeply metaphorical stories that I recommend to everyone.
