The Magical Life and Creative Works of Paulo Coelho: A Psychobiographical Investigation

Abstract

Psychobiography has recently gained popularity, but has also had to withstand harsh criticism (Kőváry, 2011). Since the 1990s, however, psychobiographical research has flourished internationally (Elms, 1994; Runyan, 1994; Schultz, 2005), particularly with regard to artists and writers and their creative accounts (Holm-Hadulla, 2012; Kasser, 2013; Neumann, 2003; Runyan, 2005). Coelho, in a sense, maintained his erstwhile magical belief, but now transferred it from white to black magic. Because he was frustrated to still be an unknown writer, he made a pact with the devil or the "Prince of Darkness" and promised him his soul if the devil made all his dreams come true (Morais, 2009, p. 221). [...]8) in his sixties, Coelho reconfirmed himself as a magus and applied active magical thinking on a daily basis to integrate the light and shadow sides of his personality. First steps in qualitative data analysis.