The Alchemist – A Hero’s Journey
The boy’s name was Santiago. This is how the one of the greatest books published in our times begins. A fable about following your destiny and finding fulfilment. In short, the story is about Santiago going on a quest to find a treasure. He crosses continents and a desert, falls in love, meets an alchemist and finally gets his treasure at the place from where he had started his journey. I re-read the book again this week and found that the quest is not so straight forward. The hero goes through stages in the journey where he is ready to abandon his dream, and somehow he gets prompted to keep on the path. In this post, I have mapped out his journey through various stages using passages from the book. I found it to be an eye-opener of sorts. Hope you find it useful in your quest.
Stage 1 – The Quest
In the long run, what people think about shepherds and bakers becomes more important for them than their own destinies.
This realisation is the beginning of every quest. Someone who has found his dream or quest and is mulling about whether to follow will realise this sooner or later. A life well lived is a life lived on the path of your dream. Here, the boy realizes that it is more important to follow his destiny than being acceptable or successful from someone else’s playbook.
Once someone decides to tread the path of his dream, there is an initial success which confirms the path for that person. And then the tests begin.
Stage 2 – Overcoming initial hurdles
As he mused about these things, he realized that he had to choose between thinking himself as the poor victim of a thief and an adventurer in quest of his treasure.
‘I’m an adventurer, looking for treasure’, he said to himself.
The first major test on the quest, where it seems that you’ve lost everything. Before you started you had a comfortable life, connections, way of living. Now, on this adventurous path you have gone ahead and lost everything. Santiago gets robbed of all his money on his first day in Tangiers. He is heartbroken, he doesn’t even know anyone in this strange city and yet he makes this conscious choice to be an adventurer. If you are in this situation, I’ve discussed how to get out of this in this post on one of the greatest horse races in history.
Stage 3 – Self doubt
I’ll work for you, he said. And after another long silence, he added, ‘I need money to buy some sheep.’
Even though he proclaims himself to be an adventurer, the next thing that he is focused upon is to go back to his old life. The loss of everything in the pursuit of our dream sometimes manifests in a desire to get back to our old way of living and re-gain everything that was lost. Some of us go back to that life and then live for the rest of their life in the knowledge that they had tried and then given up. Whereas some of us take up the challenge again. Often, the urge to take up the pursuit comes in the form of a reminder.
Stage 4 – Reminder of the dream
But I’m going back to the fields that I know, to take care of my flock again.” He said that to himself with certainty, but he was no longer happy with his decision. He had worked for an entire year to make a dream come true, and that dream, minute by minute, was becoming less important. Maybe because that wasn’t really his dream.
And then again..
I know why I want to go back to my flock, he thought. I understand sheep, they’re no longer a problem, and they can be good friends. On the other hand, I don’t know if the desert can be a friend, and it’s in the desert that I have to search for my treasure. If I don’t find it, I can always go home. I finally have enough money, and all the time I need. Why not?
He suddenly felt tremendously happy. He could always go back to being a shepherd. He could always become a crystal salesman again. Maybe the world had other hidden treasures, but he had a dream, and he had met with a king. That doesn’t happen to just anyone!”
When we get back to the life of comfort, the dream, the purpose, the quest is still there. As it says in The Alchemist – that desire is the desire which was created in the soul of the world and the universe wants you to fulfil it. So the universe tries to remind you. Sometimes, the reminder is pleasant and sometimes the reminder comes in a not so pleasant manner. Whatever it takes to remind you of the dream, the universe will do that. The choice is still there whether you heed to it or ignore it. A dreamer will listen to his heart and then will make that choice which will guide the rest of his life. If you choose to follow your dream again, the universe will work to tell you that you are on the right track.
Stage 5 – Confirmation of your path
The boy knew what he (the Englishman) was about to describe, though: the mysterious chain that links one thing to another, the same chain that had caused him to become a shepherd, that has caused his recurring dream, that had brought him to a city near Africa, to find a king and to be robbed in order to meet a crystal merchant, and …
The closer one gets to realizing his destiny, the more that destiny becomes his true reason of being, thought the boy.
The path gets confirmed by showing you the path that you have taken since you dreamt the dream. It tells you that even if there are so many detours that you’ve taken you are still on the way to realize your destiny. When this happens, it gives you resolve and fills you with the energy necessary to follow your dream. The challenges will keep getting bigger, after all your dream is so big that it inspires you to drop the life of comfort. The key thing is to realize that you know that you are on your personal quest, you are ready to face the challenges and you are patient. The universe works in mysterious ways, patience is the key to let it work for you.
Stage 6 – Patience is the key
Meanwhile, the boy thought about his treasure. The closer he got to the realization of his dream, the more difficult things became. It seemed as if what the old king had called ‘beginner’s luck’ were no longer functioning. In his pursuit of the dream, he was being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence and courage. So he could not be hasty, nor impatient. If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path.
As you move along your chosen path, the tests will become worthy of you. You see, not everyone makes the choices which lead to this stage. So, if you are at this stage – you have already chosen to live a life of courage. For a courageous warrior the challenges have to be worthy of his/her mettle. Everything that you have learnt on this path will be tested to confirm that you have learnt them well. After all, as it says in the last sentence of the above paragraph, the signs and the omens along the path are left by God himself. There may be challenges and struggles, but you will be joyous – it’s a path that you have chosen for yourself and that counts for everything. As you proceed along this path, you will start to gain mastery over skills needed to succeed in the pursuit. People around you will start to recognise you as a master and they will consult you on matters where you can help. You will slowly gain fame for the work that you are doing and life will become fulfilling and pleasant. The success you achieve will be huge by any reckoning and then you will be tempted to stay here.
Stage 7 – Success, different from Victory
“Well, what if I decide to stay?”
“Let me tell you what will happen. You’ll be the counsellor of the oasis. You have enough gold to buy many sheep and many camels. You’ll marry Fatima, and you’ll both be happy for a year. You’ll learn to love the desert, and you’ll get to know every one of the fifty thousand palms. You’ll watch them as they grow, demonstrating how the world is always changing. And you’ll get better and better at understanding omens, because the desert is the best teacher there is.
Sometime during the second year, you’ll remember about the treasure. The omens will begin insistently to speak of it, and you’ll try to ignore them. You’ll use your knowledge for the welfare of the oasis and its inhabitants. The tribal chieftains will appreciate what you do. And your camels will bring you wealth and power.
During the third year, the omens will continue to speak of your treasure and your destiny. You’ll walk around, night after night, at the oasis, and Fatima will be unhappy because she’ll feel it was she who interrupted your quest. But you will love her, and she’ll return your love. You’ll remember that she never asked you to stay, because a woman of the desert knows that she must await her man. So you won’t blame her. But many times you’ll walk the sands of the desert, thinking that maybe you could’ve left… that you could have trusted more in your love for Fatima. Because what kept you at the oasis was your own fear that you might never come back. At that point, the omens will tell you that your treasure is buried forever.
Then, sometime during the fourth year, the omens will abandon you, because you’ve stopped listening to them. The tribal chieftains will see that, and you’ll be dismissed from your position as counsellor. But, by then, you’ll be a rich merchant, with many camels and a great deal of merchandise. You’ll spend the rest of your days knowing that you didn’t pursue your destiny and that now it’s too late.”
The dream doesn’t get abandoned only because of heart-breaking failure or a comfortable life. Sometimes, the dream gets abandoned because you have succeeded in life. Here you are looking at the first stage all over again – only now you are part of the people who think that being a shepherd or baker is more important than following your destiny. And it happens because you are no longer a shepherd or baker but a counsellor to chieftains or something else similarly elevated. But the dream is still your dream and it was dreamt in the soul of the world. The dream left unfulfilled will remain in your life as a reminder of what could’ve been. The boy Santiago was counselled by the alchemist and he kept going in the pursuit of his dream. You or me may not have that counsel at hand, but the dream is still there. Do not abandon it. If you choose to still pursue your dream, there may be tougher tests ahead but those will be on the path of realizing your destiny.
Stage 8 – The test
“So what should I do now?” the boy asked
“Continue in the direction of the Pyramids,” said the alchemist. “And continue to pay heed to the omens. Your heart is still capable of showing you where the treasure is.”
“Is that the one thing I still needed to know?”
“No,” the alchemist answered. “What you still need to know is this: before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which most people give up. It’s the point as which, as we say in the language of the desert, one ‘dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon’.
Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested.”
The alchemist gives this wisdom to the boy to prepare him for the final test that still awaits him, when he is very close to realising his dream. In the story, the boy gets tested severely – his life is threatened, twice, before he gets to realise his dream. Our tests may be different. But there will be tests where we will need to demonstrate the mastery over the things learned on the way. And then victory..
Stage 9 – Fulfilment
They made the boy continue digging, but he found nothing. As the sun rose, the men began to beat the boy. He was bruised and bleeding, his clothing was torn to shreds, and he felt that death was near.
“What good is money to you if you’re going to die? It’s not often that money can save someone’s life,” the alchemist had said. Finally, the boy screamed at the men, “I’m digging for treasure!” and although his mouth was bleeding and swollen, he told his attackers that he had twice dreamed of a treasure hidden near the Pyramids of Egypt.
The man who appeared to be the leader of the group spoke to one of the others: “Leave him. He doesn’t have anything else. He must’ve stolen this gold.”
The boy fell to the sand, nearly unconscious. The leader shook him and said, “We’re leaving.”
But before they left, he came back to the boy and said, “You’re not going to die. You’ll live, and you’ll learn that a man shouldn’t be so stupid. Two years ago, right here on this spot, I had a recurrent dream, too. I dreamed that I should travel to the fields of Spain and look for a ruined church where shepherds and their sheep slept. In my dream, there was a sycamore growing out of the ruins of the sacristy, and I was told that, if I dug at the roots of the sycamore, I would find a hidden treasure. But I’m not so stupid as to cross an entire desert just because of a recurrent dream.”
And they disappeared.
The boy stood up shakily, and looked once more at the Pyramids. They seemed to laugh at him, and he laughed back, his heart bursting with joy.
Because now he knew where his treasure was.
Victory and fulfilment at last. To finally reach the destination of victory, we need to choose our path carefully. The choice that we need to make is whether we are those stupid ones who will cross a desert, face all the hardships on the way, risk everything that we have, because of the dreams we had. Or, we are those pragmatic ones who think that dreams are not real even though they sometimes make really nice feel-good stories. Let us hope and wish that when the time comes, we have the courage to make the correct choice.
May our lives be richer because you took time to read this post.
P.S. – In it’s first print run, The Alchemist sold a total of 900 copies and the then publisher refused to run a second print. Now, it has been read and loved by millions. The universe really works in mysterious ways.
4 thoughts on “The Alchemist – A Hero’s Journey”
Your writing is amazing , too great. The way you describe things ! Many may think to go after their dreams after reading this.
I’m really happy that it inspires you. Thanks
Amazingly awesome!!
You have captured the crux and explained it in a way that pleases the senses & mind aesthetically.
Thanks Ashish.
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