Johanna Arven
Author
I've loved fairy tales since childhood. During the coronavirus lockdown that began in March 2020, almost all appointments and commissions were canceled. So I picked up my unfinished fantasy novel, "PUNJA & TASHI." With Punja, the young Tibetan perfumer, you're immersed in a sensual world of fragrances rarely seen in the media. I'd only written about 30 pages in the last five years; the story was just a vague idea, a wish.
Now, starting in spring 2020, during the coronavirus crisis, I truly immersed myself in the world of the enchanted Tibetan siblings. Suddenly, the pages almost wrote themselves. And more than once, the characters in the novel even surprised me!
The author is pictured in the early 1990s, having just moved from Munich with her then-partner to the vicinity of Neuschwanstein Castle. The author lives a secluded life in a small hamlet near Neuschwanstein Castle. Contact can be made through the publisher:
beate.nagel (at) art-parfum.de
Johanna Arven discovered Buddhism at the age of 22. For the following years, she was fully integrated into it, meditating and studying within a Tibetan Buddhist school. Then a period began in which she began to rediscover her own roots—the Christianity in which she had grown up—but also the pre-Christian, Nordic cultural influences.
Ethics is more important than religion.
We aren't born as members of a particular religion. But ethics are innate in us. Johanna Arven is concerned with a more secular ethic beyond all religions. Albert Schweitzer called the same concern "reverence for all life."
More essential than religion is our fundamental human spirituality. This is an inherent inclination toward love, kindness, and affection within us as humans—regardless of our religion. Johanna Arven can fully confirm these statements.
community
However, we humans also need community, beyond our familial ties. As free individuals, we either form new forms of togetherness or integrate ourselves into existing structures. Whether these are based on a connection to nature, religion, or some other idealistic orientation, it always revolves around these themes:
- Together we can usually achieve more than one person can.
- However, only if we as individuals do not "completely disappear" in this community (ideology, institutions...).
Links / Sources
Links to some podcasts of the trilogy: Podcasts(Open link)
Background information on the creation of the PUNJA & TASHI fantasy novel trilogy will also be available via Instagram noted.
Not everything in my PUNJA & TASHI books is my own invention; so I would like to mention some sources of inspiration here:
PERFUME
(especially about perfumes with plant scents)
Johanna Arven: A true source for the figure of the perfumer Punja and of Jean Bousse can be found in the two books from the ART PARFUM publishing house, as well as detailed explanations of real perfume ingredients such as myrrh, sandalwood or vanilla:www.art-parfum.eu
BUDDHISM
Johanna Arven:
For those interested in Buddhism... here are my references - of course, there are many more possibilities:
The 17th Gyalwa Karmpa Thaye Dorje – married to Sangyumla Rinchen Yangzom – their son Thugsey was born on 11 August 2018:
https://www.karmapa.org/17th-karmapa/
Buddhist centers in Germany. Links to other countries and locations are provided there:
Dharma Center Möhra: https://dharmazentrum-moehra.de/Main/index.php
Bodhi Path – Buddhist Retreat Center: https://www.bodhipath-renchen-ulm.de/
CHRISTIANITY - Anthroposophy
Christian - undogmatic - can be found here, for example:
“Anthroposophy in Conversation”-
www.wolfgang-weirauch.de
SOURCES FOR NOVEL CHARACTERS AND THEMES
BOOK Punja & Tashi Save Christmas
Compare Eichenmax, the Spirit of this year's Christmas and Silvano: “Conversations with Müller - Subtle Exchange with Spirit Beings”, edited by Verena Staël von Holstein and Friedrich Pfannenschmid, Volume 1 and Volume 2, Flensburger Hefte Verlag, 2003
Compare Urs(Marmot): “Conversations with Animals 3 - Nature Spirits 13”, Flensburger Hefte Verlag, 2003, pages 190 - 195
Compare Ciliena (Myrrh tree): “Conversations with Trees 2 - Nature Spirits 9”, Flensburger Hefte Verlag, 2008, pages 181 - 18
BOOK Punja & Tashi fight in Norskot
Seven Poems: (1) “Birch” page 72, (2) “Elm” page 189, (3) “Cherry tree” page 222, (4) “Oak” page 223, (5) “Maple” page 224, (6) “Beech” page 232, (7) “Ash” page 273: “Mill Talks VI”, edited by Verena Staël von Holstein and Friedrich Pfannenschmid, Volume 40, Flensburger Hefte Verlag, 2018, pp. 126 - 142
About the
Background to the number 7 taught by Lady Fenja, see Wolfgang Held "Everything is Number - What the Numbers 1 to 31 Tell Us", falter, published by Freies Geistesleben, pages 54 - 59
Evening lessons by Sir Olsen (pages 107-124), cf.: Rudolf Steiner "How to Attain Insights into the Higher Worlds?", Rudolf Steiner Verlag; 15th Edition 2022
Micha's dream of Mars (pages 282 - 284) , cf. (Hayron, the Iron, pages 17 - 43): "Nature Spirits 3 - Of Smoke Creatures, Meadow Creatures, Peat Creatures and Machine Creatures", Special Issue 21, Flensburger Hefte Verlag, 2004
Lady Gwen's dream of the god Odin (pages 296 - 300), cf. (Wolf): "Conversations with Animals 4", Nature Spirits 14, Special Issue 26, Flensburger Hefte Verlag, 2010, pages 77 - 79
The Old Norwegian Dream Song by Olav Åsteson – a medieval vision of the afterlife of compelling intensity – has, despite its fragmentary nature, a similar effect in Norway as the Kalevala in Finland.
BOOK Punja & Tashi fight in Norskot
Seven Poems: (1) “Birch” page 72, (2) “Elm” page 189, (3) “Cherry tree” page 222, (4) “Oak” page 223, (5) “Maple” page 224, (6) “Beech” page 232, (7) “Ash” page 273: “Mill Talks VI”, edited by Verena Staël von Holstein and Friedrich Pfannenschmid, Volume 40, Flensburger Hefte Verlag, 2018, pp. 126-142
BOOK Punja & Tashi Searching for Traces in Tibet
Snow leopard, Atlantis: Conversations with Animals 5, Nature Spirits 17, Flensburger Hefte Verlag Special Issue No. 28, Summer 2011, pages 149 - 156
The dream of the young Esclarmonde de Péreille(* after 1224; † 16 March 1244, daughter of Raymond de Péreille, Lord of the Castle of Montségur / France, Occitanie region. She is considered a martyr of the Cathar movement): Inga and Wolfgang Veit, "Shongbrahm: Announcements from the Spiritual World" (Volume 1), CreateSpace Independent Publishing 2014, pages 149-150