05-02-15  - Denise Fleischer - Blog Tour Spot Interview with Facundo Raganato:

 

 

 

DF: Facundo, you say you have an insatiable thirst for Philosophy, but it appears your desire to expand your knowledge is far more complex. You are inspired by classical music and literature. Often noting that you “have Edgar Allan Poe in my right hand and Frederic Chopin in my left.” Your foundation of knowledge thrives with Psychology, alchemy, astrology, tarot, metaphysics, mythology, world literature, spirituality and the Mind. What is it that you’re “reaching” for as a person and as a writer?

 

         Yes, indeed, my desire to expand my knowledge is far more complex, no doubt. My goal as a writer is not very different to my goal as a person.  My goal as a writer is to reflect what I have found about the Mind and express it through literature and poetry in a way that the Reader can break boundaries and elevate their conscience. Hence, this goal also pushes me as an artist to fully develop these worlds from its literary inception with paintings and music, as well. Great thinkers have been back and forth regarding what the Mind is and how it is the tool that makes us perceive the reality as it perceives it, so even if we try to define what it is, there will always be something more that pushes it beyond its definition, similar to the search for Truth; it is a constant, evolutionary expansion. However, that is where Art comes along, in a poem a writer writes about the shadows of the essence, the curves, the parameters of the object; showing without telling, capturing the essence without defining it; the beauty is implicit at the relationship between the artist and its art, the poet and the poem, the reader and the text read; hence, that is where experience takes on the principal role. The eternal present moment where one experiences something is beyond what we can consciously perceive; the Mind can be seen as a mirror which reflects what we want, think or feel to see, hear, smell, touch or taste, and there’s so much more going on in the subconscious level. Carefully take a risk and explore the unknown for you. Believe in yourself and Know yourself. It is such a pleasure to follow the literature of Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and others who emphasize on the Truth in myths and the subconscious part of mind. Furthermore, my stories and poems are often inclined to be spiritual, philosophical or even reflect the magic of the very eternal present moment during experience of Reading; my goal as a writer is to provoke Readers to think beyond, and make them discover something new, take Readerssomewhere else and give them something especially unique and very useful for when they come back to this reality after reading.

 

            My goal as a person is to be an artist who does not only create Art for the sake of beauty, but also takes the receiver where they have not been before in relation to themselves, inspire them to break off boundaries and explore the unknown; to not be afraid. Do not be afraid. My goal as a person is very linked to spiritual values and aspects, which are very abstract now days to mention, but they are progressively starting to take form. How long is Patience? How do you measure Justice? How far does your Forgiveness go? Do you practice your Humility? How do you acquire pure Freedom? These are Spiritual Virtues that would be hard to define unless we experience them in examples within ourselves and alchemically develop our philosopher’s stone as we taste the Elixir of Life. My goal as a person and as a writer is to reflect those examples regarding spirituality through what I love to do: Art, and revolutionize minds to make them be Free.

 

DF: You say that the key to develop our conscience is through   communication and yet, even though we are a global community, where world news is a keystroke away, the biggest problem we have is communication. We have a chronic desire to stay within our personal space and not be bothered. This often affects us as a nuclear family causing a total breakdown of the family unit to speak to one another. How can we overcome this barrier, which is often bombarded by social media, TV, and personal interests so we can elevate as individuals and the family we were meant to be?

 

            This is a very delicate theme so let me go little by little. Yes, one can experience a ‘individual’ phase where one may prefer to have a personal space and ‘not be bothered.’ If one has a chronic desire to stay within that zone, it is one’s choice to do so. Naturally, one would be open to listen to oneself and have different choices if one chooses to, in regards to others’ sake, of course. Each family has its own way of being and interacting with each other, if the family nucleus is on the edge of a breakdown, it is up to the members to spark a solution and fix it. It is up to the family to feed that nucleus to keep that flame alive. How? It is up to the members to know each other and recognize the good things that keep them together to cherish that nucleus. On the other hand, there are families with very individual members. The family nucleus could be that they all respect, exchange and interact with each other whenever they need or want to. In this case, just recognizing that they are part of a family may keep that family nucleus alive, just as long as they accept the thought/feeling that they are part of a family as a root. If the root is well planted, the family nucleus would survive regardless where its branches grow.

 

           However, that does not mean ‘communication’ is a problem. Some people can be talking for an hour and not really understand each other, while others can share something for a brief moment and understand each other more deeply. Communication is not primarily about talking or being in constant exchange of information, but about understanding each other, build a bridge; form a sort of communion between people who share the same wavelength of thought or feeling. Shared Silence can be a very powerful way of bringing up those things which stand as barriers for communication as long as we choose to express the things going on in our minds regarding the other; shared silence can persuade the mind to communicate and express more knowledge than we know nowadays.

 

           The solution is quite simple: Listen. One should be able to listen to the other selflessly as the other should be able to do the same; one should be able to express in the way that the other would understand and viceversa. All solutions are sleeping inside of us, it is through understanding, feeling and communicating with each other which sparks new ideas, it enables us to reflect things that we have not seen before about us, about the other, and about our connections. We, as humans, as spectators, as artists, as creators, have the power, the choice and the will to be stronger and more powerful than traditional stereotypes, misled ideas, the bombarded social media, TV, or whatever distraction that is placed before us.

 

DF: If we were to purchase your book, “The Characters’ Short Living Story,” what is it we would find within its pages?

 

           Hahaha! I’ve been hoping to be asked that, ironically enough, given the depth of the story, it is a challenge to answer it! The beauty about this story is that every reader will see different things about it, it is written in a way that reflects to the reader what they want to see. And after reaching the very end, the beginning would not be the same. However, essentially, you will find a literary journey; a unique timeless story which embarks on a mystical dark adventure with characters that live beyond my creation. I guarantee that it will surprise you.

 

DF: You clearly think “outside of the box,” in terms of creating a setting and storyline not governed by any formula out there. Of thousands of possible plotlines why did you choose one that challenges the characters in such an unusual way?

 

             You would have to have read the story in order for me to explain clearly why I composed the storyline, the plot and the settings the way I did since it follows a journey of discovery. However, every single detail and word in the story builds up symbols, metaphors and similes for the meanings they represent. However, in its composition, it is essentially transformative in the way the characters overcome challenges with the reader as well; it is an expansion of knowledge and wisdom about the Mind and oneself.

 

 DF: Do you see the author as a spiritual teacher?

 

              It is amazingly incredible how words can compose and manifest ideas. Brace yourself: If I say ‘Yes’ to readers who have not read the story yet, their impression about how I see the author would be very different to how they would see him without knowing my answer, and even to their impression if I say ‘No.’ Furthermore, it would be a completely different angle if I say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to readers who have indeed already read the story. So my answer is: “Maybe, what do you think?”

 

 DF: Did you assimilate into the book’s storyline ancient beliefs?

 

               Some of them, yes. There are philosophical angles to religions like Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism. There is Buddhism, Kabbalah, Taoism, references to literary texts related to “ancient” beliefs. There is Esotericism, Hermeticism. There is also knowledge reflected from the Tarot Cards and Astrology, Alchemy, the Philosopher’s stone. There is Magic and mysticism as well.

 

 DF: What is your true goal of this book?

 

               My principal goal was already accomplished. It was the 10 year journey of composing this story with all the marvelous elements it alchemically reflects back to readers. Many readers mentioned to me that they see this story as a movie, and I agree, the story is often very visual; it would be a very original and revolutionizing film. However, many projects are inspired from the creation of this story: during the writing odyssey, I used most of free time to read, learn and dig deep into philosophy, spirituality, etc. I think and feel I have lot to do to express, communicate and share about the Mind, in general, about how we can begin to define spirituality officially in a way we can study and develop for the evolution of humanity, and give my best support to the value of Art above its stereotyped known parameters.

 

 DF: Do you believe in karma?

 

              Karma has different connotations depending on which culture you see it from. I believe in the balance of life. Hamlet said: “There is nothing either good nor bad, but thinking makes it so.” We tend to do right or wrong choices and we also tend to have things happen to us; we can consider them good or bad depending on how we see them. I believe in goodness unconditionally, selflessly, the teachings of Christianity, Buddhism, and the principles oneself holds. After all that, I think Karma is a philosophical and spiritual thought that can be spread and identified in many ways but ultimately it relies on one’s choice to believe in it. Perhaps Dharma is more important to believe in? I believe we, as humans, naturally have this ringing indefinable essence called “Conscience,” and it may let us have all the answers to all questions if we just listen carefully.

 

 DF: How long did it take you to write this book?

 

              It began when I was 16, which was supposed to be a short story called “The Characters’ Short Living Story.” With time, the elements philosophically presented began to grow into a novel. Ten years.

 

 DF: Are you satisfied all that you wished to present is illustrated within its pages?

 

               Yes and No. In its literary sense, it holds all the elements necessary to uphold the composition as it is (or that is how, I, the artist, see it.) However, there are paintings, hidden chapters and worlds that are naturally persuading me to present . . .

 

 DF: Where can we purchase the book?

 

                 You can purchase it at amazon.com, or you can also take a brief look at its world at thecharactersshortlivingstory.com

 

 DF: How will you promote it?

 

                  Art.