Romance of Two Worlds

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Summary: A wonderful spiritual adventure!
Review: I was compelled to read from cover to cover and the left the Romance inspired with renewed hope....renewed spirit. You might also like ANGELES IN HARSH WORLD, by Don Bradley. Another wonderful, mystical adventure.

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Summary: A woman who wrote from the heart
Review: Marie wrote stories that were vivid and very moving. She creates characters who are very real and who we come to care about very much. She clearly had mystical leanings, but it's not a treatise on philosophy people! Hello? It's like... FICTION! So what if she didn't have a masters in philosophy and may not have presented her ideas with seamless logic to be proof against all philosophical contenders. It's fiction, so she doesn't have to! That doesn't mean that what she had to say wasn't very important for some people to hear! Clearly her books wouldn't have sold so well the last couple of centuries if that weren't so. I doubt any of her critics living or dead could make such a claim. Regardless Marie wrote about what she was passionate about. That's the right of a fiction writer. She wrote with a great authenticity and love for her subject that comes across just as clear and strong in this century.

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Summary: Extremely occult . . . and extremely beautiful
Review: To which literary genre does "Romance of Two Worlds" belong? It has sci-fi, fantasy, and occult elements. It offers some adventure, some romance, and some mystery. What is most striking, however, is that the plot is about a spiritual quest--the kind everyone feels the need to begin, sooner or later, when the world's answers no longer satisfy one's questions.

Marie Corelli's nameless narrator represents the seeking soul in all of us. Yet, at the beginning of the story, she appears to have given up the search. Unlike those who have never bothered to search and do not mind being in the dark, she is wasting away in mind, body and spirit. Then she meets a mysterious painter who asks to do her portrait. It is in his studio that she has her first supernatural experience, which rejuvenates her body and rekindles her need to find the answers.

Her first teacher is another mysterious figure, a Chaldean named Heliobas. (It is hinted in some chapters that he may be one of the identities of the Avatar known as the Comte de St. Germaine. I'm keeping an open mind.) Naturally, most of the world sees him as eccentric and frightening: his strange experiments with electricity and his radical takes on everything (including the books of the bible) make him a fascinating teacher to those who have "eyes to see and ears to hear," but a threat to society to those who remain in the dark.

Here is how Corelli's writing can be so off-putting. Nobody likes thinking that he or she is in the dark about anything; yet Corelli stoutly implies that this must be so for those who do not believe in her blatantly occult themes. Then she goes on to combine occult and Christian elements, creating a bizarre form of esoteric Christianity that she presents as TRUTH.

Yet let's not quibble over terminology. So what if Corelli believes that the soul is literally electric and that Heaven is a great electric circle? Other writers have made similar guesses about the soul and about Heaven, using safe words like "love" or "light." When we read that Jesus' body was electrically charged, which was why he could heal through touch, we can at least be impressed by the spunk it took to say such a thing in Victorian England.

Ultimately, everyone gets to write the story of his or her soul's search for God and to discover that the many different stories are just retellings of the same one. This retelling is particularly lovely, due to Corelli's descriptive and reverent style. It is with great passion that the heroine declares: "I desire to know why this world, this universe exists; and I also wish to prove, if possible, the truth and necessity of religion. And I think I would give my life, if it were worth anything, to be certain of the truth of Christianity."

I don't want to reveal the reason why the novel's title is "Romance of Two Worlds", because behind it is a fascinating twist that I think all readers should discover on their own. Don't worry that the book is all dialogue and teaching, however, as the plot takes many unexpected turns.

Other books in what has been called the "Heliobas triology" are "Ardath" and "The Soul of Lilith". However, it is "The Life Everlasting" that is the proper continuation of "Romance of Two Worlds", as it leads our heroine to a romance of her very own.

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Summary: Electricity and Occult Christianity.
Review: _A Romance of Two Worlds_ by Victorian novelist Marie Corelli is a majestic tale full at once of mystery, intrigue, romance, and the occult revealing the inner meaning of Christianity in beautiful prose. Marie Corelli was an English novelist of the Victorian era who was much criticized in her day for her scathing criticism of the materialism, positivism, and scientism popular in the late Nineteenth century as revealed in her novels. This novel expounds an occult theory of Christianity based on electricity. At the same time however, the author decries the excesses of spiritism that had made their way to fill in the gap left by materialist philosophy. The author does not espouse any particular creed of Christianity, though this novel focuses upon Catholicism; however, her theory of the occult essence in electricity is unique. This is what makes up her "Electric Creed of Christianity". The book includes an introduction and preface written by the author as well as an appendix containing letters testifying to the uniqueness of Marie Corelli's spiritualism. Corelli was obviously influenced by Swedenborgianism and Theosophy as well which can be seen in the novel in several places.

This novel tells the tale of the author, a pianist, who has become ill with a physical depression due to overwork. At the request of her doctor, who has run out of cures, she is advised to leave London and head for warmer climes. She travels with two friends, an American colonel and his wife. She arrives in Cannes where she meets the artist, Raffaelo Cellini, who has acquired an amazing system of color and who offers to paint her portrait. Although she is ill, she decides to allow him to do so. While Cellini is painting her portrait he offers her a magic elixer which provides her with three visions of a mysterious individual known as Heliobas. She is to find out that Heliobas is the artist's master and that he had saved Cellini from a similar depression. She is given a book to examine which reveals the hidden spiritual meaning in music and she also meets Heliobas' incredible Newfoundland dog Leo who travels back and forth from Paris where Heliobas resides bringing messages. Cellini agrees to have her meet Heliobas who will be able to cure her through his wonderful electrical powers. The author travels to Paris where she meets Heliobas and is given special potions which enable her to make a full recovery. She also meets Heliobas' sister Zara, a sculptress impressive in her own right, and their friend Prince Ivan. Heliobas is a mysterious Chaldean who has mastered the art of electricity. He allows the author to experience entirely new realms, including interplanetary travel in which she sees for herself the glories of God, the angelic being Azul (Heliobas' "twin soul"), her own guardian angel, and the mysteries of Christianity. All of this is accomplished through what Marie Corelli calls "electricity". Zara herself is possessed of special electrical powers and wears a special stone which serves to channel her electrical charge. The book encompasses at once mystery, romance, tragedy, and yet it offers hope through Christian belief against the materialism and atheism of the age. Throughout Corelli notes how many have scoffed at traditional belief in Christ and that few will understand her novel or its inner meaning. The novel also offers philosophical proof for the existence of God and the truth of God incarnate as Christ. The writing is beautiful and majestic, truly appealing to the inner soul. This novel remains a unique experience among Victorian writers and represents the first attempt of Marie Corelli at writing novels.