Scarlet Fan

About the Book

Scarlet Fan is a magical, mystical fantasy story for dancers-at-heart. Albeit light and lyrical, its theme—“the importance of balancing the outer with the inner, action with intuition, externalization with introspection (sun with moon, fire with water)—is one whose relevance cannot be underestimated at this time when the imbalance of misdirected scattered fire energy does threaten to destroy this planet. The story is alive. It is visual and rich with verbal imagery. The reader, whether male or female, is lured to identify closely with the protagonist, Philomela (whose name literally means love song in Greek): her frustrations, confusion, the gamut of emotions and feelings she experiences as she undergoes the transformations necessary to reunite with her counterpart, the knight. The reader would derive inspiration from the words of Mars and Venus (embodiments of action and intuition respectively) and other mythical gods as they provide hope, encouragement, and guidance to assist Philomela in her unique quest. It is unique yet universal and one whose realization in this story suggests a glimpse of the beauty and power of the extraordinary destiny of our race. While the archetype of the proverbial knight in shining armor may be considered (and justifiably) to be outdated and redundant, it does play a vital role in Scarlet Fan. For the knight, “when his fierce and fiery ways are directed and inspired by intuition (Venus),” he is capable here of epitomizing one aspect of the true ideal, the male aspect, when balanced and whole. Only then doth the twain meet. In his words, “intuition comes first from the water.” (It’s all inside us, but it cannot stay there forever.) Hence the focus is on Philomela, the embodied female. It is she who must summon her own fire—the courage, will, and determination to delve into the deep and bring to the surface her subterranean talents. She must allow the waters of the subconscious mind to trickle out and nourish this barren soil. So yin meets yang, and powers within can sally forth into the world, like a beautiful rose with its petals unfurled. One sees the shining, magnificently velvety deep blood red of the outer petals. But one can only guess at the quintessence of its heart. Mystery prevails.

About the Author

Melody Lemond was born in Sydney, Australia on October 2, 1950, into a large family – mostly of females. Her thirteen years spent in Catholic boarding schools were dark and stultifying, yet the clouds of suppression, repression and oppression gradually dissipated as she emerged into womanhood and emancipation during the 1970s. Melody wasted no time making contacts with artists and sensitive people of like mind. During the earlier part of the 1970s, she took yoga, dance and drama workshops. Then, after buying a donkey named Abdul and sometimes riding it in whatever demonstrations might require her input at the time, she moved to the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales where she traveled the ‘bush’ regions with her sister, giving drama workshops for children in isolated towns – sometimes in local country halls and often outdoors, receiving some acclaim from local media. It was after a brief, yet significant eye-to-eye encounter with an erect snake that Melody somehow knew that it was time to leave the bush for the city… and sold Abdul. This was a major decision, which required that she drop her well-laid plans of traveling around Australia with her sister (and donkey and cart) doing puppet shows. In the mid-1970s, Melody was drawn to the world of theater in Sydney, specifically to the genius of Lindsay Kemp (British) and his band of fine performers, then touring Australia. For a year she traveled with his company – a magical year (understatement), which primed her well for the advent, the following year, of Marcel Marceau, with whom she formed a close bond. The beauty and power of this significant relationship prompted Melody to enlist the aid of her guides to write a channeled book, utilizing the light of the then pervading inspiration. These compilations comprised much wisdom and guidance (mostly in prose), which Melody sought to follow while performing her solo performance, “Satin Dreamscapes”, a lyrical contemporary piece which played in the major cities in Australia as well as in U.S. for a brief season in 1980. On her return from U.S. Melody compiled her earlier channelings – held during the rise of the moon for a year after Marceau’s mid-seventies tour – into what was entitled: “Crystal Fragments”. During Marceau’s next tour to Australia in 1982, he corrected, at one of their meetings, the French conversations strewn throughout its pages. These limited edition ‘print-outs’ were distributed among friends. During the early eighties, Melody, continuing her writing and reading, assisted unemployed artists of all mediums to access government grants for group projects as promised by the Prime Minister of the time – yet to little avail. In 1984, Melody gave birth to a son, now a scientist and avid surfer – and in 1987 to a daughter, now a trained and talented dancer. She is presently living in Byron Bay, close to the sea and to like-minded people. As with her now grown children, she is riding the waves with anticipation and readiness. Contact the author at: melodylemond@gmail.com