Maria DanellMarie Christine Danell, born in Poland, studied philosophy and graduated in musicology (Master of Arts) at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and then, after she had defected to West-Germany, in pharmacy at the Rhenish Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitt in Bonn. As a Polish musicologist she published articles in the Polish Music Encyclopedia. As a German pharmacist she focused on her profession and in addition studied Naturopathy, Chinese medicine and Acupuncture. In 2005 Maria and her family chose to become Australians, to share the dream the thousands of people before her had had about an unspoiled paradise. The Land of Oz willingly showed her its beauty and infected her with its spirit and legend but taught her humility too. Australia often charges a high price for the privilege of living under the bluest sky on earth. And Maria had to pay too; with the loss of her previous life which had been reduced to ashes. But as it turned out, even from ashes, a new life can emerge. Fate decided to send her to the Isle of Man. This Celtic fairy world mesmerized her, then awoke her and recalled her creativity. However, a struggle with her own limits, fears, God and the Devil began. Eventually she reached the point when she realized that she had to make very serious decisions about her life; she had to choose between a peaceful life under the Southern Cross and an uncertain, perhaps lonely one, on a small rock in the Irish Sea. She decided to close her past in Australia and settled in the World of Manannan. But the Wizard of Oz did not want to give up and after only a few years on the Rock He called her back in his Emerald world again. Everything that happened had had to happen and had been initiated by a huge power: the power of her dreams, her vivid imagination and her Love for Thistles. Read More Read Less