By Antonia Maxwell Ereñu
I am away from my Spanish café, now in the West Village, where my essence has been drawn by some sweet mysterious memory from a past life since I was 22. The rain has been cleansing the City since 2017 woke up. And who was to say that a wise man would ask me to write my whole story in 500 words. Is that possible? My life is full of contrasts!
Descriptions of Chumley’s on Bedford Street were cheerful when I inhaled my first breath in Buenos Aires. Our parents used to talk about it with admiration. I took my first steps on one of my father’s Persian rugs. It was due to his hard work, good taste, and love for beauty that my feet walked such an interesting childhood. At four, I was already inside the belly of a large ship crossing the Equator towards Spain. Twenty days on that floating house were more than enough for me.
Mallorca had the sensual scent of burnt autumn leaves and the countryside on the way to Valldemossa; it was full of white sheep there once we landed. We stayed at an impressive stone house where Chopin and George Sand once lived (the home of my relatives).
Since I was small, I was able to see and predict things before they happened. Was that a blessing or a curse? My hardest revelation was telling my mother at 13 that she would soon die. Before our last trip together back to Europe, I was struck by lightning. Oh yes I was! As a result, my senses opened and my spiritual path began. I was then 14. That same year, we were back in Mallorca. I grew a bit and mom and dad died so our lives changed dramatically.
I grew more and lived in London and Indonesia but I always returned to the West Village. That is where I felt at home and enjoyed good company at The White Horse Tavern and met new people at Studio 54. My young life became a symphony: gentle at times, whipping and stormy at others.
One day in the winter of 1973, ambulating the streets of New York, a hidden house on Bedford Street echoed my parents’ presence. The door was open so I found myself entering a place where time had stopped. It was magnificent! Only later did I find out that it was Chumley’s. So touching.
My heart, pounding and needing spiritual growth, searched for it in 40 countries. I married the Art Director of London’s Vogue Magazine, became a professional model, completed more than 300 paintings (some on commission), and searched, studied, and applied my devotion. And one unusual day, “The Soul Reading” (which I’ve shared with more than 10,000 people) manifested. I received this powerful legacy 26 years ago through Jain Monks in Palitana (India). It helps to reveal the original program before birth, allowing individuals to achieve clarity and a fuller, happier, and healthier way of living.
I just finished my book The Legacy, which explains that experience. So, while I wait for it to be translated into English, I thank all those past corners of inspiration.
Antonia Maxwell Ereñu, the widow of Maxwell, was born in Argentina and descends from the Habsburg-Bourbon lines. She studied English, French, and Italian with tutors and travelled extensively. Maxwell Ereñu also took painting classes with Mati Klarwein and Valentino Cortazar in Spain.
