In an interesting article about the world’s best-selling author, Paulo Coelho, the Daily Telegraph (UK 13 June 2005) mentions that “Coelho escaped from the asylum [in Brazil] three times and was eventually released in 1967. Before realising that writing was his “destiny”, he enrolled in law school, dropped out to become a hippy, and for several years wrote lyrics for Raul Seixas, the Brazilian rock star. Then, in 1974, Coelho was arrested for “subversive” activities by the ruling militia (the authorities saw Coelho’s lyrics – some of them influenced by the teaching of the satanist Aleister Crowley – as left-wing and dangerous). He was bundled into a car, taken to a secret headquarters and tortured with electric shocks to his genitals.”
See the full article, A Mystery Even To Himself, here…