Conny Mendez
Juana María de la Concepción, commonly known as Conny Méndez, was born on April 11, 1898, in Caracas, Venezuela. She was a multi-talented composer, singer, writer, caricaturist, actress, and metaphysician.
Her parents were poet Eugenio Méndez y Mendoza and Lastenia Guzmán. She completed her primary and secondary education in Caracas and New York City. In New York, she studied plastic arts at the Art Students League and music at the New School of Music. During the 1920s, she returned to Caracas and collaborated as a writer and caricaturist for various magazines and newspapers, including El Nuevo Diario, Elite, and Nosotras. Her cartoons were later collected in Bisturí: Álbum de caricaturas (1931).
In 1946, Méndez founded the Christian Metaphysics movement in Venezuela, deeply influenced by the teachings of Count Saint-Germain, the European occultist. In the early 1950s, she worked as an actress in Terence Rattigan's play Separate Tables (Camas separadas), directed by Horacio Peterson at the Caracas Theater Club. In 1955, she published her autobiography, titled Memorias de una loca (Memories of a Crazy Woman), followed by Del guayuco al quepis in 1967.
However, her most fruitful work was in the field of musical composition and performance. Her folk and popular repertoire includes more than 40 compositions, such as "Chucho y Ceferina", "La Negrita Marisol", "Venezuela Habla Cantando", and many others.
The final years of her life were dedicated exclusively to the study and teaching of Christian metaphysics. In 1977, she published a series of foundational works on the subject, including Metafísica al alcance de todos (Metaphysics for Everyone) (1977), Misterios develados (Unveiled Mysteries) (1979), and El librito azul (The Blue Booklet).
Conny Méndez passed away in Miami on November 26, 1979.
The Principle of Mentalism
This Principle embodies the truth that "All is Mind". It explains that THE ALL (which is the Substantial Reality underlying all the outward manifestations and appearances which we know under the terms of "The Material Universe"; the "Phenomena of Life"; "Matter"; "Energy"; and, in short, all that is apparent to our material senses), is SPIRIT which in itself is UNKNOWABLE and UNDEFINABLE, but which may be considered and thought of as A UNIVERSAL, INFINITE, LIVING MIND. It also explains that all the phenomenal world or universe is simply a Mental Creation of THE ALL, subject to the Laws of Created Things, and that the universe, as a whole, and in its parts or units, has its existence in the Mind of THE ALL, in which Mind we "live and move and have our being". This Principle, by establishing the Mental Nature of the Universe, easily explains all of the varied mental and psychic phenomena that occupy such a large portion of the public attention, and which, without such explanation, are non-understandable and defy scientific treatment. An understanding of this great Hermetic Principle of Mentalism enables the individual to readily grasp the laws of the Mental Universe, and to apply the same to his well-being and advancement. The Hermetic Student is enabled to apply intelligently the great Mental Laws, instead of using them in a haphazard manner. With the Master-Key in his possession, the student may unlock the many doors of the mental and psychic temple of knowledge, and enter the same freely and intelligently. This Principle explains the true nature of "Energy," "Power," and "Matter," and why and how all these are subordinate to the Mastery of Mind. One of the old Hermetic Masters wrote, long ages ago: "He who grasps the truth of the Mental Nature of the Universe is well advanced on The Path to Mastery". And these words are as true today as at the time they were first written. Without this Master-Key, Mastery is impossible, and the student knocks in vain at the many doors of The Temple.