The Princess of the Wraiths by Peregrinus Hierusalemsis

What inspired you to become an author?

When I was a teenager, I travelled a lot to the Yucatán Peninsula. There, I watched plenty of beautiful and colorful birds. As I used to draw birds at that time, I wanted to write down a book on the birds of Yucatán. It was just a notebook, but that was my first written work, my first book.

 

Do you have a specific writing style?

I believe that the person who is the least suitable to judge the writing style of an author is the same person who has written the text. I think it is impossible to judge oneself objectively. I am quite good at judging the writing style of other writers. However, our own writing style is the voice of our soul. Therefore, the mind cannot judge its own words using the same words. It would be biased according to the self-esteem of the author. People with high self-esteem would always state that their works are like those of the most prestigious writers. People with low self-esteem always would diminish the importance of the texts that they have produced. Style is not just a matter of saying how brief or complex a written text is. It is also an aesthetic value judgement of quality. Therefore, it cannot be objectively judged by the author.    

How did you come up with the title for your latest book?

I decided to travel to the Middle East. However, there were a lot of political problems in that geopolitical region. Therefore, a woman hypnotized me so I would have more courage to go there. After I returned, this woman became my enemy. I did not know that at first, but she started to hypnotize me so I would have nightmares and fear. When I wrote a memoir about that event, I wanted to title it “Hypnotize me after I return from the desert.” While I had already written half of the book I decided to change the title. The reason was that I was not as brainwashed by her anymore after not seeing her for a long time, so I did not want to be controlled anymore by anyone. I wanted a title that would be related to my inner struggle against her mind powers, so I titled my book “Fighting the Princess of the Wraiths.” While she was hypnotizing me, she told me to remember the wraiths that I dreamt of when I was a child. In that way she was able to induce me night terrors while I was sleeping. That is why I nicknamed her “The Princess of the Wraiths.” The current title is now the “Princess of the Wraiths.” I reduced the size of the title because Nicole Boccelli, the copy editor of my book, suggested that. 

Is there a message in your memoir that you want readers to grasp?

Bertrand Russell (1946) wrote a book titled “A History of Western Philosophy.” In his book, he defines philosophy as a discipline that is halfway between science and religion. In my memoir, I want to explore the whole epistemological spectrum. My book is a journey through science, philosophy, and spirituality. Therefore, the underlying message of my book is that you must create your own metaphysical worldview by exploring whatever sources of knowledge you can find around the world. Indeed, one cannot make an accurate moral value judgement without a solid metaphysics or a solid scientific view. All our ideas are the result of our beliefs about the Universe and how it works.  

Is there a genre that you’d like to write that you haven’t tackled yet?

I am extremely interested in the Socratic dialogue. The Socratic dialogue was a highly popular genre during classical Greek and Hellenistic times. It is not simply writing boring philosophy essays with plenty of redundant words. Plato stated in his dialogue “Phaedrus” that only by being discussed philosophy is alive. Hence, the Socratic dialogue is a conversation between 2 or more characters with different points of view, not just an essay attempting to indoctrinate the reader.

What book are you reading now?

It is a textbook by Roger Kamien titled “Music: an appreciation” (13th edition, 2021). It is part of my daily philosophical study. I think that to be able to become a true philosopher I need to study an overview of all high culture, including learning about classical music.

What books are in your to read pile?

I have a lot. I want to solve a lot of Physics textbooks. I mean solving them, because all of them have mathematical questions that must be solved. My spiritual teacher Jana commanded me to understand the Universe where I live. Only by mastering physics and chemistry will I be able to fulfill that task. 

I also want to read all the classics of Western philosophy like the works by Kant, Descartes, and Hume. 

I am also interested in nature writing. I want to read books by naturalists such as Alfred Wallace, William Bartram, and Rachel Carson. 

I am interested in mythology. I want to read more myths in their ancient sources. I want to read more Greek mythology, the biblical pseudepigrapha, and medieval legendary stories.

What books/authors have influenced your life?

Roger Tory Peterson has influenced my life because he wrote the birding field guide that introduced me to birding.

Charles Darwin influenced my life because it was thanks to his writings that I started to see the natural world in a rational way.

Epicurus has influenced my life. Epicurus thought that humans do not need a lot. However, society tells us that we need plenty of achievements to be happy. The only way to have pleasure is by realizing that most of what we think we need to achieve are only superstitions that must be rejected.

Linnaeus influenced me to want to know the name of everything that surrounds me!

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

The guy who wrote an ancient Gnostic text known as the “Paraphrase of Shem.” I think that anonymous writer was excellent! His sacred book is obviously based on Jewish religion. However, his text is extremely original. I have never read any other Gnostic or Jewish text that is similar to it. This guy basically created his own branch of Judaism by himself! I admire this writer because he was able to think in a different way. He was an individual, not part of the crowd. He was able to create something totally different from what was being written during the time of the Roman Empire. I wish I could be like him. I think the modern world needs more people like the guy who wrote the “Paraphrase of Shem.” In our modern world, algorithms program and control people. Authors write to please the algorithms to be able to attract readers. If we want to be truly creative, we need writers that go against all algorithmic conventions. That is urgently needed for our civilization.

Who designed the cover of your latest book?

The book cover was designed by Katarzyna Burzmińska. As most Polish women named Katarzyna she usually calls herself Kasia. Her artist nickname is kiko-sempai. You can find her more easily on the Internet by looking for the name kiko-sempai. She makes a lot of fantasy art. She paints elves, warriors, genies, belly dancers, mermaids, angels, fairies, and shamans. Most of her paintings depict sexy girls. She mostly paints using digital art. However, she is an excellent watercolorist. All her paintings in my book are traditional art paintings made with watercolors. She made both the book cover and the mandrake (Mandragora officinarum) girl that is shown ubiquitously on plenty of pages of my book.   

The Princess of the Wraiths

Peregrinus Hierusalemsis

Genre: YA Memoir

Publisher: Books to Hook Publishing, LLC.

Date of Publication: 21st of June 2025

ISBN: 979-8-89283-269-4

Word Count: 262,705 

Cover Artist: Katarzyna Burzmińska 

Book Description:

Biologist-turned-author Peregrinus Hierusalemsis presents “The Princess of the Wraiths: an herbal, bestiary, human zoo, and memoir,” a captivating book that intertwines science, spirituality, and personal growth. This memoir offers a profound look at the intersections of love, knowledge, and resilience, all while reflecting on the author's rich experiences. 

Peregrinus describes the cultural experiences that he lived while growing up in Mexico between the years 1984 and 2002. He also discusses his later life in the United Kingdom and Sweden. During this time, the 2000s culture is explored.

At its core, the book conveys a powerful message: knowledge and wisdom are the ultimate tools for living a successful life. Through deeply personal anecdotes, Peregrinus touches on universal themes such as the influence of global events on individual lives, overcoming fears, seeking spiritual teachers, and navigating love and relationships. Richly illustrated with 94 handmade natural history and people-focused illustrations, this memoir provides not only an intellectual feast but also a visual delight. 

Key highlights include childhood fears of ghosts, mystical experiences, navigating young adult relationships, and insights into the biodiversity of our natural world. Peregrinus also sheds light on his experience avoiding toxic relationships, a lesson that inspired the title, “The Princess of the Wraiths.” The Princess of the Wraiths is a woman who is able to produce nightmares using hypnosis. Defeating her was Peregrinus’s greatest challenge. Through this work, readers will uncover how science and spirituality can coexist to offer a broader understanding of reality. 

This unique memoir is available for free online, making it an accessible and enriching read for anyone interested in exploring the depths of science, spirituality, and personal evolution.

FREE Download at Scribd

Excerpt:

 

Regarding death, my grandmother Lorenza used to tell me an anecdote that happened to her while she was a kid. She was an orphan, so she went to live with her grandmother, who became her primary caregiver. My great-great-grandmother lived in Los Ranchos de San José, a village close to Villa Guerrero, State of Mexico. In her house, there was a black cherry tree (Prunus serotina). One night, a great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) perched on a branch of the tree and started to vocalize. My great-great-grandmother thought that such an event was an omen. She claimed that meant that she would soon die. Thus, she told Lorenza to do whatever she could to scare the owl. My grandmother Lorenza was unable to scare the owl. The owl vocalized in the same place for several nights, and my great-great-grandmother died less than a month after the owl started hooting. After the burial, Ismaela arrived to tell her niece Lorenza that she should leave the house to go to live with her, as Lorenza was still a kid. When both were leaving the house, Lorenza claimed that she did not want to leave the building, as she was able to listen to the ghostly voice of my dead great-great-grandmother who was calling her inside…

According to the Graeco-Roman Olympian religion, Ascalaphus was an angel of the Hades God. Hades is the dwelling place of the souls of the dead. The task of Ascalaphus was to snatch the souls of dying people to Hades. Ascalaphus was transformed into an owl by Persephone the Kore, the queen of Hell. Since then, owl Ascalaphus has visited dying people before they finally died. That is why Pliny the Elder stated in his “Natural History” that the Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) was an extremely bad omen. Spanish bishop St. Isidore of Seville transferred this superstition to Christian Catholicism in his book “Etymologiae.”

About the Author:

Peregrinus Hierusalemsis is a biologist, writer, and seeker whose life has woven together science, philosophy, and spirituality. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh (2010) with a degree in biology, he has published scientific papers on biodiversity and worked in plant sciences, entomology, and molecular biology since 2009. His professional passion lies in systematics, the classification of living things, while his personal explorations reach into philosophy, metaphysics, and the world’s ancient spiritual traditions.

From early encounters with eastern philosophy in childhood karate lessons in Mexico, to late-night debates on western philosophy with friends, to the guidance of a spiritual teacher during his A-level years in the UK, Peregrinus has always sought to understand life’s hidden patterns. These experiences, alongside his scientific training, shape his unique voice which can be described as a bridge between the empirical and the mystical.

His debut work, The Princess of the Wraiths: an herbal, bestiary, human zoo, and memoir, invites readers into a journey that blends memoir with natural history, spiritual reflection, and philosophical inquiry.