Magic
Nathalie
Today, Jose and I are going to talk about magic. We all. Well, not all but most people love magic one way or the other, some are very attracted to the magical fairy tales like the the ones we know from Ireland or others love Harry Potter, but magic is almost everywhere in, a lot of movies, in books, in, the way people dress in a way look at Japan they dress like magical creatures.
But why do we want to do that, you know, why do we feel so moved by those magical creatures? I believe that it has to do with that we understand or that we know this world exists or that we long for such a world. Well, I once went to Ireland and, I was in love with the bookstores. So I bought so many books and, I didn't want to pay extra for the luggage when I got back home from Ireland to Amsterdam. So I put on all my clothing so that I could take the books as hand luggage. When you come in those bookstores, it's like magic comes to life. they have those beautiful books with all those pictures and paintings and gold and glitter?
This country is, is filled with tales. Tales of creatures of all kind, because they say we don't only have like the magical creatures like the fairies or stuff like that, but also the trolls and the dark ones and the banshees for example, that is the very, heavy energies we rarely talk about ? But it is interesting because where, why did we lose it in Europe is an interesting question.
Where did our magic go? Because if you go to, to other places in South America, it has a different form, but magic is always has its place. When you go to like, , in a way a witch doctor, I will call it like that or a shaman or I don't call it, they also work with magic. They connect you to the other world, and those books about the magical creatures, but also Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter, all those , they connect us to the other world that, in a way, we understand, and we want to be part of. It us a little bit bigger than, than the human we think we are, but actually, we're also magical creatures, but we just forgot.
Jose
So it's actually something that we lost, maybe, from inside, through generations.
Nathalie
We did. And in some places of the world it's still very vibrant, And something that is normal to talk to the other world or to see other things and not only like, demons, for example, but also other creatures. But say something here, like in Europe or in Holland, they say like, people look at you like you, you are mad, you know, you're not sane at all. But when we were children, this was our world.
Jose
And thus it also has to do maybe with the fact that People in, for example, Ireland, or as you just mentioned, South America, or I can also imagine South Africa, maybe are still closer to nature.
Nathalie
Well, there is more nature left, well, Africa in a different way, but still there is, and here we are more like, yeah, we are becoming machines in a way. Everyday the same routine and there you are touched by nature and nature is magic. The way it grows. We cannot see it grow, but one day to the next we see the next leaf and say, what happened? You didn't grow overnight, but I just noticed you overnight ? And even though you have this book about he's called this German man. The Secret Lives of Trees is a beautiful book. How they are connected to each other, how they feed each other, with the mycelium is also magic, but in a different way.
Jose
How do we get it back?
Nathalie
I was about to say, how can we get it back? Well, actually, it has to do with when we are children, we are so open for the world. We explore and we just feel it. Most of the children have an imaginary friend or see other things or when they read something or look at something, they just become it ?
So for you, it's just to think as when you were a child, what did you really love? What touched you? What was magic in your life? So this is a question for you. So you are on the spot now.
Jose
Yeah, what is magic for me. Well, actually, as a child, I was a lot in nature. So for me, that was quite a magical period in my childhood.
Nathalie
What made it magical for you?
Jose
Well, maybe the colors, how it felt, how it smelled, being grounded, and of course when you're small, also seeing all the animals, walking freely around, I think that's also a big part of it, so. Yeah, I was very fortunate to grow up in kind of forest, so that was a big advantage for me.
Nathalie
I also grew up close ,to a forest, I know that feeling, but I especially know the feeling that was years later when I did a Vipassana, a silent retreat of 10 days in Brazil, and you were not allowed to talk for 10 days, you meditated 10 hours a day. It was pretty hard, but very interesting.
I can recommend it. The first five days I just thought, Oh my God, what am I doing here? I'm in Brazil and I'm just sitting on this, on this cushion all day, you know, like I'm wasting my time. I need to get out here. And then after five days, it just calmed down. In the beginning you're like, you get so many thoughts and everything, and then it quiets down and then you come in the magical space.
And you just see everything, the leaves, the colors, the animals, I saw a hummingbird, the black spiders, you know all those things, and you're so touched, you feel so United it, this is what magic also does you have magic on different levels, but when you see the magic of life, everything sees to exist and you start to be, but now magic has a lot to do with creating the perfect person.
It went to a whole different thing. If we look at how magic, how we perceive magic in the world now, it's like I thought of it and I created it. So it became something different, but it's not the magic I am talking about.
Jose
It feels like the playfulness is out of it.
Nathalie
It's a forcefulness they use. I want this in my life and I'm going to create it. That's magic. That I don't believe. I say, I open for it and then I let magic touch me. Embrace me and then also those creatures as children that we saw or that we felt they come back into our lives But most people are scared for the other world That's why they went hidden and you know, I always thought like the Lord of the Rings actually a very
Jose
Opening up
Nathalie
No, It's actually how it is. A lot of the magical creatures went underground in a way, because their time in our world was over. Like when the elves leave, stuff like that. And this is true. A lot of them just left because there was a time that we went to a different level and that we were more focused about creating things in our lives and there was no place for them.
And then life becomes hollow because we need magic. We need to be touched by something in a way we do not understand, but we truly feel. So getting in touch with magic again is getting in touch with the child in you. And for you it was nature. I loved books until today. I read like five or, or seven books at the same time. I still do. And then , a thing here and a thing there. And then my whole imagination just run wild. That was magic for me.
Jose
What was your favorite book then, you still remember?
Nathalie
I don't know. I read so many.
Jose
But if we talk about this subject, is there a favorite, which is still, what's your first thought?
Nathalie
Well, my first thought is a very dark book.
Jose
Okay. But that's also, as you said, just right away, magic.
Nathalie
It was called, The Mother of David S. Do you know that book? Was about a mother that her son became addicted. Oh, and I love Thea Beckman. We all love Thea Beckman, like Torch World, you know, that one.
Jose
But both are pretty intense.
Nathalie
They are. You know, the magic disappeared in those lives, in those books, and with The Mother of David S. I thought how far does the love of a mother go ? She gives everything and she knows that in the end she cannot help him. And then one day she decides that she will stop helping him and then this is how it goes. But they are not books about magic.
But I always felt magic inside me that I knew that there are things that we can create out of magic, that we can create things out of thin air. Also when we get an insight, we get touched by magic, and we don't know where it comes from. So we have the magical creatures, but we have also the magical touch, the magical insight.
I saw this book of Stephen Hawking's, and it was about time. And the other day we talked about time, beyond time, and I told you, I don't believe in time. I've seen his book several times, and I thought, interesting book, but I didn't buy it. And then one day I was walking down the streets, and I saw this bookstore.
And I saw it in a window. I said okay, now I'm going to buy it. I went in and I bought the book and then I opened it and it was written for Natalie. So this is magic. This is magic. It finds you. It shows you all the time. But sometimes we don't pay attention. But this is magic and the interesting thing is in his theory is that in the beginning he believed in time and he didn't believe in God or things like that, but during his life when he got older, he said the way everything is organized, there must be something that is creating it.
So this was an interesting twist, you know, but this man was also touched by magic. Magic is really wide actually. Goes beyond the creatures. But this is our first introduction to magic. But magic is being at the right place at the right moment. This is also magic. Need to know when you can love and need to know when you let go.
I don't know why they say that. This is also magic. Love is a very magical thing. You know, someone opens the door and comes in and love just ignites. This is magic. We cannot explain it. Well, a hundred of people can come through the door and you're like, I don't care. And then this one person just comes through the door and you're like, Oh, you instantly know.
Jose
True.
Nathalie
We just need to see more of the magic and less of the doing in our lives because that creates a path that is already paved out.
Jose
So it's more seeing,more being open for it. But maybe also we are a little bit built by the society.
Nathalie
Yeah, when we start believing in magic again, we become the magical creatures we are. And then... We are free. That's not what other people want, because then we are not controllable anymore, and when we become those magical creatures again, when we find this freedom inside ourselves, when magic comes back in our lives, we start creating a whole different world, and sadly, but true, there are creatures in this world that like their power.
It's not about money. It's never about money. It's about power, and when we find Freedom inside ourselves when we become those magical creatures. There is no power, because we know who we are. And then life becomes us, huh?
Next time, Jose and I will talk about kindness of the heart. How a small act can have an unpredictable outcome. A true act of kindness is one without cognition, before our thoughts catches along when we are kind to ourselves, we are kind to others. And we give ourselves and them the permission to blossom, and then we truly become free. But more about that in our next episode. If you have any questions, you can leave them in the Q& A section on Spotify, or one of the other apps you use for listening to this Podcast.
And then me and Jose will dedicate an episode to just the questions and the answers. In the meantime, you can connect with us on nathalienevali,nl and on Instagram, in the heart of being. Thank you for listening. See you next time.