"The first time I visited China in the mid-nineties as a young, driven entrepreneur, I was happy to discover that the Chinese easily matched me in ambition and professionalism.

"The first time I visited China in the mid-nineties as a young, driven entrepreneur, I was happy to discover that the Chinese easily matched me in ambition and professionalism.

"Together, we will make a beautiful, high-end product," my manufacturer promised, adding that our partnership was 'auspicious'. Auspicious? As in, 'written in the stars'? I started noticing more mysterious goings-on: office visits from a feng shui consultant, a business plan made by an astrologer. All my life, I had been taught that magic wasn't real: "Trust your common sense." Watching the Chinese infuse the mundane with the mystical so successfully, I decided to invite magic into my life. I studied astrologyand quantum physics. I immersed myself in the beautiful art of tarot. Along the way, I started trusting my intuition. Till one day, I realized that the magic wasn't in the cards or the stars, it was in me. These were my tools. I had become a Magician."

- Marlies Dekkers