Black magic
‘Black magic woman’, ‘whore queen’, ‘witch’; just some of the names thrown at Cleopatra throughout the centuries. It’s the oldest trick in the book: knocking down powerful, sexually confident women by labeling them witches and sexual predators. “The moment he saw her, Anthony* lost his head to her like a young man, although he was 40 years old,” the Greek biographer Plutarch marveled. Surely Cleopatra must have used black magic? Well, Cleopatra definitely cast a spell, but of a different kind: she bewitched with words. During one summer they spent in Athens together, Cleopatra made it a sport to distract Marc Anthony. As Plutarch writes: “Many times, while he was seated on his tribunal, he would receive love-billets from her in tablets of onyx, and read them.” The black onyx was a special touch: the name comes from the Greek word ‘onyx’, which means nail or claw. The story goes that one day, Cupid cut the divine fingernails of Venus while she was sleeping. He left the clippings scattered on the sand where the fates turned them into stone so that no part of the heavenly body would ever perish… just like the love between the Roman general and the Egyptian Queen. As Cleopatra knew very well: some things are simply set in stone.
*Marc Anthony, the Roman general and Cleopatra’s lover.
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Building bridges
From the Erasmus Bridge and the Mercedes-Benz Museum to Qatar’s metro network; Ben van Berkel’s iconic landmarks bring people together in rapturous beauty, again and again. I talked with the Dutch architect and educator about sensuality, ‘healthy’ buildings and the remarkable parallels between our designs.
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More than a feeling
Don’t ignore your emotions; they are much more powerful than you can imagine. By linking the magical world of emotions with hard science, Dutch scientist Pierre Capel, professor emeritus in experimental immunology, shows us the consequences of our feelings and the power of our minds. The message: we can do much more than we think. “Meditate. It’s the single best thing you can do for your health.”
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Marlies Says
Keto curious?
The fact that I feel bikini-confident all year round is, of course, a nice bonus. But for me, the biggest payoff of following the keto diet is the way it optimizes my health and gives me tons of energy.
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Marlies Says
Super (skin) food
‘If you can’t eat it, why put it on your skin?’. I pretty much live by this beauty adage. After all, with your skin being one of your body’s largest organs, anything – and I mean anything! – you put onto your skin will end up in your bloodstream.
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