Could the divine be a woman?
In her visions, she saw the divine as blissfully female: "She is so bright and glorious that you cannot look at her face or her garments for the splendor with which she shines." (She often described this luminous creature as radiant sapphire-blue). The ballsy nun wasn't afraid to share this vision through her teachings, books and music: "The highest blessing in all of creation lies in the form of a woman."
Another great example of Hildegard's proto-feminist ideas: in defiance of church belief at the time, the medieval nun boldly proclaimed that menstruation does not make a woman unclean, but the shedding of blood in war certainly does render a soldier unclean. In 1150, she also wrote the Western World's first known description of a female orgasm, mentioning 'sensual delights', and 'contracting organs'.
Luckily for Hildegard (and us!), she was neither understood nor taken seriously by the patriarchy, thereby avoiding getting burned at the stake for blasphemy. Perhaps the visionary nun was simply too far ahead of her time.
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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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