Life is a Journey

"Wow, 60 is deffo the new 40!", my friend exclaimed when she saw my latest portraits, shot for this 'Queens of Cards' issue of Feminine Feminist. I thanked her for the compliment because yes, I'm kind of amazed myself to A. turn 60 this year and B. still look and feel this fit and vibrant! But proudly owning every year I've spent on this planet; I prefer to say that 60 is the new 60. If you want to become a Queen of Everything, you have to live through everything first; completing each phase so you can unlock the next one. The wonderfully wise Carl Jung called it the 'individuation process' and the Queens of Tarot - my muses for this season - symbolize the different phases of this process of becoming whole.

Not surprisingly, some of my favorite Tarot archetypes came to life through the women featured in this issue. There is Karen Hamaker-Zondag, the world-renowned astrologer who wrote 36 (!) books on esoteric subjects, one of which became my bible for all things Tarot-related: the marvelous 'Tarot as a way of life'. Like the Tarot's stern but loving keeper of knowledge, the High Priestess, Karen has challenged me throughout the years to keep looking and trust the wisdom of my intuition. Hopefully, her insightful words on these pages have the same effect on you.

Yoga teacher and Tantric bodyworker Afke Reijenga is the personification of the gorgeous, sensual Empress, the love goddess of the Tarot deck. "I teach the art of loving and the art of living," she told us, explaining how Tantra can help us turn our life into our lover. Hint: it's all about awakening your senses, and yes, lingerie can play a big role in it.

But life is not always a bed of roses, as If found out these past 60 years. Still, I'm grateful for the tough times, since they made me who I am today. With a similar attitude, boudoir photographer and writer Jen Rozenbaum managed to turn her breast cancer into an opportunity to reassess her life. A double mastectomy, a hysterectomy and a divorce later, Jen has grown into a true Queen of Swords: the embodiment of resilience. With her boudoir portraits, Jen shows women how beautiful, strong and sexy they can be during every stage of breast cancer. "Sometimes you need to look at yourself through a different lens to see the whole picture," she told me.

I thought of Jen's words when I studied the Tarot-inspired portraits Mark Uyl had taken of me for this issue. Who did I see? I saw a woman who had lived her own motto: Dare to dream, dare to grow, dare to be. A fierce Queen of Everything, but there was also a softness I never noticed before. It reminded me of the first archetype of the Tarot: the innocent Fool. On the card, you see him stepping off a cliff, trusting that the Universe will catch him. On his face, an expression of blissful faith. Life is a journey, a series of transformations that brings us closer and closer to who we are. For me, one of the biggest rewards of aging has been getting a glimpse of my true self and rediscovering my faith. On these pages, I'm introducing you to the glorious Queens of Cards who have inspired and guided me during this game called life. I hope they will do the same for you, whether you're 16 or 60. Let's play!