With her mystical lyricism, flowing robes of black chiffon, and an air of otherworldliness, former Fleetwood Mac frontwoman Stevie Nicks is no stranger to witchy, supernatural concepts like having a past life, communicating with the dead, and drawing power from nature. While she reinforces this magical persona with songs like “Rhiannon” and “Dreams,” Nicks doesn’t just talk the talk. She also walks the walk.
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So, when Playboy asked her a question about past lives that would stump the average person, Nicks had several answers ready.
Stevie Nicks Lists People She Believes She Was In A Past Life
Whether as the tambourine-wielding vocalist to Fleetwood Mac or the captivating solo performer of classic rock hits like “Edge of Seventeen,” Stevie Nicks has always incorporated an air of magic into her music. The flowing chiffon and lace she donned for aesthetic purposes in her early days of Fleetwood Mac cemented her place as an otherworldly icon, something Nicks has maintained on and off the stage. During a 1982 interview with Playboy, Nicks pondered who (or what) she was in a past life with startling certainty.
“I think I spent a lot of time in old churches, like a monk,” Nicks said. “I’m very comfortable around that kind of music, with that kind of creeping around, with being very quiet. My ballet teacher believes that my head was cut off in another life, too. I totally give with my body except for my neck. Even if I go to the beauty salon, I can’t put my head back. They have to hold it, or it will drop. The same thing happens when I dance or get a massage. It’s very weird.”
While some might consider these past lives to be more naively imaginative than a real possibility, Nicks told the magazine that it was this type of spiritual optimism that kept her songwriting intact. “I can’t do what I do if I don’t retain some innocence. You’d see a definite change in my lyrics if I became hardened. I’m not interested in existing on that critical level most people live on.”
The Aesthetic, Practical, and Health-Related Benefits Of Spirituality
Stevie Nicks’ mysticism seems to defy explanation and logic from the outside looking in. But for Nicks, there’s a simple reason for staying connected to the otherworldly. “Having a little bit of the spiritual is ultimately better than having none,” she argued in a 1998 interview. “For me, the whole idea of twirling around in chiffon onstage is a whole lot more fun than standing there in a straight dress that doesn’t move. A long, long time ago, I decided I was going to have a kind of mystical presence. So, I made my clothes, my boots, my hair, and my whole being go with that.”
“But it wasn’t something I just made up at that point,” she continued. “It’s the way I’ve always been. I’ve always believed in good witches, not bad witches, and fairies and angels.” That includes visits from dead loved ones, too. In a 2020 interview with The Guardian, Nicks said, “I absolutely know that my mom is around all the time.” She recalled a time years earlier when she was dealing with gastrointestinal problems. Standing in her kitchen, she felt something tap her on her shoulder and say, “It’s that Gatorade you’re drinking.” Nicks had been sick and was trying to rehydrate with the Hawaiian Punch-flavored electrolyte drink.
“Now, that’s not some romantic, gothic story of your mother coming back to you,” the “Gold Dust Woman” singer said. “It’s your real mother, walking into your kitchen and saying, ‘Don’t drink any more of that s***.’”
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