There’s no one out there quite like Stevie Nicks. She has captured the attention of audiences for decades with her ethereal voice, poetic songwriting, and distinctive sense of style. At the heart of her enduring appeal lies a profound sense of mysticism, one that is far from just for show. But how exactly does Stevie Nicks use her sense of mysticism to influence and root her style and artistry? Fortunately, she’s talked about it quite a bit.
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“I totally believe in magic,” said Nicks back in 1998. “Because my life, I think, has been very magic, and magical things have come true for me time after time after time.”
Stevie Nicks’ music is a tapestry woven with threads of myth, fantasy, and deeply personal emotion. She’s never identified with spiritual labels and often had to dispel rumors that she was a witch. Her actual belief system is something private; or potentially, not a huge focus of Nicks’ life.
Stevie Nicks Has Talked About Mysticism and How It Has Influenced Her Life
Either way, mysticism has always been a big part of Nicks’ work. The most outward example of that would be the song “Rhiannon”, which was inspired by a Welsh goddess and the book Triad by Mary Bartlet Leader. When asked about it during an Interview Magazine interview back in 1998, Nicks was frank about why spirituality is vital to her particular creative process.
“Because having a little bit of the spiritual is ultimately better than having none,” said Nicks. “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. It’s the way I’ve always been. I’ve always believed in good witches, not bad witches, and fairies and angels.”
Just as well, Nicks’ spiritual life has impacted more than just her art and fashion choices. According to an interview with Jim Ladd back in 1979, Nicks believes that magic is what she is able to “give to people” creatively.
“There is always magic to be summoned at any point,” said Nicks. “I love to live in a world of magic, but not a fake world of magic. We all really basically have a lot of magic… It’s only those of us that choose to accept it, that really understand it. It’s there for everyone. That’s the only thing that I feel that I am able to give to people and that’s why I know that they respond to me because I try to give them only their own magic… Not mine, but theirs.”
Photo by Chris Walter/Getty Images
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