VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Dayna Schmidt-Johnson
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Writual channel. My name is Dayna Schmidt-Johnson. I'm the community manager of the Writual Society, our online community of spiritual enthusiasts.

And today we are going to be talking about music magic, and you are going to have to forgive me because I'm going to fangirl a bit, because we're talking to the creator of the Rock and Roll Oracle, and the Music in She Oracle. And if you had a short reading with me, or even a long one, you know that I use the Rock and Roll Oracle at the end of my readings, because this deck is so on point all the time it gives awesome - oh, I pulled my David Bowie card, got my earrings on for the session today. You know, it just has some really cool archetypes of you know, these rock and roll stars. And these decks just showcase some really cool people. And then the Music in She deck is all women. So these are so fabulous.

And I'm so over the moon to be talking to music magic deck creator and creative coach Natalie Mertz today, welcome, Natalie!

Natalie Mertz
Thank you, Dayna. Oh, you're so sweet. I'm so excited to be here.

Dayna Schmidt-Johnson
We're so excited to have you. Well, at least I am. So you got to tell us: what the heck is music magic?

Natalie Mertz
So it's really, it's what we do when we listen to music, right? It's not complicated. Music is such a powerful spiritual tool in my in my opinion, right? It's a a tool that we use all the time, whenever we listen to music, right? To evoke a feeling to, to motivate us, to energize us, to just, you know, bring us to a certain mood, to hype us up, to help us emote, right, so it's really just using the music that we love, you know, to to help us through our through our daily lives, basically, in a nutshell.

Dayna Schmidt-Johnson
So what does a music magic practice look like? And how can we incorporate that into our own lives? Because it sounds like a lot of fun.

Natalie Mertz
Yeah. So um, so this is a part of how and why I created my oracle decks. And so how I use it, like with my oracle decks is in the morning, I will shuffle the deck. And I'll pull a card at you know, Whitney, then you know, kind of read up about Whitney and in my guidebook and whatnot, and channel, that kind of affirmation and that message for the day.

So that that is like a tangible tool that I've that I've created, to kind of work with music magic, but it's really just, whenever we play music, you know, and putting on a certain playlist and stuff.

And I also like to think about music magic as like a vision board. But really, it's like a soundtrack. Right? So, you know, like, there's certain spells that that people use, right? There's certain spreads that we use, when we want to have certain information or guidance on a certain thing, we use music in the same way.

So you know, maybe it's like playing a certain playlist, like I'm trying to get hyped up to, you know, to go to work and do my creative work, right? Or maybe I went through a breakup, you know, and I need help kind of emotionally processing things.

So music magic is really just, I think more intentionally using music or being conscious about how we're engaging with the music. And also using it to as like a like a meditative practice, right, and using it to get into maybe a more peaceful state or more energetic state.

And to also really contemplate what these lyrics mean to me, you know, like, what is this key change? What is it? What is it doing?

You know, like when I put Stevie Wonder on, it's always like, that key change or whatever, why does it make me want to cry right now? Right? You know, and just using it as an opportunity to get curious about ourselves and what's going on and to help us kind of process our daily lives.

Dayna Schmidt-Johnson
Music is super powerful. I've never thought about using it during a spell. You know, I think we tend to overthink things a little bit, get a bit into in our heads and then have silence around us but it sounds like music is like an add, a value add if you will, to any any spells you might be doing.

Natalie Mertz
Yeah, absolutely, you know, I think it's something you can incorporate into your spiritual process, your ritual, it could be a ritual on its own. And that's what I kind of love about it. We all have access to music. You have your phone or you know, even a radio or whatever, like you have access to music, so it's this really kind of open source tool that then everybody can use, and again to listening to our favorite songs, even over and over again.

Like it's almost like a chant. Right? Like we're evoking a certain mood or like, we're really trying to, like, get into the energy of the song. So we'd put it on repeat. Well, that's a chant. Right? So yeah. 

And definitely like using it in conjunction with spells or with any other kind of practice to, you know, see what works, see what feelings come up and whatnot.

And also too, I know like with with tarot, and with oracle decks and stuff, we use these tools as almost like a focal point, right, or almost kind of like a mental distraction or not a distraction, but something to really focus on, so that the messages can come through, right? Music can be the same way too. We're kind of engaged in the music and whatnot. So our minds are kind of like in a looser state, in a more open state to to receive information.

And how often too are you driving, you know, you're on a road trip, you're listening to music, and all this inspiration comes to you, right? Like when I'm back at home, I'm going to write this out, I'm going to do this, I'm going to whatever, right? 

Or seeing a live live band. Like, I don't know about you, but like I get super inspired. So you know, I think there's there's musical spirit guides that speak to us through through music.

Dayna Schmidt-Johnson
Yeah, definitely, that live music aspect is like seeing people at their highest form of, you know, what they're bringing to the world is really powerful and potent and powerful and magical.

So then I guess the question is, do you have to be musical to be able to do music magic? Or at least creative or anything like that? Or can you lack all of that entirely and still be successful at music magic?

Natalie Mertz
Hell, no, you don't have to be musical. I gave up guitar lessons when I was 14, okay. I mean, I still I sing my little heart out in the shower, you know what I mean? I put on concertos in my in my car all the time. But I'm not a musician, I'm just a fan. I'm just a big, big fan.

And so you don't have to identify as a creative, as a musician at all. You know, I think most people just, you know, we listen to music. And and again, it's like, as with any I think spiritual tool, you can go real deep right into any topic into tarot or oracle or spell work, shadow work, etc, right? You can go as deep as you want. Or not, you know what I mean?

The idea is that we all are plugged in, right, we all have the super powerful antenna of intuition. And so we use these tools again, just to kind of help us channel that music is the same way too.

And just ask yourself too, like, what are what are some songs, or artists, you know, that I like to listen to when I want to feel inspired? What artists helped me feel more at peace or feel more connected to the spirit realm or to the universe or whatnot.

So really, it's like, anyone can do it, I think it's really just being a little bit more intentional about what you're listening to, and how you're listening to it, and what do you want to channel?

The point of my deck, too, is, I feel like musicians and and public figures are kind of like our modern day deities, right? And we look up to them, and we look at their life experience, and what can I glean from that, right? They make music that I absolutely love and like touches like the deepest part of my soul, you know, and like, why is that? Being curious about that, and also channeling that. You know, why I made this tool is to meditate on like, you know, Patti Smith's Gloria song, and what does that mean to me? 

Dayna Schmidt-Johnson
That's a great rant, and kind of goes into my next question, which is like, how did you get here? Music magic isn't something that's talked about a lot. Certainly this deck is very unique. You know, all oracle decks kind of are but, we just don't see things like this very often. Who's pulling a Prince card on the regular, you know? So, how did you get here if you quit guitar at 14?

Natalie Mertz
Um, yeah, so I, I've been a music fan, I've been obsessed with music my whole entire life. When I was a kid, I would challenge people to turn the radio to any channel. And I could tell you what the name of the song is, or the artist, or some weird, fun pop-up video fun fact about the song or something. I just like, I really was obsessed with the radio. And I was I've always been obsessed with music.

And when I get older, I found I really love reading about their lives and reading their biographies and memoirs. Because again, you know, there's musicians, there's artists like Prince, or Diana Ross, or David Bowie, where I was like, how did you do something so extraordinary? How did you create something that touches me so deeply? Right? I want to know what what is it and I just, I love reading about their lives.

And I also love finding out that they're human, that they're, they're not they're flawed just like I am, they have problems and issues. You know, just like me. Prince is not human. Prince is the exception. Prince, they are an alien just dropped down from some faraway purple planet. So he is an exception to the rule. But everyone else, you know, like, really struggled drug addiction and alcoholism. Depression, you know, Nina Simone, she was kind of misdiagnosed at the time as manic depressive, but really, she was probably more. I mean, I'm not a psychologist or whatever. But she's kind of more bipolar, you know, just all these ups and downs. And I was like, oh, they're imperfect. So maybe, you know, I could create something extraordinary too.

So anyway, so I love reading and researching and watching documentaries. And I love oracle decks. And for a long time, I was a graphic designer by trade. So I'm a visual artist, too. So it's kind of like making this oracle deck or decks was like the trifecta of everything that I love. So I illustrated the cards. I love researching all the artists and like, what does it make? You know, what does Whitney Houston mean to me, you know, and what is the message of her music and her life mean? And just kind of like putting that into an Oracle deck form. 

Dayna Schmidt-Johnson
So cool, how all of these things just converged into this, this perfect arena for you with music magic. So Natalie, what is it that you love about music magic? And why should we all love it, too?

Natalie Mertz
I so I'm a Sagittarius. And so I like to have fun, fun, fun. And freedom is very important to me, you know, and I've always - spirituality has always been something very important to me too. I have always been really hungry and very curious. Learning about different modalities and stuff. And for me, it was like, crossing the streams of like, the fun and the energy of music and the idea of parties and like studio 54 And like, you know, like house music that you know, that's kind of my shit.

I'm mixing it with spirituality, because in my experience, too, you know, like I would go to meditation sessions or talks or whatever, or you know, a channeling session or whatever, whenever whenever it's like community or whatnot, or even just in general spirits or practices. They're very quiet and introspective, which is so important, right? Like it's so good to get quiet, life is very hectic and crazy, it's important to get quiet so we can listen and kind of download what what the information that we need. And I would go to these things, I loved it, but then I was like, oh, I want to go like, have fun and I want to dance or whatever.

So the idea of music magic for me, what I love about it is it's a spiritual connection, but it's a more kind of like, energetic, celebratory for me, practice, right? I like a lot of dance music. I like a lot of house disco. I like things like to help you move the body, right. And, as Sonia Choquette likes to point out, you know, you have to let the Spirit move you. Well, you have to literally move, right, like, actually moving your body actually helps bring the spirit in.

So I just love having having the more quiet and introspective, kind of softer practices. And then I also love, when I when I'm dancing, you know, when I go to a Soul In The Horn party, or I, you know, I'm going to see Beyonce in August. That is a spiritual experience. You can't tell me otherwise, right? Listening to your favorite artists or the music that really turns you on. You can't tell me that's not a spiritual experience.

Dayna Schmidt-Johnson
1,000% I have definitely had some great spiritual experiences with live music. And it is really like, this is a moment, like I can remember back to those particular moments in time and it's so cool.

Natalie, thank you so much for being here today and talking us through some music magic. We are so excited to have you as one of our teachers in the Writual society in August, where you're going to teach us even more and how to really get into it. But in the meantime, where can people find you online?

Natalie Mertz
Yes, so I'm on Instagram @MusicInShe. You can also go to musicinshe.com if you want to check out the Music In She Oracle deck, the Rock and Roll one is sold out but I have that on there. I also have like an Oracle deck wrap too, like a silk wrap. But anyways, yeah, that's where you can find me.

Dayna Schmidt-Johnson
Amazing. We'll follow you at Music In She and we will see you in the society in August. Thank you so much, Natalie, have a great day everyone. Bye bye.