We were having coffee at the Meltemi looking towards the sea when I saw a woman with long dark hair bending down to pick up objects from the beach.  Even without seeing her face, I knew it was Marina.  Because Marina is a magical thinker who combs Parian beaches hoping to find materials she can use to make jewelry.

Four years ago Nasi, Marina’s dog, was hit by a car and had to be operated. Trying to help protect Nasi, Marina made him a talisman necklace. She used her own broken trinkets but also incorporated found objects hoping to appropriate the energy of others to help her dog.  The magic worked and Marina decided she would continue making talisman jewelry. She makes them also to help those who need healing due to love situations. Lately she has begun incorporating pumice because it easily absorbs essence oils making them aromatic.

Marina van Koesveld is a very creative woman who, along with her husband Steef, lives part-time on Paros.  She has many stories regarding her Parian life but one is particularly interesting. Years ago while on Paros, Marina met Gunnar, a factotum for a film production company.  Together they decided to write a film about a message in a bottle (like that of Bebina Bunny!) and would ask people on the island to write a short poem or thought to be included in this gigantic bottle they planned to send out to sea. Marina had to go back to Holland and Gunnar eventually met up with her there to finished the project.  But the chemistry between the two was no longer that of Paros.  They argued and it was decided Gunnar should leave but, before doing so, he went for a walk on the beach of Ijmuiden (the town where Marina lived with her family) and, voilà, he found a message in a bottle!  It had been written by a group of students from Lille who were studying sea currents.  Gunnar left the bottle and its message with Marina before leaving Holland. Feeling guilt that she may have been too abrupt with him, Marina wrote the students in Lille explaining that their bottle had been found and would they be so kind as to write Gunnar a message wishing him a happy birthday. Which the students did via email.

Marina van Koesveld’s sea jewelry and talisman for the hair

Even though she came from a family of painters, it was Marina’s teenage crush on an art student that made her decide to become an artist. After her studies in Utrecht, she taught art in a high school for six years before meeting Steef.  They married and had children which put her artistic pursuits on standby as so often happens with women once they have a family of their own.  Steef’s work as a veterinarian took them to Ijmuiden, a port city in northern Holland. But after a few years, Marina became restless and felt the need to change her lifestyle.  So she got a job in Amsterdam teaching art at a psychiatric hospital.  This, she said, was one of the most stimulating periods of her life.

All was going well for Marina, now 40, when, BOOM, her mother died.  It created much emotional discomfort for her as she felt her mother’s presence everywhere. Seeking solace, Marina began seeing a Jungian psychologist who taught her how to read Tarot cards (Carl Jung’s grandmother was a “ghost seer” so Jung was at home with the supernatural) with the intention of using Tarot readings  as a means of helping others, after having helped herself, connect with their inner-selves.

Tarot gave Marina a new road to travel. For a reading, Marina will ask you to start by drawing a tree which helps her to activate a telepathic connection. And that’s when the magic starts. Using cards she made herself, Marina begins the tour of symbols and synchronicity hoping to guide one closer to their core. Because if you have a problem, first you have to identify it before it can be resolved.

And it is because of her love of play and enchantment that I asked Marina to pretend to be Frida Kahlo for a morning as I photographed her modeling my huipiles. So, coming soon, photos!

Marina van Koesveld Talisman Jewelry

Marina & Nasi