Life is a witch and then you zoom. It may sound like a strange statement, but it carries a profound truth. Life is unpredictable, full of surprises and challenges that we have to navigate. Sometimes, it can feel like we are being put under a spell, where everything goes wrong and nothing seems to work out. However, just as quickly as things turn sour, they can also turn around and we find ourselves zooming towards success, happiness, and fulfillment. The word "witch" is often associated with negativity and darkness.
Jimmy Page took Led Zeppelin to superstardom in the Seventies with songs including Whole Lotta Love and Stairway To Heaven.
Once, when a hotel receptionist said it must feel great to throw a television through a window, the band s legendary manager, Peter Grant, took 200 out of his wallet and said, Here, be our guest. Unsurprisingly there s very little evidence that Page was in cahoots with Beelzebub, although he was a devoted follower of someone who may well have been renowned British occultist Aleister Crowley.
The word "witch" is often associated with negativity and darkness. It conjures up images of a green-skinned hag stirring a cauldron, casting spells and curses. Similarly, life can sometimes throw us into a cauldron of difficulties and setbacks, where it seems like everything is working against us.
Jimmy Page on the true story behind ‘Stairway To Heaven’
Jimmy Page: the defining figure of a thousand heavy metal tropes, pioneer of stage and studio and the visionary who conjured rock’s greatest ever album sequence. What’s more, he’s been his own archivist since the day he first picked up a guitar. From the creation of Led Zeppelin’s modern mythology to the true story of ‘Stairway To Heaven’, here, in his own words, is the undisputed lord of the riffs
16 January 2021UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 17: EARLS COURT Photo of Jimmy PAGE and LED ZEPPELIN, Jimmy Page performing live onstage (Photo by Ian Dickson/Redferns) Ian Dickson
Led Zeppelin remain rock’s great colossus, the perennial soundtrack to mayhem and carnage, a band that have, over the years, been yoked to all manner of imaginary rampaging hordes. In their heyday – in the 1970s, when they were fully operational – they were the hard rock equivalent of the thunderous blitzkrieg, a gang of marauding Viking warriors, the template of pre-punk orthodoxy and the bar by which every other rock group was judged.
Few managed it, as Zeppelin’s high-concept, high-octane mix of light and shade, of push and pull and loud and quiet – all of it determined by the group’s leader, Jimmy Page – was nigh on impossible to top.
Of course, it couldn’t last. When punk rock consumed the music industry towards the end of the 1970s, Zeppelin were suddenly regarded as unnecessary behemoths, the veritable dinosaurs of rock. But in the last 30 years or so, there has been something of gradual volte-face, through which the band have been promoted back to the industry premiership, where they now reside as permanent fixtures – inviolate, immaculate and beyond reproach.
They remain an incubator of heroic fantasies and it is now impossible to listen to the likes of “Trampled Under Foot”, “Kashmir”, “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” or any of their other Wagnerian classics, complete with their wailing and their titanic rock riffs, without imagining yourself as the invading conqueror of something or other – even if you’re just overtaking someone on the M40.
Jimmy Page knows this, and he knew it at the time, when he was masterminding all of the band’s momentous records: their 1969 debut, Led Zeppelin, which invented the 1970s in the space of 44 minutes and 54 seconds, and at a cost of just £1,782 (one of Page’s original names for the group was the more prosaic Mad Dogs; they had only been together for two-and-a-half weeks before they recorded it); Led Zeppelin II, also from 1969, the heaviest rock album ever made; 1970’s Led Zeppelin III, in which the band showed their acoustic side; Led Zeppelin IV, from 1971, which contained “Stairway To Heaven” (unceasingly voted the greatest rock song ever recorded, for a while this became the most played track on US radio; it was so beloved by aspiring guitarists that it was actually banned from being played in some guitar shops); 1973’s relatively lacklustre Houses Of The Holy; 1975’s monumental double album Physical Graffiti, which continued their acknowledgement of what would soon become known as world music; their 1976 pre-punk showpiece Presence; and their 1979 swan song In Through The Out Door. Page produced each and every one of them, alone. The band were Page’s vision and he crafted them according to what he thought a modern rock band should be: explosive, dynamic, all-conquering, the last word in savagery.
‘What we were selling was the music and nothing else. The record label didn’t understand that’
When you listen to Zeppelin you can imagine the four of them – bare-chested singer Robert Plant, bulldozer drummer John Bonham and the inevitably quiet bassist, John Paul Jones, all lending support to Page’s vision – standing tall, standing proud, putting their hands on their hips (perhaps under the mighty brow of a prophetic mountain) and surveying the skyline, almost as though their music was being made without them. In a sense that wouldn’t have been so surprising, because as Zeppelin’s extraordinary sound started to become so otherworldly – it was on Led Zeppelin II that the futuristic brutality of their noise began to take shape – it became easy to assume that this really was the music of the gods, with Page and co acting as mere conduits.
In their time, these conduits certainly attracted their own disciples, because in the first half of the 1970s most young men between the ages of 15 and 25 tried to look like Page or Plant: shoulder-length locks, billowing flares (covered perhaps in one of the band’s rune-like symbols), maybe a velvet jacket and a pair of platform boots. It was during the cooler months when their disciples could be mistaken for a real army, however, as they would wander around in old army great coats, the type with big fat belts, possibly holding a Zeppelin album under their arm, to show their allegiance. For some reason – probably because of its extremely recognisable cover, which was based on a photo of Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, and his “Flying Circus” Jagdstaffel 11 squadron during the First World War from 1917 – this was usually a copy of Led Zeppelin II. So not only did Jimmy Page’s band sound like nothing on earth, but they managed to co-opt an entire generation of decidedly earthbound devotees.
The band always felt that too much explanation of their work or the examination of its origins was unnecessary, yet at their heart they were a modern blues band, a heavy one at that. If you aspired to be a member of the rock fraternity in the early 1970s, you were judged on how “heavy” you were, how loud, how showy, how dynamic. If your power chords were riotous and barbarous and “authentic” enough (whatever that meant and, actually, no one ever really knew) then you were allowed into the fold. Zeppelin were universally considered to be the heaviest group of them all – Page’s riffs and power chords had monumental strength – and so consequently they were often deemed to be the coolest.
The band also became a byword for debauchery and excess, and everything they did was on a grand scale: comestible-covered groupies seemed to be readily available, Bonham could be seen riding motorcycles down hotel corridors, while rented rooms were regularly trashed and “redecorated”. Once, when a hotel receptionist said it must feel great to throw a television through a window, the band’s legendary manager, Peter Grant, took $200 out of his wallet and said, “Here, be our guest.” One story has Page being delivered to a waiting throng of girls on a room service trolley. Their sexual extravagance was mirrored in some of their songs: during “Communication Breakdown”, for instance, Robert Plant can be heard to scream, “Suck it,” just before Page delivers a ferocious guitar solo. While this seems unconscionable now, it was symptomatic of the age. More menacingly, Page had a fascination for the occult, especially the work of the author and magician Aleister Crowley. This allowed the increasingly copious number of Zeppelin fantasists to paint ever-more colourful narratives of the band’s so-called “deal with the devil”. Of course, none of it was true, but it was great for business.
The band always felt that too much explanation of their work or the examination of its origins was unnecessary, yet at their heart they were a modern blues band, a heavy one at that. If you aspired to be a member of the rock fraternity in the early 1970s, you were judged on how “heavy” you were, how loud, how showy, how dynamic. If your power chords were riotous and barbarous and “authentic” enough (whatever that meant and, actually, no one ever really knew) then you were allowed into the fold. Zeppelin were universally considered to be the heaviest group of them all – Page’s riffs and power chords had monumental strength – and so consequently they were often deemed to be the coolest.
Whether it's dealing with a failed relationship, a loss of a loved one, or financial hardships, these challenges can make us feel helpless and trapped. But just like a witch's spell can be broken, we have the power to break free from the clutches of life's challenges. It is through these hardships that we often discover our own strength and resilience. We learn to adapt, to find solutions, and to rise above the obstacles thrown in our path. **Life may be a witch, but we have the power to overcome its spells and create our own destiny.** The second part of the statement - "and then you zoom" - represents the idea that life can change in an instant. One moment, we may be struggling and feeling stuck, but the next moment, everything can shift and we find ourselves soaring towards success. **Life is full of exhilarating moments where we suddenly find ourselves propelled forward, achieving our goals and dreams.** These moments of zooming can occur in various aspects of our lives - career, relationships, or personal growth. It can be getting that promotion we've been working towards, finding the love of our life, or achieving a personal milestone. **Life is constantly in motion, and just when we least expect it, we can experience a sudden surge of positivity and progress.** So, while life may sometimes feel like a witch casting spells and throwing obstacles our way, we must remember that we have the power to break free and create our own destiny. And when we least expect it, life can also bring us moments of zooming, where we find ourselves gliding towards success and fulfillment. **It is in these moments that we embrace the magic of life and appreciate the journey it takes us on.**.
Reviews for "Harnessing the Power of Visualization for Manifestation"
1. John - 2/5 stars - I was really disappointed with "Life is a witch and then you zoom". The story felt disjointed and lacked a clear plot or direction. The characters were uninteresting and their motivations were never fully explained. The humor also fell flat for me, as the jokes were often forced and predictable. Overall, I found it difficult to stay engaged with the film and couldn't wait for it to end.
2. Emily - 2/5 stars - I wasn't a fan of "Life is a witch and then you zoom". The pacing was all over the place, making it difficult to follow the story. The visuals were underwhelming and didn't captivate my attention. Additionally, the acting felt forced and unnatural, which made it hard to connect with the characters. I had high hopes for this film, but unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations.
3. Michael - 1/5 stars - "Life is a witch and then you zoom" was a disaster. The writing was juvenile and the dialogue was cringe-worthy. The filmmakers seemed more focused on trying to be edgy and controversial than actually delivering a coherent story. The inconsistencies and plot holes were glaring, and I found myself rolling my eyes throughout the entire film. I would not recommend wasting your time on this one.
4. Sarah - 2/5 stars - I found "Life is a witch and then you zoom" to be confusing and unoriginal. It attempted to blend different genres, but failed to execute them effectively. The transitions were jarring, and I often felt lost in the convoluted plot. The jokes were hit or miss, with some falling flat and others feeling forced. Overall, I was left underwhelmed and unsatisfied with this film.