Juliette Lewis is "slightly Pagan" and her spiritual beliefs inspire her music.
The 42-year-old singer-and-actress is heading out on a European tour with her band The Licks – their first since 2008 – and has gone back to rock after taking a break from rock in 2009 to focus on her acting career.
Juliette considers herself a follower of Paganism due to her connection to the natural world which she says inspires her songwriting and art.
Speaking to website Team Rock, Juliette – who has identified as a Christian and a Scientologist in the past – said: "For me, artistry and spiritualism are connected. How I connect and communicate with other souls is through a creative medium, but my spiritualism is that of trying to be mindful and have empathy towards other people who are sharing this planet with me. And the more understanding you gain of your own negative feelings, the more you understand it in others. I do all kinds of things to connect with my spirit life. I’m really into nature, you could even say that I’m slightly Pagan, and my way of getting out of my own ego and headspace is to walk with nature and take in the beauty that surrounds me. I love trees and I love flowers, and I really love the moon at night. I think my spiritual journey is actually getting deeper as time goes by."
Juliette and The Licks are to release a new EP this summer and the collection of songs also feature Florence + the Machine’s keyboardist Isabella Summers.
The ‘Natural Born Killers’ star says the songs are inspired by love and that theme is down to her new mystery man.
She shared: "Love is that benevolent and gorgeous emotion that bonds people. There are obviously all kinds of love, but I really like the idea of a partnership and having this companion where you’re totally different from one another but you understand each other’s differences. I’m in a really nice relationship right now, but I don’t have that pie-in-the-sky illusion or delusion of love that I once had when I was a kid. Over time you learn that you can fall in love with different people and have completely different experiences depending on where you and the other person in your life is at."
And love is the overwhelming emotion that Juliette experiences when she sings on stage and that’s what she wants her fans to feel when they watch her.
She added: "I also experience love during these live shows, and that’s the biggest, most powerful sense of unity and connection that you can imagine: it’s just people letting go of their hindrances and letting that love light shine. Even being in rock ‘n’ roll and being a wild woman, that’s all I want to give to people: light."
Juliette Lewis: I’m slightly Pagan
