Wild & Waking

Emily Reuschel

Wild & Waking is more than a podcast—it’s a sacred return to who you’ve always been. This space is for the woman standing at the edge of everything she’s outgrown. The one who’s checked all the boxes, followed all the rules, and still feels the quiet ache for something more honest. More alive. More hers.   She’s begun the unraveling—of roles, expectations, and identities that no longer fit. She’s remembering the voice beneath the noise, the rhythm beneath the hustle, the truth beneath the performance. She’s reclaiming her joy, her intuition, her fire. And she’s rising—not as a version of who she was told to be, but as the truest expression of who she already is.   Hosted by soul expansion coach Emily Reuschel, Wild & Waking is for spiritual entrepreneurs, coaches, rural changemakers, and conscious leaders dismantling old paradigms and creating new ways of living, leading, and becoming. Through raw conversations, deep reflections, and embodied wisdom, we explore what it means to awaken a life of abundance, authenticity, and purpose.   This is for the woman who holds both sacred rage and radical joy. Who moves with reverence for the seasons of her life. Who isn’t afraid to break cycles, speak truth, and dismantle what no longer serves—not to destroy, but to create. To rebuild a world rooted in the celebration of difference, the beauty of nuance, and the power of sovereign, embodied leadership.   If you’re ready to come home to yourself—fully, fiercely, and without apology—welcome. We’ve been waiting for you.

  1. 13h ago

    Mary Magdalene and the Stories We Were Never Told with Olivia Magdalena

    For many women raised within Christianity, Mary Magdalene exists somewhere in the background of the story: present at the tomb, vaguely associated with sexual sin, but rarely treated as a central figure in Jesus’s ministry. Then you encounter a different version of her… and suddenly, pieces of your own spiritual story begin falling into place. In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by Magdalene priestess and somatic practitioner Olivia Magdalena for a conversation about the woman hidden in plain sight and the full-body rage, recognition, and remembrance that can come with rediscovering her. Olivia shares how reading Mary Magdalene Revealed altered the course of her life and helped her understand something she had felt, but could not yet name. At the heart of our conversation is a tension many women carry: the institution no longer feels true, but our hunger for the divine hasn’t disappeared. We talk about deconstructing patriarchal religion without dismissing every spiritual experience we’ve ever had, finding our way back to the parts of Jesus and ritual that still feel meaningful, and learning to trust ourselves after being taught that spiritual authority belonged to someone else. This is a conversation about more than recovering Mary Magdalene’s story. It is about recognizing what her erasure reveals about our own, and what becomes possible when women return to their bodies, their inner knowing, and a spirituality that does not require them to disappear. In this episode, we explore: The historical misrepresentation of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute or repentant sinnerMary Magdalene’s role as the “apostle to the apostles” and her importance within Jesus’ ministryHow the Roman Empire, patriarchal power, and the formation of biblical canon shaped institutional ChristianityThe lost Gospel of Mary and its teachings on inner knowing, human divinity, and spiritual authorityThe Madonna-whore binary created through the stories of Mother Mary and Mary MagdaleneThe connections between purity culture, religious trauma, and women’s disconnection from their bodiesSomatic healing practices for rebuilding intuition and self-trust after religious deconstructionHow to begin discerning between intuition, anxiety, trauma responses, and inherited conditioningWhy reclaiming spirituality can bring women closer to the mystic Jesus rather than further awayThe relationship between spirituality, feminism, decolonization, activism, and political powerOlivia’s Mary Magdalene pilgrimages to Provence and the sacred caves of Southern FranceThe role of nature, ritual, and embodied experience in reconnecting with the divine feminine Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Olivia: Visit Olivia’s websiteExperience the free Magdalene ActivationListen to The Walk of the Magdalene podcastRead Olivia’s SubstackFollow Olivia on InstagramFollow Olivia on Threads Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    Mary Magdalene and the Stories We Were Never Told with Olivia Magdalena
  2. Oct 22

    My Easiest Launch EVER, a Case of Mastitis, and the Spiritual Meaning of Getting Knocked TF Out

    I had the easiest, fastest, most magnetic launch of my life, and less than 48 hours later, I was flat on my back with mastitis, unable to lift my head off the pillow. Obviously, I had questions. In this solo episode of Wild & Waking, I’m taking you inside one of the most bonkers weeks I’ve had in a long time. I decided to relaunch The Coven, abandoned the sales page format that made my insides scream, created the whole thing in a PDF instead, and watched the first group fill almost immediately. Everything felt easy, aligned, and so freaking fun. Then, just as I was ready to ride that momentum into the rest of my work, my body abruptly took me out. What began with me Googling the spiritual meaning of a clogged milk duct turned into a much bigger conversation about upper limits, physical recalibration, and what can happen when your life begins expanding faster than your body can integrate it. Was this overgiving and burnout, or was I experiencing the physical aftermath of stepping into a much bigger version of my life and work? And what if getting knocked on your ass doesn’t always mean you’re moving in the wrong direction? This episode is part chaotic voice memo, part business celebration, and part spiritual investigation into the moments when everything is blooming and falling apart at the exact same time. We’re talking about honoring the pause without turning it into a failure story, holding joy and frustration together, and getting curious about whether the disruption in front of you might actually be part of the initiation. In this episode, I explore: What made The Coven launch feel so easy, magnetic, and alignedFollowing your energy instead of forcing a business strategy that creates resistanceThe upper limit problem and why expansion can trigger physical or emotional disruptionThe spiritual meaning of mastitis, clogged ducts, and blocked nurturing energyHow the body responds during identity evolution and major life transitionsSpiritual initiation, energetic recalibration, and the “sacred reset”Why getting knocked down doesn’t necessarily mean you’re on the wrong pathHonoring your body’s need for rest without turning the pause into a failure storyHolding success, joy, illness, frustration, and uncertainty at the same timeRecognizing the seasons of planting, blooming, expansion, and integrationTrusting yourself when outside explanations don’t fully resonateGetting curious about disruption instead of immediately retreating into old patterns Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Join the Coven: Learn more and claim your place here.Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    My Easiest Launch EVER, a Case of Mastitis, and the Spiritual Meaning of Getting Knocked TF Out
  3. Oct 15

    Neutral Is Anything But: Using Your Voice in Business and Beyond with Colleen Nichols

    In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by entrepreneur, author, and personal branding expert Colleen Nichols for a candid conversation about mixing business and politics, finding and using your voice online, and why choosing to remain “neutral” is anything but. Colleen has spent years helping entrepreneurs become more human on the internet, but as the political landscape has grown increasingly impossible to ignore, her work has expanded to include what happens when being authentic also means being willing to say what you believe. We talk about the very real fear that comes with speaking out: losing followers, upsetting customers, disappointing family, being misunderstood, or discovering that people you care about fundamentally disagree with you. Colleen doesn’t pretend those consequences aren’t possible. Instead, we explore what can exist on the other side: deeper trust, stronger alignment, a more connected community, and the relief of no longer performing a watered-down version of yourself to keep everyone comfortable. In this episode, we explore: Why staying neutral in business, politics, and social justice is never truly neutralHow to speak about politics online without turning your entire platform into a political accountFinding your voice as an entrepreneur, business owner, leader, and human who cares about the worldThe fear of losing followers, customers, friends, or family when you share your beliefsWhy values-led marketing can create greater trust, connection, and alignment with your audienceHow changing your mind publicly is a sign of growth—not hypocrisy or failureNavigating criticism, online backlash, vulnerability hangovers, and the discomfort of being misunderstoodSmall, practical ways to speak up online, in your business, and during everyday conversationsWhy what you are doing right now reflects what you would have done during other defining moments in history Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Colleen: Visit Colleen’s websiteFollow Colleen on InstagramFollow Colleen on ThreadsFollow No Shame Sales Game on InstagramRead Don’t Make It Weird: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Being Human on the Internet Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    Neutral Is Anything But: Using Your Voice in Business and Beyond with Colleen Nichols
  4. Oct 8

    You Are Protected: Invoking Spiritual Support to Sustain Your Energy in a Fractured World with Michelle Cassandra Johnson

    We are living through a time of profound unraveling. The pace and weight of what is happening around us can leave our attention scattered, our nervous systems overwhelmed, and our energy stretched across far more places than we ever consciously chose. We want to remain awake to the wounds of the world and contribute to meaningful change, but we cannot continue showing up if we are constantly depleted, dysregulated, and disconnected from ourselves. In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by author, activist, spiritual teacher, racial-equity educator, intuitive healer, and clinical social worker Michelle Cassandra Johnson to discuss her newest (and, as she calls it, witchiest) book, You Are Protected: Invoking Spiritual Support to Sustain Your Energy. Michelle shares how spiritual protection can help us draw our energy back, return to our center, and discern what is ours to carry in a moment when everything feels urgent. This is not protection rooted in fear, defensiveness, or disconnection. It is about strengthening our spiritual resources so we can remain openhearted, fully alive, and engaged for the long haul. Together, we explore ancestral healing and how to call upon healthy, well, and benevolent ancestors, especially when our blood lineages feel complicated or painful. Michelle offers that the more-than-human world as another place to begin, reminding us that the elements, ancient trees, bodies of water, and the earth itself are living ancestors available for relationship and support. We also talk about spiritual hygiene, energetic boundaries, micro-adjustments that interrupt our habitual overgiving, and the deceptively simple question that can return us to our power: What is mine right now, and what is not? In this episode, we explore: Spiritual protection and daily energetic hygieneHow to recognize energy leaks and prevent burnoutCreating boundaries while navigating caregiving and unavoidable responsibilitiesAncestral healing and connecting with benevolent ancestorsWorking with nature and elemental energies as spiritual supportStaying engaged in activism without becoming depleted or dysregulatedDiscerning “what is mine right now—and what is not”Reclaiming witchcraft, magic, ritual, and spellwork as healing practicesCalling on archetypes, animal allies, deities, herbs, crystals, and other protective resourcesRemaining grounded as you outgrow old identities and encounter other people’s projectionsProtecting your energy so you can remain fully alive and continue showing up for collective change Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Michelle Cassandra Johnson Visit Michelle’s websiteFollow Michelle on InstagramListen to the Finding Refuge podcastExplore Michelle’s books Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    You Are Protected: Invoking Spiritual Support to Sustain Your Energy in a Fractured World with Michelle Cassandra Johnson
  5. Oct 1

    A Quickie on Outsourcing Your Power: Whose Approval Are You Still Seeking?

    Many of us learned that goodness was attached to obedience, obedience to approval, approval to belonging, and belonging to safety. Before long, we became experts at reading the room without ever learning how to read ourselves. Even as grown women, we can find ourselves self-censoring, overexplaining, and organizing our lives around what our parents, friends, communities, or people on the internet might think. This isn’t a simplified “f**k what they think and do whatever you want” conversation. It is an invitation to notice who is sitting on the imaginary board of directors for your life. Whose approval are you seeking? Whose needs are you prioritizing over your own? And why are you giving your power to people—or systems—that may not even know how to wield their own? You can remain in relationship, consider other perspectives, and take in all the information in the world without surrendering your authority. The deeper work is learning to filter those voices through your own lived experience and intuitive knowing, so you can build a firmer foundation within yourself, reconnect with what you know, and bring your power and magic home. In this episode, I explore: How purity culture shapes women even outside organized religionThe connection between obedience, approval, belonging, and emotional safetyWhy women learn to read the room before learning to read themselvesHow fear of judgment leads to self-censorship and overexplainingThe parents, friends, communities, and systems holding an imaginary vote in our livesThe difference between considering other perspectives and surrendering your authorityQuestions to help you identify where you are outsourcing your powerRebuilding self-trust and reconnecting with your inner knowing Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    A Quickie on Outsourcing Your Power: Whose Approval Are You Still Seeking?
  6. Sep 24

    Mundane Magic: How to Use Science and Spirituality to Hack Your Brain and Get Stuff Done with Molly Donlan

    What if your spiritual practice didn’t require another elaborate ritual, expensive collection of crystals, or unchecked box on your already-overwhelming to-do list? In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by Molly Donlan—author of Mundane Magic: A Lazy Witch’s Guide to Hacking Your Brain, Building a Daily Practice, and Getting Stuff Done and co-host of the Demystify Magic and Science of Reiki podcasts—to explore how we can weave magic into the ordinary tasks we’re already doing every day. At the heart of Molly’s work is a beautifully simple idea: your spiritual practice does not need to become one more thing you feel guilty about neglecting. Mundane magic invites us to transform washing dishes, folding laundry, mopping floors, clearing clutter, and tending our homes into accessible rituals for mindfulness, intention, nervous-system regulation, and connection. These practices are designed for real people, real schedules, and even the squiggliest ADHD brain days—when your energy is low, life is chaotic, and the bar needs to be low enough to trip over. Together, we unpack why discipline and self-criticism rarely create sustainable change, how perfectionism and purity culture can sneak into spiritual spaces, and why making something simpler does not make it less meaningful or magical. This conversation is an invitation to stop performing your spiritual practice, release the pressure to do it all, and begin noticing the sacredness already woven through your everyday life… because when you learn to find a nugget of magic in the mundane, your entire life can become a ritual. In this episode, we explore: How Molly evolved from a skeptic of all things “woo” into a Reiki practitioner, witch, spiritual teacher, and bestselling authorThe science behind Reiki, energy healing, mindfulness, and other magical practicesWhy understanding the nervous system can make spiritual practices feel more accessible and effectiveWhat “mundane magic” means and how to find magic in everyday life and how to turn washing dishes, folding laundry, cleaning, decluttering, and other household chores into spiritual ritualsADHD-friendly spiritual practices designed for low-energy days and “squiggly brains”Why discipline, shame, and self-criticism rarely create sustainable habits or meaningful changeHow novelty, intention, and dopamine can make dreaded chores easier and more enjoyableThe ways perfectionism, capitalism, patriarchy, and purity culture can infiltrate spiritualityWhy your spiritual practice should support your life instead of becoming another place to performDeconstructing cultural beliefs about witchcraft, magic, darkness, and what it means to call yourself a witch and how choosing your own labels can become an act of authenticity, identity reclamation, and personal powerHow retraining your brain to notice moments of magic can change the way you experience your home, relationships, work, and everyday lifeGiving yourself permission to grow publicly without needing to appear fully healed, certain, or “finished”How finding supportive spiritual community can become a catalyst for self-discovery and personal growth Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Molly: Download Molly’s free Mundane Magic meditationsExplore Molly’s websiteLearn more about Mundane MagicFollow Molly on InstagramFollow Molly on TikTokWatch Molly on YouTube Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    Mundane Magic: How to Use Science and Spirituality to Hack Your Brain and Get Stuff Done with Molly Donlan
  7. Sep 17

    A Note on Radical Authenticity and the Ripple Effect of Saying Yes

    In this solo episode of Wild & Waking, I’m reflecting on what it means to finally arrive in a version of yourself you are no longer afraid to let other people see. After years of deconstructing inherited beliefs, questioning old identities, moving through grief, and learning to sit with both my light and my darkness, I’m entering a season that feels different: rooted, integrated, and ready to hold the fullness of my voice, my power, my magic, and the mission I know I’m here to carry. After spending a weekend surrounded by women in agriculture, entrepreneurs, former clients, and fellow rural women, I was reminded that there is no single right way to be a farm wife, a mother, a business owner, a leader, or a human being. Radical authenticity asks us to step outside the roles, rules, and expectations we inherited, and to stop allowing the fear of rejection, judgment, or not belonging to keep us from becoming who we truly are. But choosing yourself never affects only you. One woman’s decision to say yes to an opportunity, follow an unconventional path, start a business, change the way she parents, question an inherited belief, or live more honestly can create a ripple effect through families, friendships, businesses, and entire communities. We may never see where that ripple ends, but our courage to go first becomes a permission slip for someone else to begin. This episode is an invitation to trust your becoming, let yourself be fully seen, and remember that your radical authenticity carries power far beyond your own life. You are allowed to take everything apart, rebuild it differently, and create a life that feels true to you… even when the path hasn’t been paved and not everyone understands where you’re going. In this episode, I explore: What it means to become fully integrated and allow yourself to be truly seenRadical authenticity as a pathway to self-trust, freedom, and personal growthMoving beyond the fear of judgment, rejection, and no longer belongingDeconstructing inherited beliefs, social conditioning, and limiting expectationsWhy there is no single right way to be a woman, mother, farm wife, entrepreneur, or leaderLearning to embrace both your light and your shadowThe difference between intellectually knowing who you are and being ready to embody itFinding the courage to follow an unconventional or unpaved pathHow saying yes to yourself gives other women permission to do the sameThe ripple effect our choices create within families, friendships, businesses, and rural communitiesWhy living authentically can become an act of leadership and generational changeTrusting your identity evolution—even when other people don’t understand itCreating a life rooted in your truth rather than society’s rules Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Episode 160 | When the Breakdown Becomes the Breakthrough: What My Body Taught Me About Grief, Energy & TrustSign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    A Note on Radical Authenticity and the Ripple Effect of Saying Yes
  8. Sep 10

    Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made with Kristin Kobes Du Mez

    In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by New York Times bestselling author and historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez to discuss her new book, Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made. Kristin reveals how the seemingly harmless products, stories, aesthetics, and slogans consumed by generations of women carried deeply embedded ideas about femininity, domesticity, capitalism, race, religion, and political power—and how white Christian women were not merely shaped by this culture, but helped create and sustain it. Together, we trace the surprising connections between positive thinking, prosperity theology, multilevel marketing companies, Christian consumer culture, and the expectation that a “good” woman should remain beautiful, grateful, submissive, and endlessly optimistic. We explore how these systems offered women belonging, identity, influence, and community while also making that belonging conditional—and why doubt, anger, grief, questions, and conversations about systemic injustice were so often dismissed as personal failures or dangerous negativity. Kristin’s work invites us to see more clearly what shaped us, reckon honestly with what we helped create, and begin asking: Is this who we want to be… and what do we want to build instead? In this episode, we explore: How white Christian women shaped American religion, culture, consumerism, and politicsThe hidden history behind the “Live Laugh Love” version of white Christian femininityHow New Thought, positive thinking, evangelical Christianity, and prosperity theology became intertwinedThe “good Christian woman” ideal of beauty, submission, domesticity, gratitude, and self-sacrificeWhy MLM culture became especially influential among white Christian women seeking income, identity, purpose, and communityHow belonging within evangelical communities can feel deeply loving while remaining conditional upon loyalty and conformityThe difference between the realities of rural life and the performative tradwife aesthetic sold onlineHow nostalgia for an imagined, morally pure past can fuel authoritarianism and Christian nationalismThe symbolic role of white womanhood within patriarchal visions of the Christian family and Christian AmericaHow the gospel of positivity discourages conversations about systemic racism, structural inequality, and racial justiceWhy religious deconstruction often involves grief, isolation, identity loss, and the rebuilding of an entire worldviewHow women can reckon with their complicity in harmful systems without losing compassion for themselves or others Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Kristin: Learn more about Kristin and her work at kristindumez.comExplore and preorder Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They MadeSubscribe to Kristin’s newsletter, Du Mez ConnectionsFollow Kristin on Instagram and Threads Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made with Kristin Kobes Du Mez

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4.9
out of 5
55 Ratings

About

Wild & Waking is more than a podcast—it’s a sacred return to who you’ve always been. This space is for the woman standing at the edge of everything she’s outgrown. The one who’s checked all the boxes, followed all the rules, and still feels the quiet ache for something more honest. More alive. More hers.   She’s begun the unraveling—of roles, expectations, and identities that no longer fit. She’s remembering the voice beneath the noise, the rhythm beneath the hustle, the truth beneath the performance. She’s reclaiming her joy, her intuition, her fire. And she’s rising—not as a version of who she was told to be, but as the truest expression of who she already is.   Hosted by soul expansion coach Emily Reuschel, Wild & Waking is for spiritual entrepreneurs, coaches, rural changemakers, and conscious leaders dismantling old paradigms and creating new ways of living, leading, and becoming. Through raw conversations, deep reflections, and embodied wisdom, we explore what it means to awaken a life of abundance, authenticity, and purpose.   This is for the woman who holds both sacred rage and radical joy. Who moves with reverence for the seasons of her life. Who isn’t afraid to break cycles, speak truth, and dismantle what no longer serves—not to destroy, but to create. To rebuild a world rooted in the celebration of difference, the beauty of nuance, and the power of sovereign, embodied leadership.   If you’re ready to come home to yourself—fully, fiercely, and without apology—welcome. We’ve been waiting for you.

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