Duende: The Secret Power of the Soul

Illustration by James Coffman

“A mysterious force that arises from struggle, passion, and authenticity."

FEDERICO GARCÍA LORCA

Have you ever felt chills during a performance, like the artist is speaking directly to your soul?

That’s duende.

The concept of duende is deeply rooted in flamenco culture. Federico García Lorca, the Spanish poet and playwright, described duende as the spirit of the Earth flowing through the artist, a force that drawn up from the very center of the planet, “roused from the furthest habitations of the blood”.

Duende is apparent in people who devote their entire lives to the work they do. When they are given a chance to share themselves, a current of palpable presence flows, rich in story, beauty, and soul. And though time may slow or stop altogether, these chapels of experience are not for sale. The strength of duende required to remain in these places is far beyond what is required to maintain our contemporary lifestyles.

Each day, people accumulate their masks, follow orders, and as a result — dilute their duende and neglect their connection to the Earth. These masks aren’t all bad. On paper, they allow us to coexist politely and respectfully as a unified society. They maintain peaceful relationships with our neighbors. The danger comes when people start to think that's all they are.

Keep a mask on long enough and much like Jim Carrey’s movie, it will get stuck to your face. Subtle forms of self-rejection will creep in, because it’s a lot easier to love the version of your socially approved persona than it is to love the parts of you none but a select few will ever see.

I will share with you a secret.

Those hard, difficult, deep, dark places you are afraid to penetrate? This is where your duende resides, and where you will find the deepest truths of your messy, holy, human light.

Time spent intentionally alone — away from external expectation — can begin to chip away your masks and restore the conversation with your duende.

When you know yourself in this way, what flows out of you will glow with the brightness of a thousand suns. Your duende is born out of the fertile soil deep within the hidden crevices of your being.

It’s your vulnerability, the crux, the heart of your matter.

It’s a knowing that you emanate.

It’s a song.

It’s beyond any mask you could ever wear.

It’s the poetry of your bones.

And that’s what people want.

It’s the magnetism that helps them remember what they hold — to one day, maybe, be brave enough to express it.