I’m a huge
fan of the staycation because it offers me a chance to enjoy the things right
in my own backyard that I may not always have time for or that I take for
granted. Writing about everyday magic
helps me to look at the day-in, day-out around me and marvel and its
beauty. Albuquerque, New Mexico is such
an enchanting place to live in—that’s why they call it the Land of
Enchantment! I like to take advantage of
all the natural beauty here in the Southwest because it is unlike anyplace
else.
Right now
is an especially beautiful time to enjoy the wilderness. Autumn leaves are out in all their glory, and
no two areas are the same. Walking the Aspen Vista Trail in
the Santa Fe National Forest is like journeying through a wild wood of golden
coins flickering in the sunlight.
Although I typically prefer to bring my lunch, sometimes nothing beats
heading to the Cowgirl in the heart of Santa Fe for a local beer and tasty grub after a few
hours of hiking.
The Aspen
Trail is a different kind of golden splendor from the Rio Grande Nature Center in Albuquerque, which features the bosque, or cottonwood forest, and
the wetlands on the historic Rio Grande. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch glimpses
of local wildlife like our state bird, the roadrunner. I’m all for heading to Church Street Cafe in Old
Town afterwards for some of the best chile
rellenos in the state, or to Marble
Brewery for simpler fare and delicious micro-brews.
The Spence Hot Springs is a great place to hike to in Jemez—just remember to bring your
swimsuit so you can soak in the hot springs at the end of your walk. Lunch at Los Ojos, a local dive bar in the Village
of Jemez Springs, is always fun, but
for a special treat, I’d head to one of the small food stands dotting the Jemez Pueblo’s main
road. They always have something tasty,
from homemade tamales and frito pies to Indian tacos and other local favorites.
Plus, you’ll often be able to see local art along the way and talk with the
native artists. The hiking in Jemez is lovely, but so is the drive. Just
looking at the cottonwoods in their autumnal glory on the roadside heals the
soul!
Lastly, if
you want your fall foliage to have more of a fiery hue, I’d head to Fourth of July Trail in the Manzano Mountains. At
the peak of the season, it is a riot of red, orange, and yellow leaves—a feast
for the senses! I often look forward to
these nature hikes because they help me to slow down and enjoy the magic of
everyday life. I turn to nature to
replenish and sooth. When I return from
one of these hikes, I feel reborn, grateful to be able to enjoy such magical
places just outside my doorstep.
***
Everyday Enchantments
Musings on Ordinary Magic and Daily Conjurings
Maria DeBlassie
Publisher: Moon Books
Release Date: October 26, 2018
ISBN-10: 1785359231
ISBN-13: 978-1785359231
ISBN-13: 978-1785359231
Book Description:
Everyday Enchantments is a love letter to the magic of everyday life, the sweet moments and the profound that we often overlook in our hurry to get from one place to the next. What if we had the power to unplug from our daily hustle and bustle and conjure a more profound way of living rooted in natural mysticism?
We do. All it takes is the whispered wish for more everyday enchantment breathed onto a dandelion head. This collection of essays reminds us to escape into the ordinary, find beauty in a simple cup of tea or rereading a beloved novel—and joyfully let our world turn upside down when synchronicity strikes in the form of wrong turns down forgotten lanes and unexpected midnight conversations with the moon.
This book is a study in what it means to live deliciously, joyfully, and magically. And it’s an invitation to conjure your own bliss—-because let’s face it: we could all use a little more magic in our lives.
We do. All it takes is the whispered wish for more everyday enchantment breathed onto a dandelion head. This collection of essays reminds us to escape into the ordinary, find beauty in a simple cup of tea or rereading a beloved novel—and joyfully let our world turn upside down when synchronicity strikes in the form of wrong turns down forgotten lanes and unexpected midnight conversations with the moon.
This book is a study in what it means to live deliciously, joyfully, and magically. And it’s an invitation to conjure your own bliss—-because let’s face it: we could all use a little more magic in our lives.
Excerpt:
ENCHANTMENT: A spell wrapped in a noun. Three
syllables. One state of being.
To live with
Enchantment is to see beyond the brick and mortar that make up your home and
into the magic infused within its frame. It is made up of stories and dried bay
leaves and dreams whispered into the heads of dandelions. Of bare feet on
carpeted floors and the smell of burning sage. Crystals—amethyst, citrine,
amazonite, smoky quartz—winding in and around your books; all the better to
magnify their magic. It is to peel back the layers of your day-to-day and
search for that elusive energy that winds its way up your spine and outward
into your life. Let the snake at your base wriggle free of its coil to climb up
to your shoulder blades and across your open back. There is no room for tightly
stacked discs here, just the taste of joy when the sun licks your skin.
You might find
it at the bottom of an empty teacup. Your future written in soggy leaves, or in
the whisper of trees, their leaves rustling and murmuring secrets only they can
understand. Sometimes they are kind enough to translate for you—if you listen
long enough. If you shower their roots with distilled love songs and feed them
the black earth from your compost. It’s there, too, when you run your tongue
along the grooves and ridges of a well-loved sentence. It’s everywhere. Even in
the spaces you think have lost hope, like the junk drawer where you keep your
faded dreams, stray screws, and half-forgotten heartbreaks along with wine
corks and a few rubber bands. They’re not lost, just resting like seeds in the
earth before they are ready to break open.
That is the
first syllable.
The second is to
learn from Enchantment, to listen to Coyote's call when he plays his tricks.
Coyote loves his tricks. And you should too. What delicious messages wrapped in
matted fur and a lolling tongue! All he wants is for you to take that leap of
faith when only you can see the soft earth on the other side of the cliff.
Don’t you know that you have wings? They are just rusty from disuse. Just
listen to Coyote’s long-winded stories (he does so admire himself) and watch
the flick of his tail. All he asks is for you to trust him, even if he can’t be
trusted; his les- son is real, hard as onyx in your palm, ephemeral as the
desert rain that you feel in your bones when all you see is a cloudless sky. No
weatherman can ever map the storms and sunshine work- ing their way across your
body.
Coyote has no
room for logic, just the reason in his unreason.
Just those
perfect coincidences set in motion by the padding of his paws. You are raw
power, he says, a spark of the universe set in motion. And you must trust this
power that is you, that is the earth, that is the beating of your heart. A
rhythmic tattoo forever pounding out your path, however many times you try to
stray from it. All Enchantment asks is that you absorb the wisdom of the moon and
the stars, and the prophesying of the seeds burrowed deep in the dirt. Coyote
is there to make sure you listen, even when the rest of the world prefers your
ears stopped with cotton and your heart beating as slow as melting snow in
winter.
And the third
syllable? To conjure. Here you weave your spell with vowels and consonants and
beeswax candles. You seal them with pure starlight and a handful of chamomile.
Then you burn away the dry brush and the brittle ideas that don’t hold up
against the moonlight. There is no room here for literal…things or the people
who think them. Not if you want to create. Not if you want to believe that the
most important part of your everyday occurs in the moments others can too
easily overlook. (Seldom can you find a person strong enough to brave the
stillness or wade into the bottomless waters of imagination.) You make your life
here, in the infinite potential of seconds and minutes and hours unfurling into
vines and roots. Because when you are looking for everyday enchantment, it
finds you. Always. And if you let it, it will settle inside your skin and feed
your soul with dreams grown ripe under the sun’s caress. It drops you deep down
into the rich earth and forgotten caves buried between heartbeats—places that
many are too afraid to venture inside. For how can you absorb the marvelous, if
you do not recognize it reflected in yourself, feel it settle in your bones
like so much calcium?
That's
Enchantment.
A three-syllable
spell wrapped in a noun, planted in the earth and nourished with moon- light.
Let the roots stretch to the underworld and the leaves unfurl toward the
heavens. Walk across the star-kissed bridge made of hollyhock seeds and strong
will. There is your passage into the unseen universe.
Reviews and Endorsements
An insightful collection of short writings that make you look at the everyday in a whole new light. ~ Erin Elliot, The Sword of Lumina
To build everyday bridges between the magick and the mundane out of the long-sought and hard-won materials of will and wonder is the act of a true Priestess. In this book, DeBlassie offers rich glimpses of daily rituals, miniature spells in their own right that prompt the reader to look for the quiet divinity in their own lives, to see the subtle majesty in their day-to-day routines, and to question their perceived barriers between the modern and the mystical. ~ Danielle Dulsky, author of Woman Most Wild
Maria DeBlassie has crafted magic within the pages of her new book, Everyday Enchantments. Her eloquent words offer the ‘promise of soul replenishment’ as one traverses the journey of her -and their- metaphorical metamorphosis. Page after page, readers will experience the soothing balm of DeBlassie’s words as they encourage one to open her heart, her mind, her ear, her thoughts and her soul to the unique transpersonal book they hold in their hands. Just as DeBlassie mentions early on in Everyday Enchantments when writing of the unexpected delight of discovering a double yolk, her heartfelt writing is like ‘cradling…gold’ in one’s hands. Reading and absorbing the beauty of Maria DeBlassie’s Everyday Enchantments will have readers conjuring their own magical life. Her words will caress their soul and embrace their heart with inspiration and encouragement. Everyday Enchantments blends together poetic consciousness such as from Maya Angelou and Mary Oliver all while weaving in powerful and deep inner wisdom such as from Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Yet, Maria DeBlassie beautifully stands out given the uniqueness of Everyday Enchantments. It’s a must read and a must to be gently and lovingly held in a sacred place of honor in one’s personal library. DeBlassie’s Everyday Enchantments is like a heart song that every woman should feel. ~ Janelle Alex, Ph.D.,The Writer’s Shaman
Reading this enchanted collection is so much more than reading a book…it’s an unearthing of things half-remembered and bringing them into the light. Gorgeous and luminous…thank you, Maria, for unwinding this spell for your readers. ~ Laura Bickle, critically-acclaimed author of Nine of Stars, Bewitching Book Tours
An insightful collection of short writings that make you look at the everyday in a whole new light. Ponder how different life could be if you stop taking everything for granted and find joy in the simplicity of it all. ~ Erin Elliott, author of The Sword of Lumina series, The Editing Hall
About the Author:
Maria DeBlassie, Ph.D. is a native New Mexican mestiza blogger, writer, and award-winning educator living in the Land of Enchantment. Her blogging life started in 2012 as a year-long journey to write her back into happy, healthy, and whole through daily posts about life’s simple pleasures, everyday magic, and radical self-care. That year-long experiment turned into a lifestyle, a book, and her ongoing blog, Enchantment Learning and Living. She is forever looking for magic in her life and somehow always finding more than she thought was there.
Find out more about Maria and conjuring everyday magic at www.mariadeblassie.com
