Welcome to the blog tour for
Everyday Enchantments,
Everyday Enchantments,
sponsored by
Bewitching Book Tours!
For my stop, I'm featuring a review of this beautiful book!
There's also a tour-wide giveaway!!
Everyday Enchantments
Maria DeBlassie
Trade Paperback, 179 pages
Moon Books
October 26, 2018
Biography & Memoir, Creativity,
Metaphysical, Nonfiction,
Metaphysical, Nonfiction,
Philosophy, Psychology, Spirituality
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.
Note
I received a PDF copy of this book from Bewitching Book Tours, in exchange for an honest review. When I started reading, I fell totally in love with it, so I rushed over to Amazon to pre-order it! It arrived on Oct. 27th, and I finished reading the printed copy.
I received a PDF copy of this book from Bewitching Book Tours, in exchange for an honest review. When I started reading, I fell totally in love with it, so I rushed over to Amazon to pre-order it! It arrived on Oct. 27th, and I finished reading the printed copy.
It's rare to find a book that is so luminous, so full of beauty, that it literally takes one's breath away! But when such a book appears, it's extremely important to grab it right away, and keep it as a treasured jewel, to read again and again.
Everyday Enchantments is just such a book. The author, Maria DeBlassie, is, quite simply, a gifted writer. The book consists of short meditations on the simple things of life, which DeBlassie transforms into blissful experiences of the soul. Indeed, the word "transformation" is not only descriptive of the magic the author wields with her beautiful, poetic descriptions, but of the effect these descriptions have on the reader.
I have long been in a kind of 'war' with reality. Books containing fantasy and supernatural elements have always attracted me because of the hum-drum monotony of daily routines. What a wonderful surprise, then, to find a book in which such routines are turned into artistic, and even mystical experiences! Clearly, I need to look at the 'ordinary world' with new eyes, and this book is certainly a catalyst in awakening my perception to the beauty inherent in this reality.
In this wonderfully unique book, even cooking (which is definitely not on my list of favorite activities) is turned into an opportunity to dwell on the sheer transcendent pleasure of the simple things of life. For example, DeBlassie marvels at the 'gold' found in an unexpected double yolk, or the process of pickling jalapeños. Her topics range anywhere from gardening, to writing, to her own, untameable hair, which she links to her own inner strength.
Although this is an eclectic blog, I had stopped reviewing nonfiction books on it some time back. However, when I came across this one, I immediately contacted the tour company in order to sign up to review this book for the tour. I simply could not pass it up. I promptly received a PDF in my email. When I opened it, and read the first meditation, titled, appropriately enough, "Everyday Enchantment", I felt as if I had been touched by something very deep, something at the very core of my being. I immediately recognized a kindred spirit -- someone to whom the aesthetic experience is also a mystical experience. I felt, in short, as if I had come home. Although I started reading the PDF, I was chafing at the bit, so I was overjoyed when the printed book arrived, ahead of time. (The release date had been moved forward.) I just don't like to read either ebooks, or books online. I need physical contact with a book. I need to lovingly turn those pages, to hold the book in my hands. And, in the case of this particular book, that need became imperative.
This book is so full of the transcendent beauty of life, of simple, everyday things! That's because the author is an artist and a mystic. That's because the author has an emotional, visceral connection with the visible world, one that moves my spirit. In reading this book, I have reconnected to a not forgotten, but not frequently visited part of my being -- my own artist's soul. I have reveled, and will continue to revel, in descriptions that can move me to tears, even as they give me an indescribable joy. I am being very, very honest here, because I want to live from this part of my being, more and more often. I, too, want to see, feel, and cherish the spiritual essence of the visible world, this 'mundane reality' that I have for so long shunned. In doing so, I have effectively created a barrier to my own inner experience of beauty. This book has jogged my memory. This book has touched the artist in me. This book is now my own personal jewel to treasure, to read, slowly and with gentle breathing. This book is now a part of my soul.
When I first started reading the PDF version, something stirred within, and I did something I had not done in a while. I wrote a poem. I wrote from that inner core, that part of me that I need to get in touch with more often. Now I need to start creating visual art again. That, too, is something I haven't done for quite some time. So I thank the author for inspiring me like this. Creativity can come in gentle, flowing waves, or like a tsunami. I think I've just been caressed by the one, and pummeled by the other.
Here are some quotes that I know will spark that something ineffable in the reader who knows, and has experienced, just what I've been writing about here.
"To live with Enchantment is to see beyond the bricks and mortar that make up your home and into the magic infused within its frame." -- "Everyday Enchantment", page 1
"(Seldom can you find a person strong enough to brave the stillness or wade into the bottomeless waters of imagination.)" -- "Everyday Enchantment", page 2
"You are grateful for that flash of insight helping you hone your creative path that has long since diverged from the mainstream. Grateful for your fluency in a language that too few know how to speak. Your day is nothing without this never-ending conversation between yourself and the universe or the clap of thunder that punctuates your off-the-cuff revelations. You cannot speak your truth without lightning striking both in your blood and in your sky." -- "On Synchronicity", page 6
"Each stitch is a piece of woven intention. A slip of yarn looped around another to bind your thoughts into the blankets you create. Healing, nourishing, abundant thoughts." -- "Crocheting Infinite Blankets", page 8
"You are like Persephone -- except you don't regret letting those ruby seeds pass your lips and spill across your tongue. In fact, sometimes you miss the tart, bright taste when the days are long, and the sun tries to remind you that the only thing you should savor is its fingers kissing your spine." -- "Descending Into The Underworld", page 27
"You wonder what they have to talk about, the Colette novels that kiss your collection of fairy tales and hold up your cheesy romances written in Spanish. You wonder, too, if those stories begin to bleed into one another with their covers pressed so tightly against each other. Here no genre is favored, no era, not any one writer. Your leather-bound books, tinted with nostalgia and the heady perfume of history, keep house with beat-up pulp paperbacks...." -- "The Bookshelf", page 62
There is an earthy spirituality literally present in this book, breathing in its sun-splashed, moon-kissed pages. It comes from DeBlassie's own Mexican heritage, and gives the book its palpable energy. It's also very much the spirituality of female power, and the spirituality of the artist, in touch with the living heart of reality. This spirituality warmly embraces me, teaching me that there is value in the tender nurturing that artists give their deepest dreams.
I am finding myself almost at a loss for words to express how very deeply, and joyfully, this book has touched me. It is a sacred book, a jewel of the heart and soul and mind. It is a book for artists, for poets, a book of inspiration, a book of magical states of mind. It is a book for those who can feel the unfathomable reaches of a reality that is really mystical, all-encompassing, that enthralls the senses, and lifts the mind and spirit.
Reading this book is an experience in the still, flowing beauty of this universe that breathes us even as we breathe it ourselves.
This book is, again, a sacred jewel. Thank you, Maria -- mi tocaya (my namesake) -- for gifting it to all of us who know, who understand, who feel.....and who create.
MY RATING:
Everyday Enchantments is just such a book. The author, Maria DeBlassie, is, quite simply, a gifted writer. The book consists of short meditations on the simple things of life, which DeBlassie transforms into blissful experiences of the soul. Indeed, the word "transformation" is not only descriptive of the magic the author wields with her beautiful, poetic descriptions, but of the effect these descriptions have on the reader.
I have long been in a kind of 'war' with reality. Books containing fantasy and supernatural elements have always attracted me because of the hum-drum monotony of daily routines. What a wonderful surprise, then, to find a book in which such routines are turned into artistic, and even mystical experiences! Clearly, I need to look at the 'ordinary world' with new eyes, and this book is certainly a catalyst in awakening my perception to the beauty inherent in this reality.
In this wonderfully unique book, even cooking (which is definitely not on my list of favorite activities) is turned into an opportunity to dwell on the sheer transcendent pleasure of the simple things of life. For example, DeBlassie marvels at the 'gold' found in an unexpected double yolk, or the process of pickling jalapeños. Her topics range anywhere from gardening, to writing, to her own, untameable hair, which she links to her own inner strength.
Although this is an eclectic blog, I had stopped reviewing nonfiction books on it some time back. However, when I came across this one, I immediately contacted the tour company in order to sign up to review this book for the tour. I simply could not pass it up. I promptly received a PDF in my email. When I opened it, and read the first meditation, titled, appropriately enough, "Everyday Enchantment", I felt as if I had been touched by something very deep, something at the very core of my being. I immediately recognized a kindred spirit -- someone to whom the aesthetic experience is also a mystical experience. I felt, in short, as if I had come home. Although I started reading the PDF, I was chafing at the bit, so I was overjoyed when the printed book arrived, ahead of time. (The release date had been moved forward.) I just don't like to read either ebooks, or books online. I need physical contact with a book. I need to lovingly turn those pages, to hold the book in my hands. And, in the case of this particular book, that need became imperative.
This book is so full of the transcendent beauty of life, of simple, everyday things! That's because the author is an artist and a mystic. That's because the author has an emotional, visceral connection with the visible world, one that moves my spirit. In reading this book, I have reconnected to a not forgotten, but not frequently visited part of my being -- my own artist's soul. I have reveled, and will continue to revel, in descriptions that can move me to tears, even as they give me an indescribable joy. I am being very, very honest here, because I want to live from this part of my being, more and more often. I, too, want to see, feel, and cherish the spiritual essence of the visible world, this 'mundane reality' that I have for so long shunned. In doing so, I have effectively created a barrier to my own inner experience of beauty. This book has jogged my memory. This book has touched the artist in me. This book is now my own personal jewel to treasure, to read, slowly and with gentle breathing. This book is now a part of my soul.
When I first started reading the PDF version, something stirred within, and I did something I had not done in a while. I wrote a poem. I wrote from that inner core, that part of me that I need to get in touch with more often. Now I need to start creating visual art again. That, too, is something I haven't done for quite some time. So I thank the author for inspiring me like this. Creativity can come in gentle, flowing waves, or like a tsunami. I think I've just been caressed by the one, and pummeled by the other.
Here are some quotes that I know will spark that something ineffable in the reader who knows, and has experienced, just what I've been writing about here.
"To live with Enchantment is to see beyond the bricks and mortar that make up your home and into the magic infused within its frame." -- "Everyday Enchantment", page 1
"(Seldom can you find a person strong enough to brave the stillness or wade into the bottomeless waters of imagination.)" -- "Everyday Enchantment", page 2
"You are grateful for that flash of insight helping you hone your creative path that has long since diverged from the mainstream. Grateful for your fluency in a language that too few know how to speak. Your day is nothing without this never-ending conversation between yourself and the universe or the clap of thunder that punctuates your off-the-cuff revelations. You cannot speak your truth without lightning striking both in your blood and in your sky." -- "On Synchronicity", page 6
"Each stitch is a piece of woven intention. A slip of yarn looped around another to bind your thoughts into the blankets you create. Healing, nourishing, abundant thoughts." -- "Crocheting Infinite Blankets", page 8
"You are like Persephone -- except you don't regret letting those ruby seeds pass your lips and spill across your tongue. In fact, sometimes you miss the tart, bright taste when the days are long, and the sun tries to remind you that the only thing you should savor is its fingers kissing your spine." -- "Descending Into The Underworld", page 27
"You wonder what they have to talk about, the Colette novels that kiss your collection of fairy tales and hold up your cheesy romances written in Spanish. You wonder, too, if those stories begin to bleed into one another with their covers pressed so tightly against each other. Here no genre is favored, no era, not any one writer. Your leather-bound books, tinted with nostalgia and the heady perfume of history, keep house with beat-up pulp paperbacks...." -- "The Bookshelf", page 62
There is an earthy spirituality literally present in this book, breathing in its sun-splashed, moon-kissed pages. It comes from DeBlassie's own Mexican heritage, and gives the book its palpable energy. It's also very much the spirituality of female power, and the spirituality of the artist, in touch with the living heart of reality. This spirituality warmly embraces me, teaching me that there is value in the tender nurturing that artists give their deepest dreams.
I am finding myself almost at a loss for words to express how very deeply, and joyfully, this book has touched me. It is a sacred book, a jewel of the heart and soul and mind. It is a book for artists, for poets, a book of inspiration, a book of magical states of mind. It is a book for those who can feel the unfathomable reaches of a reality that is really mystical, all-encompassing, that enthralls the senses, and lifts the mind and spirit.
Reading this book is an experience in the still, flowing beauty of this universe that breathes us even as we breathe it ourselves.
This book is, again, a sacred jewel. Thank you, Maria -- mi tocaya (my namesake) -- for gifting it to all of us who know, who understand, who feel.....and who create.
MY RATING:
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
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
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 her website and the other links listed below.
Website/Facebook/Google +
Pinterest/Twitter
Instagram
Moon Books
To access the complete tour schedule, just click on the button below!
Find out more about Maria and conjuring everyday magic at her website and the other links listed below.
Website/Facebook/Google +
Pinterest/Twitter
Moon Books
To access the complete tour schedule, just click on the button below!
