
Everyday Enchantments by Maria DeBlassie is a lovely read, and was timely for me. I’ve been thinking a lot about what needs to change in my life if I am to be well and happy. This is not some sort of instruction manual for making or finding magic in daily life. It is a series of essays/reflections/meditations capturing a sense of the marvellous found inside the mundane. It’s a very gentle read, inspiring and often thought provoking. How you apply it to your own life is entirely up to you.
In each chapter, Maria reflects on some part of her life where she finds soul nourishment. Physical activity, baths, food, rest and blankets all feature here. Tales from the garden and the market, and the kinds of simple, everyday things that are available to most of us. If this sounds like the kind of life that would appeal to you, then this book is well worth your time.
The chapters are small – which is really good if your concentration is shot (mine has been). You can just dip in and take what you need, it’s the sort of book you can read cover to cover, or just dip in and out of, or open at random. Some of the writing is first person as the author reflects on her life. Some of it, more unusually, is second person. This is the author writing to herself, but the effect is that she is describing things as though this is your life being reflected. How resonant or distant any of those scenes feel is interesting. There were times when the content sounded like it was being addressed specifically to me and telling me things about my life that I really needed to hear. And there were times when I was very much outside of that second person telling – but that was fine and still enjoyable.
Obviously, this is a book for anyone trying to re-enchant themselves and seeking delight in their everyday life. It’s a good book for anyone trying to climb out of depression, and I can also heartily recommend it for anyone wanting to explore ideas of slower living. For women interested in wild womanhood where you don’t have to abandon the life you already have, this book has a lot to offer. On the Druid side, it has a lot to offer the reader around how we seek and experience beauty, and how we might find inspiration from our immediate environments.
More here – https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/moon-books/our-books/everyday-enchantments