Shelflight: Book Love, with quotes

Sometimes sheer coincidence can turn profound, and turn your world upside down...in a nice way.

Stumbled onto the "Modern Witch" series on amazon.com, then discovered Debora Geary's other books...and it was book-love at first read. On the surface, her books easy, fun read, brain candy, and entertainment. Goes down smoooooooth. I know, I know, I've raved and reviewed her books like crazy, and unless you are a fan too...you're probably sick of hearing about it. Just finished "Witchlight: Witches Under Way" late last night...and have another pent up fan-girl rant to vent in your direction

Another layer down, and you see real writing skill. Her characters are deep, complex, real, and downright lovable. I have to keep reminding myself they are just fiction. Her characters are so complex, so relate-able, so well-developed, it is easy to find a little of yourself (or someone you know) in her characters. It is a heady, empowering thing to find that kind of association with a loving, accepting, couragous, wise and delightful community of witches. If you've ever for one minute wanted to be a witch as a little girl, like Tabatha on "Bewitched" with her "wishcraft"...then this stuff is irresistable. 

There is more here than just good characters. Story pace, crisis and resolution...all that technical stuff that makes for truly memorable, get-in-your-head-and-heart story telling is right there....in spades.

At the heart of it all is the element that turns great fiction into art and literature. Her writing touches emotion, psyche and mythos. She shows us self-discovery, self-acceptance, personal growth, the love of a parent for their children, respect , responsibility, love, generosity, fun, romance, courage, wisdom, community, and much more. The very best of all is the way she shows us the very real magic in our very real everyday world. She shows us the Earth magic in a pot of spaghetti sauce, the Fire magic in a knitted baby blanket, the Air and Water magic in a walk in a summer rain...and the mind witchery of writing, poetry, and just being a good friend.

The icing on the cake is shared pop culture references. Any group of people who eats that much Ben & Jerry's is OK in my book. She mentions Firefly - and then has Aervyn and Melvin essentially come to the conclusion that "wisdom [is] shiny". Yes, Browncoats - I think she means it exactly that way. Which makes her the best writers in the 'verse in my opinion.

"The trick is to find passions that fuel your soul" - Debora Geary

"Shelflight" is a series of posts where I highlight something that seems cool,  is interesting, or has been inspiring or helpful in my little geek world. It's all just my opinion, and I'm not compensated for any of my fan-girl ravings.

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ShelfLight: A Nomadic Witch

The "geek girl's bookshelf" motif is becoming a common theme in the blogosphere. I'd like to change it up a bit here. Instead of just focusing on "geek" or just books, I thought it might be fun to expand it to any old fan-girl rant - a sort of "that's kind of cool" for anything. Think of it like a small display shelf with a light over it to showcase whatever we sit on the shelf. Who knows? Maybe you will think it is interesting too. Maybe you'll even check it out for yourself.

I just finished reading "A Nomadic Witch" by Debora Geary...for the second time. Her "Modern Witch" series is Harry Potter for parents...not because it is "adult", but because it she touches on the common everyday things we've all experienced with our kids...cookies and ice cream, glitter spills, 4 year olds playing dress up.

And then she shows us the pure magic in every bit of it. 

The Modern Witch series just keeps getting better. Underneath the layer of playful fun and the usual idea of magic with teleportation, flying broomsticks, fire globes, and storms-from-nowhere - underneath all of that is a real-life magic. She touches on very real emotion and very real parts of life that are, indeed, magical.

For example, parenthood. In past books she deftly handles deep ideas like self-discovery, change, self-image, personal responsibility and community belonging. Through all of her books Ms. Geary creates utter believable, genuine, realistic characters. Not only are they believable  but somehow you wind up caring about the characters as if they are real people. The people in her books are the bridge between fictional magic and the magic in real life and real people. 

In "A Nomadic Witch" that premise is taken further, looking at even more heart-rending, emotionally deep concepts like welcoming new life, healing old lives, and even saying hello to those who have passed beyond this one. 

Despite that, "A Nomadic Witch" is an easy, enjoyable page-turner, start to finish. I recommend it!

www.RondaSnow.com

www.modernoracletarot.com

The Magic in Everyone

"I delight in the possibility of magic that exists in all of us."  ~Debora Geary

No wonder she writes such good books, and shares her delight with the rest of us. The magic in all of us really exists.


What we do with that magic is going to be wildly different from person to person. Everyone does something different with their inner magic. Some even extinguish it. But thankfully, that isn't what most people do. For the majority of us, it is more a matter of ignoring it or temporarily misplacing it at the worst.


Remember how we were talking about finding your inner awesomeness? Magic is the same thing. It isn't some supernatural fiction. Magic isn't some fantastical power outside ourselves...it is the spark of life within us...Magic IS ourselves.


Just like the "power" in the "Modern Witch" series, our inner magic is a normal, naturally occurring thing. The magic, the witch-ness, comes from connecting with it.


The normal, natural power we have is simple human creativity and intellect. It is about creativity and inner transformations. The Magician, the ace of Coins, the three of coins, and many other cards allude to just this. Through simple human qualities like co-operation, compassion, creativity, effort, learning (and many others) we can transform the literal world around us. The method may seem mundane, but the magic is no less transformative. We might not "port" it there like Aervyn, but putting a hot meal in a car and driving it to an elderly shut-in is just as magical.


Every witch and wizard seems to have a strong suite. We see this in all sorts of magical fiction: Professor Snape excells at potions, Hermione is a genius with charms, Lauren is a mind witch and Aervyn is good at everything.


Looking at it from this angle, we find another word for magic...talent. The new Disney fairies hint at this too.  Whether you are a mind witch or a tinker fairy, we all have something we are kind of good at, or that comes easily for us. Here is a bit of magic for you...the stuff we are good at is usually the same stuff that makes us happy. It is almost as if the  elemental powers and the natural order of the universe is designed at a fundamental level for us to find happiness. Finding happiness is a powerful magic indeed.


Like Harry's first snitch, and the crystal ball handed down through Moira's family little things can lead to big magic. Blowing bubbles with the kids, taking a few extra minutes to make your spouse's favorite evening meal, holding a door open, a smile...all these and more...are little things that lead to big magic. You can do things like this. YOU have magic inside.


One "spell" for that happiness is find the thing that makes you that way in your own eyes, and chances are it will make you seem magic to others too. Find your awesome and you will find your magic. Find the awesome in others, and you will see some of your magic reflected back to you.


Wishing you a magical day.


www.ModernOracleTarot.com

Geek Girl's Bookshelf - A Reckless Witch

If you've read this blog before, no doubt you heard me talk about wholeness, how everything is a connected one-ness and all that. Tarot readings don't happen in a vacuum.

So while "Geek Girl's Bookshelf" and book reviews might seem off-topic, it really isn't. Book reviews are a dime a dozen here in the blog-o-sphere, especially for current bestsellers and popular topics. What I'd like to do is share my bookshelf with you - - the whole odd, eclectic, fringe-ish mish-mash that has influenced my tarot philosophy and, in turn, this blog.

Today I'm totally geeked out over "A Reckless Witch", the third book in the "Modern Witch" series by Debora Geary. Like the first two books, this one is just pure fun.

On one level, this series rouses a little bit of nostalgia. It reminds me a little of the action-adventure kinds of books I read as a kid: Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys - that sort of thing. But this is fun for grown-ups. It takes that innocent enjoyment and blends it with abstract concepts that requires adulthood to really appreciate and treasure. Love, compassion, family, parenthood, personal responsibility, nurturing, maturity and more are all woven into the story right next to the harry-potter-for-grown-up-girls surface story.

On a whole, there is much more to this book and this series than pulp fiction, paperback romance for soccer moms that I originally feared it might be. I'm glad I read it anyway. Ironically, it was because of the cool cover.

"A Reckless Witch" in particular gives us grown-up-girls a good reminder to play...just like the recent post about "the fool / the innocent" card. There is a great scene in the book with floating red glitter that is a perfect example of healthy play. In fact, that exact theme of balancing fun and responsibility is central to the story...and central to why any stressed out working adult needs to kick their feet up and read this book!

One word to any science geeks who might read "A Reckless Witch" with too much of a detail-critical eye. Yeah - I know that if you coat yourself with negative ions you will attract the positively charged magical floating glitter and not repel it...but did I mention it's magical floating glittler? Sometimes cool trumps accurate. This is one of those times. Relax.

In addition to a fun romp of a story, threaded together with subtle but important ideas, Debora Geary creates very realistic, engaging, comfortable, almost familiar characters. Who hasn't coped with life through cookies and ice cream at one time or another? Who doesn't have favorite sofa or seat? I don't know if older Irish women talk the way Moira does or not...but I don't care because she is such a wise, sweetheart of a character. After teaching pre-school martial arts and seeing the mini-maestros at my daughter's violin class...I KNOW there are Aervyn-like 4 year olds out there. Maybe it is because the themes and subject matter is right in my wheelhouse, but reading these books have been like meeting a whole house full of like minded friends.

Then there is the magic. Her approach to it is enlightened. It may be fiction, but it hints at certain real truths, as I see it anyway.

Even if "A Reckless Witch" just reminds us to balance responsibility and fun, it has worked a little modern magic.

www.deborageary.com
"A Reckless Witch" on amazon.com

Well, there is your not quite off topic post...I always welcome comments about the blog, so don't hesitate to let me know if you have questions about tarot, suggested readings...even holistic health, reiki, aromatherapy, stress reduction etc...please let me know in the comments. I'll give it my best shot to answer in the posts. Thanks!

www.RondaSnow.com
www.ModernOracleTarot.com

Cool quote from a new favorite book series

"I delight in the possibility of magic that exists in all of us." 
~ Debora Geary, author of "A Modern Witch"


I agree! I think there is magic inside us all, and we are all psychic. It is just a matter of connecting to synchronicity, wordless knowing, oneness and wonder.




www.ModernOracleTarot.com