4 stars

I loved this book. I read a kindle copy and I did so much highlighting that I'm considering getting a paperback version as well for all of my notes and scribbles.

It's really beautifully written and gives you that comforting feeling that you're in good hands with this author.

Even though there are journalling questions, that's about as far as it goes in terms of practical advice or ideas about things you could implement in your every day life. I think if there had of been a few more concrete suggestions that would have moved this from a 4 star book to a 5 star book in my eyes.

Having said that though, maybe that's the point. You can't be told exactly how you can make your life more magical. You need to go within and see what that means for you personally. What are the daily routines of yours that you can turn into rituals. Where are the moments in your life that you're rushing through, where you need to take the time to pause and reflect on what you're doing and whether or not you're doing it for the right reasons.

I loved reading this book and I look forward to following the author and getting to know more of her work.

This offers readers an excellent guide to connecting to their spiritual side. This is filled with helpful tips, ceremonies, spells, etc. to help you hone and practice your magical skills. I wish I had this book permanently so I could refer back to it often because I found the material to be fascinating.

Beautiful, informative, and a wonderfully written book. As a practicing Pagan and witch, this book really helped with my practice and gave me some much needed ideas of how to enhance and focus on my practice in a world that wants to bombard me constantly.

What a beautiful book! I loved reading about enriching my witchcraft practices with solid acts of self care.

I highly recommend Practically Pagan for adults who are struggling with the corporate world and work-life balance trying to juggle their career and family obligations while trying to become the best version of themselves and grow their own selves through various hobbies and connecting with their inner selves more powerfully. It's a great book for introverts who want guidance and inspiration to cope with different emotional situations and life changes. The message is to not change but to be proud of themselves and live their life on their own terms making the most of their life.

Practically Pagan – An Alternative to Magical Living by Maria DeBlassie

9781789044034

128 Pages
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Release Date: September 24, 2022

Nonfiction, Health, Mind & Body, Multicultural Interest, Personal Transformation, Religion & Spirituality

The book is divided into the following sections.

What is Everyday Magic?
Radical Self-Care & The Goddess Within
Make Your Routine a Ritual
Practice Pleasure Magic
Be Open to Synchronicity
Live Beyond the Expected
Conclusion: Conjure Your Own Special Magic

The author begins by explaining her type of magic and her heritage. She discusses her journey into magic and hurdles she faced. At the end of each chapter, she provides questions and suggestions for different ways to connect with your own magic / mindfulness daily. If you would like to work deeper within yourself to become the person you were meant to be, this might be a good book for you.

This book was interesting but had some faults that most books about practices hold, not enough detail. The author focused a little too much on their own life, and less so on the actual meat - or title - of the book. It ended up feeling more like a self-help essay, rather than a discussion.

This guide is informative, well written, and easy to get through. I recommend it to anyone looking to get into the pagan lifestyle.

Lost my access to the eARC, and was enjoying, but not sure I will ever nab my own copy and finish. I think it's worth a try if you're feeling like you need to feel the magic in the world around you, if you believe it's there, but you're not able to access, you may find this book helpful. Once you get past the great intro, nothing I had read so far indicated information would be shared of which I was not already aware (like, don't work yourself to death, etc.)

I love the way that this book weaves magic and wonder into the everyday, making paganism feel accessible to everyone. I'm going to try to reframe household chores as a form of magic!

This book was everything I could have hoped for. DeBlassie approaches magic in a way that is less intimidating and much more natural, at least to me. The focus on intention as magic and having less focus put on complex spells and rituals makes this book both beginner-friendly and something that can re-ignite the passion for longtime practitioners.

I feel that the title of the book is very misleading. Rather than being a book that outlines the magical basics of Pagan living, it is actually a self-care, self-help, mindfulness book, which is interesting, but not what I expected from the title and description. It is a rather repetitive book and there is a lack of any real insight into Paganism. It was interesting to read, just didn’t give what was promised in the blurb!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The description does not exactly match the book, yet I found it to be practical and full of interesting wisdom and suggestions. Maria DeBlassie is a bruja, but the magical wisdom shared in these pages is to guide the reader along the road of self-discovery and taking back the power laying inside of all of us. There is powerful magic in everyday choices, in living our best lives. As women we live lives that we are told by society we should live; we should do all, be all, do more and continually sacrifice ourselves to make others more comfortable.

The spells included in this book are not spells a reader might expect; the most significant take-away I received was that the magical world lives inside of all of us; there is magic in every single thing we do, we just have to tune ourselves to it. I highlighted many passages that resonate with me, and I look forward to practicing this magical living going forward in my own life. I found this book to be a permission slip of sorts - permission to say no to doing more and being more - and saying yes to following that path which is inside of my heart.

This is an easy enjoyable read about the basics of living life better by being mindful of the magic in everyday life. It is written very well and brings together the ideas of mindfulness, gratitude and positivity. This book does not include spells and potions but rather simple ideas that can be incorporated into your everyday to enhance and celebrate life.

Practically Pagan - An Alternative Guide to Magical Living by Maria DeBlassie was just okay. I enjoyed it but not enough.

Rounded for 2.75 stars, not what I expected based on the title and blurb of this book. An Alternative Guide to Magical Living promised to provide spells, guide to magical conjuring and mystical insights designed to help find magic in our everyday lives. Even though I have not learned anything new to me in the book, I thought author had several good tips on how to find joy in everyday life and importance of self-care. It was good to have a reminder of what to focus on to improve health and emotional well-being with few simple changes in everyday life. What I found disappointing was that the several good points author made has been repeated over and over throughout the book offering no spells no recipes and no insights on how to find magic. This book could be a helpful resource for a single person with comfortable income, however not very applicable for a woman with young kids and not a lot of money to go to farmers market to buy organic produce every Thursday.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

🚀 the book in 3 sentences :

1. exploring our inner power
2. opening ourselves to magic by letting go, unlearning bad habits, and relearning what feels truly good for us
3. this book is everything about the daily little habits that we can make significant and full of joy by turning them into routines

How this book changed me:
- I will be noticing the small details, the beautiful sunrise, and the smell of the breeze.
- Things happen for a reason; life sends us signals and messages all the time, we just need to be open enough to notice them

The author walks us through her life, how she let the magic in and how it changed her, relieved her almost. As a Mexican woman in the US, she has all the more felt the pressure of the society and felt pressured to fit in, to satisfy everyone, her own well-being last on her priorities.

Slowly, she connected back to the magic and found balance in her life. She doesn't really tell us about her personal practices - she mentions tarot a few times, burning sage, ... - and that is a shame because I think that it would have been much more helpful than just telling us to embrace life, to enjoy doing the groceries and folding clothes.

This book was supposed to be about "*proverbial spells, daily conjurings, and mystical insights designed to help those in search of a little more magic in their day to day life*" but I did not find many daily conjurings here, only that we should say "no" more often. I expected it to be more on the mystical side. The label does not match the content of the book, and it is really misguiding. If it was labeled correctly as "self-help" the audience would have been different, and we would have the same expectations.

However, it feels like the author took her blog posts and put them together, hence the many repetitions and redundancies. If you would read the articles separately, one from time to time, it can be a great reminder to stay open to the beauty of life, but again, put together in a book, the value is lost.

Overall, I felt a little bored because 20 or 30 pages could have been enough to say everything that there is in this book. The rest is pure repetition, arguments brought on slightly differently. The content is good though, even if there is not much about magic here. These are the perfect pieces of advice for those who are only starting to look into personal development and self-help.

Special thanks to Netgalley and John Hunt Publishing for sharing a digital copy of this book with me in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting book which I read quickly and which sparked off so many ideas I almost feel like a different person after reading it than before! It's practical and thought provoking and I'm looking forward to getting a physical copy of the book so I can use it in my daily practice.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book.

I enjoyed this book and loved the way it was written. It felt as if the author was truly talking to me. I can absolutely relate to being a woman of color and having a mestiza heritage. This book provided lots of practical tips on how to fit into magical spaces and being true to your Brujeria. I give this book my thumbs up! I voluntarily read this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I think that the title of this book sums it up perfectly - it is an alternative guide to magical living.. As many reviewers have noted, this book is less about "magic" and spells, and more about self-review and self-care. It is a simple guidebook for being aware of the beauty and wonder around you, offering straight-forward suggestions and tips. I feel that this is a book that I would refer to again for a refresh and reminder to care for myself.