It’s a cold and cloudy day, a perfectly cozy winter’s day, promising much-needed snow and quiet time. I’m sipping cinnamon and anis-laced coffee this morning, gazing out the window above my writing desk, and relishing the cozy warmth of my home. It’s strewn with twinkle lights and smells of beeswax and more cinnamon. It’s filled with books, herbs, and all the things I love, including my two familiars gazing out the window beside me. It’s a comforting and warm antidote to the brewing storm outside. Truly, it is the perfect day to indulge in self-care. There’s something about this heavy weather ..read more

One of my favorite books as a child was a now-out-of-print story called The Witch Who Lives Down the Hall (1985), which you can listen to and view here. In this book, a young boy is convinced that the woman who lives down the hall from him in his new apartment complex is a witch. Why does he think this? Well, she casts spells on a magic carpet (does yoga), whips up potions (makes soup), hosts coven meetings (reading and music clubs), has a black cat, and is basically loads of fun. The thing is, the child is not wrong. His neighbor IS a witch, only not in the way we would think. She is the embo ..read more

It’s book release day! I couldn’t be more excited to see this project birthed into the world. What started as a creative exploration of the tarot and a way to learn more about the deck in a low-pressure way has developed into a deep love and appreciation for the art of conversing with the tarot. Come join the conversation! Bewitching tarot meditations by bruja and award-winning writer Maria DeBlassie. One part prose poetry, one part witchy insights, and one part study in learning the tarot, this book explores this mundane divination form for beginners and experts alike. This cartomancy book wa ..read more

Last month, I wrote about how witchy houses have captured our collective imaginations on The Bruja Professor. I also wrote on this blog about the joys of creating a witchy garden. It only makes sense that we take this witchy business a step further and talk about what it means to craft (pun intended) a witchy house! It is a fact of life that we all want to live in the Practical Magic house and, if you’re like me, model our current abodes after it and other witchy pop culture homes like those found in Charmed and other shows. I mean, if you aren’t actively trying to create a space—and life—as m ..read more

In Everyday Enchantments, I have a tribute to the joys of being an amateur and another on what it takes to truly become an expert at something. These bite-sized musings came from a lifetime of experiences that reinforced the idea that everything we do must be done To Perfection and the moments in my life that were truly awe-inspiring because I wasn’t aiming for perfect, just relishing the sheer pleasure of doing something that feels good. As a child, I couldn’t just do ballet because I liked wearing a tutu and twirling. No, at a certain point, my teacher made it clear that I needed to Get Seri ..read more

Turnips feature prominently in Weep, Woman, Weep. Why? because I LOVE root veggies, including turnips. In fact, when writing this novella, I became more than a little obsessed with them, salad turnips, tasting like buttery radishes and purple top and scarlet turnips…there are a surprising number of different types of these humble root veggies. Mercy, the central character in Weep, Woman, Weep, ends up starting Mercy Farm, and among the many vegetables and herbs she grows are turnips. In fact, turnips are the thing that gets her going on the whole idea of turning the land she inherited into a w ..read more

On May first, I wove ribbons in my hair and danced in the meadow until the buzzing in my heart matched the buzzing of the bees.  On the sixth, I ate tender strawberries and enjoyed the feel of each tiny seed slipping down my throat. On the twelfth, I planted lemon balm because I am forever in need of soothing and sunshine.  I somehow never quite trust soft gentle things when they pad into my life like a cat ready to luxuriate in my attention—but I’m learning. Even the tarot gives me sunshine. Again and again, it asks me to let the light in.  I wish it would tell me how because t ..read more

It’s that time of year when I’m dying to get my hands dirty.  I’ve been collecting seeds all winter and have started prepping my garden space by turning the soil, cleaning up the debris that protected it over the colder months, and thinking about where I’ll put my plants. I’m dizzy with the promise of a summer in my magical garden space where my biggest concern is harvesting and drying my medicinal herbs fast enough—the hard years of pandemic teaching forgotten under the sun’s nurturing gaze and the pliant soil beneath my feet. This is a feeling that is always with me, even in the winter ..read more

I would make a love spell, if I could, made of the torn pages of a romance novel, rose petals plucked under the darkness of night, and the bloody suture that stitched the pieces of my heart back together after I was so careless with it. I would take these things and mash them together between the teeth of my mortar and pestle, along with dandelion seeds and olive oil and dirty thoughts and ground cinnamon and the sweetness of a spring morning.  I’d bind it with my spit and tears and hope. I would even drink this potion if I could. Swallow it all down with a spoonful of honey to soften the ..read more

When I first started this blog, oh, almost ten years ago, I got in the habit of starting each year with a new year’s resolution, something to meditate on for the year. I did everything from slow living, radical self-care, and thinking about living more sustainably.  After a while, many of these things became an integral part of my life. Then the pandemic happened and I felt a decreased desire to focus too hard on another goal, even if it was rooted in my desire for cultivating a more magical life. There’s nothing wrong with making resolutions—in fact, I rather like the idea of choosing so ..read more