Old Magic- Nicholas Clapp

Old Magic: Lives of the Desert Shamans- Nicholas Clapp
Sunbelt Publications
Published: 2015

Synopsis: For a thousand generations, desert shamans of the far West sought order in the stars and in the mysteries and wonder of their grand, if unforgiving landscape. When summoned, they doctored the stricken, be they stoic elders or frightened little children. They conjured rains. Taking leave of reality, they rode whirlwinds and soared in magical flight. They epitomized a Native American ability “to relate to the land in ways beyond a Western way of thinking.” They’re gone now. But there remain telling accounts of how, day-to-day, they lived how omens foretold a shaman’s destiny, how he learned his craft, how he could exercise his power for both good and evil. How a shaman could travel to the land of the dead and (hopefully) return. Drawing on the lore of a dozen tribes, Old Magic conjures the year-to-year life of a shaman – a life of service to his people, a life fraught with torment and danger, a life often taking a man or woman to the edge of madness.

Old Magic is one of those rare books that combines careful research with a poetic, flowing, storytelling style of writing that makes a book not only educational, but enjoyable.  Clapp’s descriptions of the desert landscape draw the reader in, entice those who are unfamiliar with the desert, and connect to the experiences of those who have hiked and explored even a fraction of the desert.   The beautiful photographs included in the book evoke the beauty and harshness of the desert, and are perfect additions to experience the mysteries of the land and its’ magic.

Clapp describes experiences that have been related to him or recorded by early ethnographers from shamans, including coming of age ceremonies, dream quests, and healing ceremonies.  He explores what is known about different forms of magic among the Kumeyaay, Cahuilla, and Quechan, and how the culture of the shamans had to change and adapt with the coming of the Spanish. There are beautifully told early creation stories and explorations of the different roles gods and shamans played in the every day lives of the people.

 His careful research and sensitivity towards the subject matter offer respectful insight into shamans and magic in Southern California.  It encourages respect, understanding and additional interest in the enthralled reader.  

Desert Bighorn Sheep: Wilderness Icon

Desert Bighorn Sheep: Wilderness Icon

Mark C. Jorgensen, photographs by Jeff Young.

Sunbelt Publications, 2015

This new book offers a glimpse into the lives of the elusive desert bighorn sheep: their habits, their social lives, and their natural habitats.  It is written for the general reader in a casual and engaging writing style that contains enormous amounts of fascinating information without feeling like a science lecture. I was particularly interested in the inclusions at the end of the book, where Jorgensen discusses sheep conservation and the current status of the sheep in the U.S. and Mexico in regions they traditionally call home.  This included not only their current numbers, but conservation efforts, hunting restrictions, challenges they face- such as the inclusion of non-native plant species in their habitat, and successes like Arizona's highway overpasses, allowing sheep to successfully travel from one location to another without crossing highways. Mark Jorgensen, who has served as a state park ranger, resource ecologist, and superintendent of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in his 36-year career in California State Parks and has spent 5 decades studying desert bighorn sheep, is clearly dedicated to sharing his love for and understanding of these amazing animals.

The truly unique aspect of this book, however, are the incredible photographs taken by Jeff Young. Young has been an avid photographer for over 40 years and since 2008 has focused on desert bighorn sheep.  There are over 200 photographs in the book, including rarely photographed behaviors such as the "taunting" and posturing of sheep before they battle.  The photographs make you feel as if you are right there, hearing the clash of horns, or the scrape of rocks as a sheep makes a seemingly impossible headlong dive down a cliff.  Some images, like one looking down at a ram balancing all four hooves on a small rocky peak, make you wonder not only how the sheep can do that- but how Jeff was able to take such an incredible shot! Action shots of jumping sheep show more clearly than words their amazing dexterity in seemingly impossible rocky landscapes. I was especially struck by images of the sheep in the red sandstone region of Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, where the red backgrounds seems to glow, highlighting the sheep instead of allowing them to blend in as they do in our local Sonoran Desert. And I defy anyone not to grin at images of newborn lambs exploring their new world.    

Desert Bighorn Sheep: Wilderness Icon is the perfect book for nature lovers and photography lovers of all ages, and a must-have for those living in the regions the sheep continue to call home.