Weather’s Store: Encounters with the Sacred

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Striking novel about a woman who is drawn to an enigmatic store through which she begins a spiritual journey involving beings from ancient and traditional cultures inhabiting the raw landscape.

Feeling disconnected from her life, a woman named Jessie stumbles on a “bone-white” store by the lakeshore in northern New Mexico. A heavy wrought-iron sign reads “Weather’s Store,” and the place gives Jessie the sensation of an old dream. From there, she meets the mysterious, green-eyed Weather and is introduced to a host of characters, including frightening Indian witches; Maya, a weaver and healer; surreal, powerful women spirits; Azteca Marta, an herbalist; Marta’s son Mateo, the blended soul of New Mexico; old Juan Antonio; and a heartbreaking, hopeless Indian adolescent. Alternately frustrated, confused, awed and intrigued, Jessie comes to a deeper understanding and acceptance of her destiny through these mystical mentors and guides. Unlike traditional novels, Giomi’s work presents a series of parables and haikus utilizing the land, cultures and people of New Mexico, to which the author, a native of the same region, feels a deep connection. These fragments can have elegance and depth, such as when homemade crosses marking death are equated to “resting places…reminders to stop and remember and, then with infinite patience, to bless what must be left behind.” Giomi doesn’t romanticize the primitivism and poverty of this part of the world while recognizing its power, beauty and sacred quality and respecting its wisdom. She touches on the tragic alcoholism prevalent among Native Americans, particularly youth, who are “trapped between two worlds” and often die young of alcohol abuse, homicide, suicide and despair. Her background as a psychologist occasionally reflects in the “work” Jessie is encouraged to do (“To embark on any journey…you must confront what is hiding in the darkness” or “admit the wound”), but the ultimate journey is metaphysical, a reclamation of the soul. Weather is represented literally by rain, winds and snow and becomes a metaphor for the tempests of the human spirit.

One woman’s search for self in New Mexico achieves an abstract, meditative beauty.

Kirkus

In Weather’s Store: Encounters with the Sacred, Jessie Eaton leaves her home and sets out on a drive with no destination in mind. Seeing a wrought-iron sign, Weather’s Store, she is intrigued and feels compelled to stop. At that moment time splits and she begins an adventure with spiritual and life-transforming consequences. From her first meeting with Weather, the stores enigmatic owner, Jessie’s illusions and beliefs are challenged. Whether Jessie’s encounters are with the magic and mysticism of the enchanting northern New Mexico landscape or with a healing curandera, terrifying Indian witches or a traditional northern New Mexican woman, Jessie finds empowerment in new perspectives of dignity, acceptance and purpose. Weather’s Store: Encounters with the Sacred is a highly compressed, sensual and suspenseful story. Its unique and meditative qualities explore the traditions and ancient methods of spiritual healing through herbs, rituals, and ceremonies. Mesmerizing and deeply empowering, it weaves the elegance and spirituality of Indian and northern New Mexican cultures into a journey of self-discovery and deep understanding of the demands of individual destiny for Jessie and for the readers. The writing is fluid, rich, and rhythmic, staying with the reader long after the last line is read.

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