by Katarzyna Nowocin-Kowalczyk
December, 2023
text from the book Secrets of California Deserts
Death Valley in California is a desert land full of extremes, which fascinates, intrigues, delights and surprises even those who think they have already discovered it. For many tourists, it acts like a drug. If you've been there once, even if you swear you won't come back, you still want to return. And you do.
The first impression is often the thought: “Is this what hell looks like?” Seemingly empty; rocks, negligible vegetation, lack of life, and heat like in hell. Because it is indeed one of the hottest places on earth. In summer, the daily temperature is above 40°C (104F) and sometimes it also exceeds 50°C (122F).
However, appearances are usually deceiving. Because when you look closely, you'll see that everything that seems dead here is alive, albeit in a different space-time and in another dimension. A different reality. A different world. It would seem that you have just landed on an unknown planet. And when you look closely, you marvel at the forms and colors of this desert world. You see beauty in a rock, in a pebble, in a solitary bush, in a blade of grass, in the sound of the wind, in the rays of the sun. You hear the unique music of the desert. And every stone, every blade of grass, tells a story. And the night, especially for you, opens a portal to the vastness of the Universe. You look up at the stars and feel like you're part of something bigger than just your little backyard of the so-called everyday life. And these stars also talk and tell their stories too.
And it happens that in such a deserted place, far from the hustle and bustle of what you call civilization, in this desert silence which after all speaks, in a place where you are alone with yourself, magic begins to happen. Behold, you are experiencing a spiritual opening. Elation. Awakening. You look at yourself and your own stories that make up your life, and you start telling them to yourself again, but in a different way. The perspective changes. The point of reference changes. You are changing. You're re-evaluating your values.
And lo and behold, it turns out that the world you are returning to from the world of desert is no longer the same world it was before you arrived in this magical place. It seems too loud, too chaotic, too imposing. Noise is disturbing. You long for the silence of the desert. You want to come back here. You want to hear more stories that the desert tells so beautifully. And though it doesn't utter the words, you can hear them. You hear the music of the desert and see the beautiful pictures that the desert paints with all the colors of light, just for you.
Death Valley is a unique place that can make you die to be resurrected. The old self dies and the new self is born. A new version of me. Passing, dying, renewing, growing—the eternal cycle of Mother Nature. Death Valley is a place where death becomes life. Something dies in order for something to be born. Something is leaving to make room for something new.
CatherineNK
*****
Desert Magic
text from the book Secrets of California Deserts
Mojave, Colorado, Great Basin with the cultural expert’s eye
author: Katarzyna Nowocin-Kowalczyk
translation: Elizabeth Kanski
photos: Katarzyna Nowocin-Kowalczyk
👉 The book is available on Amazon in hardcover and softcover;
in a version with color or black-and-white photos
in Polish, English, and Spanish
Desert Magic; read in Polish by the author
❤️
Death Valley has plenty of secrets. I like to visit this magical place. Beautifully written text and so accurate. The desert is magic. I found more of this kind of spiritual text in your book, Catherine. You have a very unusual, beautiful, heart-touching way of viewing the world. Thank you for sharing.
I never thought that anyone could write so beautifully about Death Valley.
beautifully written