The Enchanted Aesthetic: A Syllabus for July's Enchantment

Explore July's enchantment with poems, playlists, books, films, and rituals inspired by light academia, and the soft golden-glow of the arts.

Dearest Enchanted One,

“Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” - Henry James

There is a hush that settles over the world in July, a soft golden glow that bathes the trees and fields, inviting the soul to exhale and linger in the slow unfolding of the season.

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July, with its languid afternoons and shimmering evenings, is a sanctuary of stillness and warmth, a time when the earth itself seems to pause in reverence to light and leisure.

For those of us who carry a deeply enchanted heart, July is a whispered sonata of wildflowers, warm water, and sun-dappled laughter.

It is a month that aches with beauty. It is akin to a slow breath held beneath the canopy of summer’s embrace, calling us to soften, to listen, and to be fully present to the quiet miracles woven through each day.

This month, I invite you to walk gently with me into that slow, golden light. Together, we will savour moments steeped in reverence, through art, literature, music, and ritual, each a small act of devotion to the wild and precious life we share.

A Celebration of Summer’s Golden Light: Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party

Above: Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.)

At the heart of July’s gentle rhythm, I find myself returning again and again to one luminous work of art: Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party.

This masterpiece is a radiant celebration of light, laughter, and leisure and a snapshot of summer’s soft embrace captured in brushstrokes of warmth and joy.

Look closely, and you will see a gathering alive with whispered stories and quiet connections.

Renoir captivates the canvas with figures recline in sun-dappled ease, their faces glowing with the blush of afternoon sun, their laughter almost audible through the painted canvas.

The scene is at once intimate and expansive, a moment suspended between movement and stillness, a dance of human warmth against the shimmering backdrop of the Seine.

Just like July beckons us to do, Renoir’s painting invites us to linger.

To feel the gentle breeze on our skin, to hear the soft clink of glasses raised in celebration, to savour the sweet ease of connection without hurry or expectation. It is an invitation to rest in the richness of being present, to honour the sacredness of friendship and leisure.

But now I long to hear from you. Imagine stepping into this gathering, what do you feel, hear, or notice about yourself in this summer embrace? Moreover, how does this painting speak to the art of slowing down and savouring the richness of everyday life?

To deepen your experience of this breathtakingly luminous painting, I highly recommend Susan Vreeland’s Luncheon of the Boating Party, a novel that breathes life into the stories behind the faces.

Vreeland’s prose is a tender unfolding of the lives entwined in Renoir’s scene coupled with a delicate exploration of art, friendship, and the fleeting beauty of summer days.

Together, the painting and the novel offer a portal to a summer slowed down that cradles a moment of time where light and love entwine, and where every moment shimmers with possibility.

July’s Enchanted Reading List

To walk further into July’s slow beauty, here are some books I invite you to carry with you this month:

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
A timeless tale of rediscovery and the healing power of nature’s quiet miracles; perfect for a summer spent opening new doors of wonder.
The Enchanted Life: Unlocking the Magic of the Everyday by Sharon Blackie
My true favourite of all time that is an invitation to rediscover wonder in the ordinary. This deeply sacred book is a gentle guide to living with more presence, creativity, and soulful grace.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
A modern classic weaving art, loss, and beauty into a rich tapestry that is an ode to how art holds the fragments of life and soul.
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
A moving story of courage, friendship, and the refuge found in books and art amid turbulent times.
Ways of Seeing by John Berger
A classic and accessible meditation on how we view art and the world: a truly perfect companion for a month of renewed wonder.
The Outermost House by Henry Beston
This book is a poetic meditation on the rhythms of the natural world offering a luminous reflection on solitude, nature’s mysteries, and the sacred pulse of the seasons.

A July Soundscape: Classical Melodies for Golden Days

Imagine yourself at a sun-dappled terrace overlooking the shimmering waters of a lazy river, where the laughter of friends mingles with the gentle clink of porcelain and the soft murmur of oars dipping into warm currents. The air is fragrant with fresh blossoms and ripened fruit, the sky a canvas brushed with tender gold and azure.

This playlist is a musical celebration of that moment. This is your own invitation to the Luncheon of the Boating Party, as painted by Renoir, a timeless gathering of joy, light, and ease.

Each classical piece is chosen to echo the shimmering textures of sunlight on water, the delicate rustle of summer leaves, and the tender pulse of hearts slowed by warmth and wonder.

Let these melodies carry you to a place where time stretches, where creativity blooms as freely as wildflowers, and where your soul can sip deeply from the well of summer’s enchantment.

Perfect for afternoons of reflection, creative dreaming, or simply being, this is your soundtrack for a summer lived slowly, sweetly, and fully present. I hope you can cherish it as much as I do putting it together for you!

The Enchanted Lens: Films and Series to Inspire and Illuminate

The Impressionists (BBC Series)

This is, without question, my most cherished documentary of all time!

The Impressionists is an exquisite journey that first stirred my heart to the study of art history and continues to be a balm whenever sadness or hopelessness whispers too loudly.

As the BBC TV series portrays so vividly, The Impressionists were dreamers, rebels of light and colour who dared to see the world not as it was told to them, but as it danced in their own enchanted eyes.

In this visually opulent and sumptuous series, Monet, Renoir, Degas, and their circle come alive with such tenderness and rebellion, capturing the magic of fleeting moments; moments like the golden glow of July afternoons, the gentle ripple of water, and the laughter shared beneath the summer sun.

As we have spoken often of Renoir in this month’s syllabus, I find this series the most perfect companion to our July journey where you can now accept this an invitation to see, feel, and imagine with the same wonder and freedom that shaped those radiant canvases.

Whenever life feels heavy, this tender glimpse into the lives of these artists reminds me that even in darkness, there is light to be found, and that beauty and hope can bloom anew with every brushstroke.

**Reflection and Journaling Invitation: The Summer Day and the Question of a Wild and Precious Life**

The Summer Day by Mary Oliver (excerpt):

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Mary Oliver’s The Summer Day is a hymn to the miraculous in the ordinary, a reverent gaze cast upon the small wonders often overlooked: The grasshopper, the swan, the black bear, each a living emblem of the world’s wild, intricate beauty.

But at its heart, the poem carries a question so simple, yet so vast:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

This line has been echoed, borrowed, and reframed countless times in the hustle of the modern world, often reduced to a motivational slogan or a hurried call to “make your life count.” Yet, to those of us who walk the path of the poetic heart, who feel the world as a living, breathing enchantment, this question is nothing less than sacred.

It is an anchor, a slow, deep breath into presence, and a call to listen closely to the rhythms of our own souls.

It asks us not what we should do according to a checklist or a spreadsheet, but what we long to do when the noise falls away, when time slows, and when we are truly with ourselves.

For me, this question drapes itself gently over my quietest moments: the sound of my fingers touching piano keys, the stillness in the studio before the first note, the way music becomes a prayer that lifts me beyond pain and limitation.

In those moments, I am alive in a way that transcends the mundane: I am wild, I am precious, I am fully present.

July Journal Prompt

And now, enchanted one, it’s time to find out your wild and precious moments of life.

Find a quiet nook bathed in summer’s light. Take a slow, deep breath. Read Mary Oliver’s question aloud or quietly in your heart once again:

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Allow the words to settle around you like warm sunlight. When you feel ready, write your response freely without judgement or expectation.

If you wish for a starting point, I invite you to reflect on what practices, moments, or creations make you feel most alive? How do you embody the wild and precious nature of your being?

This question invites you, dear enchanted one, to find your own sacred stillness. To identify the moments or practices that drench you in presence, that make your heart sing with belonging and meaning. It is an invitation to honour your creative pulse, your soul’s yearning, the simple yet profound acts that make your life wild and precious.

If you feel called, please share a reflection in the comments or write to me directly. I’d be honoured to hold space for the ways we live our wild and precious lives. Every single one a story a light and a voice in the thread of the tapestry of our shared enchantment.

And with that, I bring you the final part of our July Syllabus of Enchantment. Thank you so deeply for journeying with me through this first letter of slow wonder and midsummer magic.

I would be so deeply grateful to hear how these reflections have touched your heart so please do share your thoughts and whispers in the comments; your voice is a cherished part of this unfolding monthly story.

If you enjoyed this letter and would love to know what’s coming next, I would like to tease that a journey to the lakes await with their timeless beauty and you can join me in person.

I dream of welcoming you to my retreat called ‘Take Me To The Lakes’, a sanctuary where we will walk the very paths of Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Beatrix Potter, breathing in the enchanted air that inspired their souls. I will tell you all about this magic in a dedicated post coming very, very soon!

Meanwhile, here, at the Academy Of The Enchanted Arts Substack, there are many more letters to come. As always, each one a gentle invitation to slow down, create, and find delight in the sacred art of living.

Until then, with love and enchantment,
Georgie xoxo

Categories: : The Enchanted Aesthetic