
Book Review
The Ultimate Guide to the Witch’s Wheel of the Year: Rituals, Spells & Practices for Magical Sabbats, Holidays & Celebrations by Anjou Kiernan
Fair Winds Press. 208 pages
I had the pleasure of reviewing Ms. Kiernan’s book entitledThe Book of Altars and Sacred Spaces: How to Create Magical Space in Your Home for Ritual and Intention for the July 2020 issue of PaganPages and was impressed with the content and the beautiful photographs that underscored the visual components of creating altars. It was both a feast for the eyes and for the inspired mind. The Ultimate Guide to the Witch’s Wheel of the Year: Rituals, Spells & Practices for Magical Sabbats, Holidays & Celebrations by Anjou Kiernan is another installment from Anjou that stimulates your creativity and uses photography and illustration to conjure up a diverse palette of possibility.
The contents of The Ultimate Guide to the Witch’s Wheel of the Year: Rituals, Spells & Practices for Magical Sabbats, Holidays & Celebrations give ample attention to each of the eight Sabbats and provide the reader at the onset with the origins and reason for the seasons. The Resources section at the end of the book provides the reader with a listing of the rituals suggested in each of the individual chapters with a quick look index guide to find them readily.
Each of the Sabbat sections is organized in such a way, that everything you would need to know, both as a beginner and more advanced practitioner, is presented in a clear and precise manner. Dates of the Sabbat, expanded Correspondences, Astronomical Basis, Ancient Sites, Pagan Cultures and Deities, Ancient Traditions and Modern Spells are some of the categories explored with rituals and active workings specific to that Sabbat strewn throughout. There is enough variety in recommended activities for celebration that would resonate with herbalists, craftspeople and ritualists, alike.
Being an Imbolc baby, I was especially interested to see the treatment given to this Sabbat and any new ideas I could use for my own celebrations. Additionally, being in my 60’s and a new grandmother, the “Crone Annointing Oil” was timely in reading. The inclusion of the Cailleach, the Morrigan and Hecate at this time of the year was a nicely surprising intention. The Crone is not often associated at this time of the year, but entirely makes sense in alignment with the seasonal tides and the underpinnings of energy experienced. In keeping with the more traditional assignations of Imbolc, there is a recipe for crafting a candle honoring Brighid and her potent triple flames. Cleansing amulets, weather divination and ritual and poppets fill the pages for this Sabbat, offering a cornucopia of ways in which the magick and celebratory nature of the Sabbat can be accessed and flow nicely with a modern or more traditional approach.
This comprehensive style is used for each of the Sabbats and the overall sense is one of bolstering and feeling confident in at least one of the forms of honoring used, while being open and receptive to the implementation of new traditions.
Would I Recommend:
The Ultimate Guide to the Witch’s Wheel of the Year: Rituals, Spells & Practices for Magical Sabbats, Holidays & Celebrations by Anjou Kiernan could easily fit into the category of a coffee table book given its rich and beautiful imagery throughout. But the real gift here is the thoughtful crafting of a book that engages the reader at all levels while instructing in the fundamentals of the Witch’s Wheel including the nuances of each celebration.
Overall, this book is really all that is needed to craft meaningful, visually beautiful and powerful expressions of the Witch’s Wheel of the Year. Additionally, if the reader takes the time to move through each of the possibilities presented in content and idea, the thread of continuity and flow from one Sabbat to the other as suggested by the “Wheel” as semantic, comes to life in a dynamic and self-generated manner. The Ultimate Guide to the Witch’s Wheel of the Year: Rituals, Spells & Practices for Magical Sabbats, Holidays & Celebrations by Anjou Kiernan is definitely a book to proudly place on your shelf and return to frequently.
About Author Anjou Kiernan:
Anjou Kiernan is the hedgewitch and herbal alchemist behind Light of Anjou, a witchery shop and virtual sacred space for magic and mysticism. She has been toiling in potions and occult writing since the age of 16 and has continued her journey in witchcraft on a magically-minded homestead in the rolling hills of mid-Maine. Anjou has been named as one of Refinery29’s “Magical Women You Really Should Be Following on Instagram.” Her writing and photography of unique altars and sacred spaces have attracted a broad audience and customer base on both Instagram (@lightofanjou) and her online witchery shop (lightofanjou.com). She is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Witchcraft and the Book of Altars and Sacred Spaces.