Year of the Witch
Temperance Alden 4/5 Published in 2020
As someone who is pretty new to her Practice, I am very happy to have found this book. Going into my practice I was always informed about the 8 Wiccan Sabbats and that most everyone observed them. Not that I really knew if everyone did, but it was a widespread piece of information that, when you are first entering into the craft, you believe. Temperance Alden did a wonderful job of changing my mind on the Sabbats in the best way. She helped me to realize that I don’t actually need to practice the Sabbats if I don’t find myself attached to them. Not only does The Year of the Witch address that you do not need to celebrate only the Wiccan Sabbats, but it gives you insight on how to adapt the Wheel of the Year to your practice and make it work for you. There are my positives, there are a few negatives that I need to give as well. Yes, she helped me realize that I did not need to only practice the 8 Wiccan Sabbats, however, I am sure that other books say the same thing. The way it is written was a bit confusing for me. There is a lot of information but at the same time, everything is glossed over. Now that could be put down to just wanting to give an overview of different topics that can help one to form their own Wheel of the Year, but in some places, there was just not enough information to make it make sense. Following my point above nearly half of the book, 40% is about the 8 Wiccan Sabbats. I went into this book thinking that it was supposed to take us away from those Sabbats and the ways we can make our own Wheel. While it did this, it seems a bit redundant to make nearly half the book about the Sabbats themselves. Now I understand that she does celebrate 6/8 of the Sabbats herself, however, she states at the beginning of the book, “My goal with this book is to give you what you’ll need to create your own personalized wheel of the year. In the following pages, we will explore the basic concepts of intuitively guided witchcraft, its role in the wheel of the year, the traditional wheel of the year, climate change, and more.” Yes, she states that she will be discussing the Wiccan Wheel, however, I see no point in dedicating such a large chunk of her book to correspondences and history lessons about the 8 Sabbats that we can find elsewhere. The other information given is in such short bursts that it is hard to gather any information out of them. There are a few points that she addresses that are longer and do delve deeper but they are far and few in between and do not reach the depth of time that she put into the 8 Wiccan Sabbats. Overall I the book fell short of my expectations. I am also unable to recommend this to a true beginner witch, as it would be easier for you to understand it with prior knowledge of the Wheel of the Year. Do I recommend it though, yes just be sure to gain insight on the Wheel of the Year before reading it.
