For seasoned practitioners and beginners alike, this book is one I would highly recommend. The cover is a beautiful image of the wheel of the year that sets the tone for the book. It is highly informative and breaks down the various days that make up the wheel of the year. For each of the Sabbats, there is information about the history of the day in addition to practices you can do to depend your connection to not only yourself but the greater universe. The inclusion of a table showing the correspondences of the wheel of the year is handy. I’m not the best at remembering what happens when and this gives a quick visual aid that is easy to read and use. Even better, the book also includes information and correspondences for the Southern Hemisphere! While I live in the Northern Hemisphere, I rarely see information that also considers the whole other half of the world. Overall, the approach to this book is clear and concise. If you need information or a refresher on the basics, this is the book for you!

I adore reading books on the craft and holidays.  This book is so well written and laid out that I fell instantly under the author’s spell and could not put it down.  Sure, I am familiar with the holidays and rituals, but there is always something new to learn. This book lays out the year for you and gives background, blessings and rituals to enjoy each as the year progresses. 

This will make a wonderful book for a few friends who are new to the craft. A great gift for anyone interested in the seasons and holidays.  A beautiful book through and through.

This is a great beginners guide to all the seasonal celebrations of the year. I loved the format and the stunning images that went along with the practical applications. I could tell that the author tried to incorporate many different cultures into each segment. Usually the primary focus in books of this kind are mainly focused in Norse and Celtic mythos, and while this did have a lot of that (due to the nature of the history of sabbats,) there were still segments that highlighted different deities as well. I found the rituals and practices easy to follow and there were many that I've never seen before. This is definitely a must have for any new witch's resource library.

This book is just beautiful. The full length color pictures really set the mood and give the reader some inspiration. There is a wealth of information in here, but it manages to balance nicely with the practical. There are so many great ideas in here that most practitioners should be able to find something to pique their interest.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the author Anjou Kiernan for letting me read this arc. I identify as a pagan and am very interested in anything to do with paganism, and the occult. This book is full of interesting facts and new things to learn about, reading all about the different sabbats and how to celebrate them in the old ways is something I’m looking forward to trying. I’d recommend this book highly as its incredibly educational.

Date reviewed/posted: December 5, 2020
Publication date: January 26, 2021

When life for the entire universe and planet turns on its end and like everyone else you "have nothing to do" while your place of work is once again closed and you are continuing to be in #COVID19 #socialisolation as the #secondwave is upon us,  superspeed readers like me can read 300+ pages/hour, so yes, I have read the book … and many more today.

I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.  

From the publisher, as I do not repeat the contents or story of books in reviews, I let them do it as they do it better than I do 😸.

Written by Anjou Kiernan—named "One of the Magical Women You Should be Following on Instagram" by Refinery 29—The Ultimate Guide to the Witch's Wheel of the Year is your complete guide to celebrating the eight Wiccan sabbats as part of your spiritual practice. Learn the history of the holidays, their pagan roots, and how to merge these sacred cycles and celebrations with modern traditions and holidays. 

Lavishly illustrated and photographed, The Ultimate Guide to the Witch’s Wheel of the Year illustrates spells and practices that will help you incorporate the old magick of the seasons into your modern life. 
Accompanying each turn of the Wheel as it cycles through the holidays of Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon, and Samhain are Feast recipes, Fertility spells, Protection amulets, Home wards, Divination rituals, Prosperity charms and more.  From the bright blessings of the Yuletide solstice to the fertile flower magick of Beltane to the thinning of the veil on Samhain, each transition lends itself to a unique catalogue of spells, altars, and practices that you can use all year long.

The Ultimate Guide to… series offers comprehensive beginner’s guides to discovering a range of mind, body, spirit topics, including tarot, divination, crystal grids, numerology, aromatherapy, chakras, and more. Filled with beautiful illustrations and designed to give easy access to the information you’re looking for, each of these references provides simple-to-follow expert guidance as you learn and master your practice.

WITCHES ARE NOT BAD PEOPLE … so says this owner of a black cat – they are mostly lovers of the earth and its powers. There was a lot of “weird stuff” here that I do not believe in (Fertility spells for one…) and it was nearly impossible to read the ARC as the pages would not allow one to zoom in and read them and then would flip sideways as well. (I tried it on Kindle and as a pdf and it was FRUSTRATING. The book is also very short and there is not a huge amount to read (there are a lot of illustrations) for $33 dollars CAD. It is very specialized and probably not for a casual reader but would probably delight someone interested in witch's wheels.

As always, I try to find a reason to not rate with stars as I simply adore emojis (outside of their incessant use by "🙏-ed Social Influencer Millennials/#BachelorNation survivors/Tik-Tok and YouTube Millionaires/snowflakes / literally-like-overusers etc. " on Instagram and Twitter... Get a real job, people!) so let's give it 🔮

Actually reading "The Ultimate Guide to the Witch's Wheel of the Year' has proved to be nearly impossible. This is mostly due to the pages being at times turned up side down with absolutely no reason or rotated 90 degrees. I'm really hoping people who are paying for their digital copy are getting one that has ben set correctly since the protected PDF that I got as an ARC is not. I'm also hoping the graphics and pictures are in a way better quality.

So while I really wanted to read everything I decided against ist. Maybe someone who isn't physically affected trying to read this can tell you in-detail about the information. This witch cannot since it's threatening to give her a migraine because her eyes and brain can't deal with it.

But onward to the information that I did read. 

I was hoping for well-researched objective book about the Witch's Wheel of the Year. What I got was a mixture of some witchyness, a lot of witccan, and paganess everywhere. Seems like witches have to be pagan nowadays. And as say this as a witch and pagan myself: this is not the case. So why does it go on and on about neopagans here and pagans there and deities everywhere? 

I'm used to witchcraft books being Wiccan. It'S damn near impossible to get one that is at the minimum not wiccan-influenced. But now to have paganism being thrown into the well as well?

What I especially did not like was the way different pantheons (at least open ones as far as I've seen) were used like ingredients. This holiday correspondends with these herbs, these candles, these scents, and these deities. Build an altar for Hel and receive this kinda writing.

At least in my practise that*s damn respectless and also, why would someone who is not at least inclined to the Norse pantheon build anything for a Norse god? As long as I'm not working with a celtic deity I for sure won't be demanding anything from someone from that pantheon?

I mean, what? Seriously. 

In a way I thought this would be a nice beginner's book. Getting a basic understanding to build your practise on or come back to relearn it. What I got was information like Christmas is an alternative name for Yule (those are very different holidays that aren't even on the same date or in the same religion???) and how to misuse deities as ingredients. Joy.

I'm also seriously bothered by it being supposed to be for witches and then having such a huge focus on religion. There are so many witches who don't work with or even believe in any God or Gods.

Beautifully written and a step-by-step explanation for someone new to the "craft." Beautiful illustrations and practical information. A definite add to the personal library.

I really wanted to love this book but I finished it feeling like it needed more.

Let’s start with the positives: I loved how much history and traditions were talked about in this book. The photos in the book were beautiful and are definitely one of the big selling points.

I do wish that this book was a bit longer because although there was so much lore and back story that I loved, some things were a bit confusing and could have been explained better.

I wish that some of the rituals had alternative versions for those witches that live in cities and don’t have as much space to have outside rituals. I also wish it spoke a bit more about modern witchcraft as well.

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group – Fair Winds and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely stunning guide, beautifully illustrated and photographs, wonderful and helpful content to guide you through the practitioners year, will definitely be buying a physical copy for permanent reference, brilliant for those new and the more experienced, wonderful 

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I like how this book is short and to the point but still packed with tons of information.  I also liked how it begins with Yule, which is the beginning of the year while most people think it is the end.  I learned a lot about specific cultures in this book; while I wish it covered more cultures, I understand that that would be difficult to do.  Along with the text, the photography is gorgeous and really adds to the whole feel of the book.