I have read several of these over the years, and they all seem to read the same. However, this one was different. The pages of this book are filled with lush history of each of the eight festivals. The author never once makes it feel like this is a "copy and paste" book. I felt like I was spending time with a wise, experienced teacher who takes great joy in sharing their knowledge with others. The whole reading experience felt like a warm body flush that follows a cup of holiday tea.

What a wise and beautiful read. i thoroughly enjoyed this author's take on the Wheel of the Year and her explanation for when and why the season changes each year (according to the pagan calendar) and her very gentle but firm corrections too; A beautiful present for anyone interested in the seasons, awakening and natural life on our planet

Handy reference book, with a strong focus on Wicca. Each chapter felt unique. It reminds/helps you appreciate and connect to life around you.

A guide to discovering nature's seasons and cycles - this was a really interesting read following the significance of the holidays within the Wiccan wheel of the year. I really enjoyed this book- the info on solstices and equinoxes and the rituals and facts that come with each one. It was easy to read, clearly explained and very enjoyable. Particular nice for those with a love of nature and the natural world. I'll be buying myself a hard copy and think this would also make a lovely gift for someone with these interests.

Some good bits and some not so good bits. I think this is something you will come across in any annual/almanac though as I imagine it is difficult to maintain consistent levels of information for every week in the year. A nice little book for earthy people - or would be a great present.

I found this book really interesting, I liked the way Rebecca Beattie explained the pagan/ wicca ways. It was broken down and explained in an easy to understand way.
I think being in and being surrounded by nature is very beneficial to everyone, no matter what your religion or beliefs.
Thank you netgalley

I thought this was a very interesting read, and full of so many facts and interesting information.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

An interesting book, easy to follow and full of interesting reflection on the seasons and the sabbat.
It made me think and I liked the style of writing.
It's a wiccan book and I think that Wiccan will be interested.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Has some who is spiritual I found this book informative and easy to follow. I already have in mind a few people that I will refer this to.

This thoughtful and well written book discusses the spiritual significance,of the eight holidays (sabbats) in the Wiccan wheel of the year. Each chapter is devoted to a holiday and discusses its place in the natural cycle its history, and its customs. Contains suggestion for ways to celebrate it including crafts and decorations, rituals and foods. References.

I love this book. I thought the way it was organized was brilliant and easy to follow. It starts with the history of the Wheel and continues onto different sections starting with the Yule or Midwinter. Each Chapter/Section discusses the history during this time period and is filled with folklore, international celebrations, guidance, recipes for bettering oneself during these time periods, and rituals. Despite the author being a Wicca Priestess I felt this text would be beneficial for individual who is spiritual and has a desire to connect with nature.

This is a book about wicca and was not for me at all, though may be enjoyed by those who like to read about wicca, paganism etc

I have read several of these kinds of books and found this one to be very readable and full of good ideas for celebrating the special days. I hope the final copy has lovely illustrations to add to the text. I would probably buy this.

Great Book

The author, Rebecca Beattie, states that while living in London and on tour, she discovered her passion for her craft during one particular tour while performing in Macbeth, her favourite of Shakespeare’s plays. She states that while on this tour they were staying in farmhouses, surrounded by nature at every turn and was getting up with the sunrise, walking in the rural landscape and spending contemplative time in solitude surrounded by trees and fields, and she had time to breathe the air and inspiration flowed in. She states this was what had been lacking in my life, that in all the urban streets she walked down to auditions, in all the dusty rehearsal rooms, and the admin jobs she took to pay the rent, she had been missing her connection to nature and, more importantly, she had been looking in the wrong place for fulfilment – that she had been seeking outside myself. Thus, she realized that her journey to self-discovery had begun, and this path led to her training in Wicca.

The author states that it was on this path that she learned all about the Wheel of the Year, a concept that helped her to understand her place in the world, to deepen that connection to nature she had felt when touring the countryside and to appreciate fully the wonders of its cycle, no matter the season – or location. There are various ways of carving up the year into smaller, more manageable time periods, and our Graeco-Roman months of the year are one way, but other faiths also have their own methods of measuring time. For pagans, since the 1940s or 1950s, the year has been defined and delineated by the Wheel of the Year.

She discusses that Nichols’ druids began celebrating quarter days: the solstices and equinoxes, which mark the beginning of each quarter of the year while the Gardner’s witches were celebrating the Celtic equivalents, which had become known as cross-quarter days as they fell in between the English ones, and in the late 1950s the two practices merged, and the Wheel of the Year was born. Since that time, modern pagans have organised their practices around it, with the following sabbats:
1. Yule or Midwinter – 21 December
2. Imbolc – 2 February
3. Spring Equinox – 21 March
4. Beltane or May Eve – 31 April
5. Midsummer – 21 June
6. Lammas – 1 August
7. Autumn Equinox – 21 September
8. Samhain or November Eve – 31 October

(The exact dates can vary due to Earth taking slightly more than 365 days to travel around the sun, hence the need for leap years.)

Throughout this book, and in each of the sabbats, the author provides short rituals to help give one a moment to pause, to connect to nature and reflect on our inner thoughts, and she states that the rituals will help all of us to mark transition points and to give them meaning. She further states that we should try to let ourselves go a little, allowing for spontaneity: that is where we will encounter the divine – and find a little magic.

Rebecca Beattie discusses each of the sabbats in detail, providing techniques and rituals to awaken our inner child. This is a very good book that I highly recommend for anyone starting their spiritual journey.

Lots of people will, I think, love this book. It’s filled with stories, folklore, traditions and activities to do, try and think about centred around the seasons. It’s sort of a part spiritual guide, part almanac, part activity book and part autobiography.

A lot of the activities are quite simple such as going for a ‘silent walk’ e.g. not wearing headphones and just listening to the natural world- however I think it’s always good to be reminded of these things. Other activities included making items, self reflection and writing. I especially liked stories of folk lore and from the authors own life that were interwoven throughout the chapters.

Personally this book wasn’t really for me however. I went into it a bit unknowing and was expecting a generic seasonal activity guide (the title probably should have been a clue!) The author is a Wiccan Priestess and quite a lot of the book centres round Wicca. This in itself is fine however I found that her writing on it not being a religious book and talking about how different cultures and religions merged clashed a bit with the actual book. I feel it could have benefited from either being a book that just focused on bringing together different seasonal beliefs, festivals and activities in an overall sense or focused entirely on Wicca and pagan beliefs around the seasons.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Whether you believe or follow Wicca or not, this book centers nature around natural cycles in the year and explores the 8 sabbats and how an individual can celebrate them. I loved how the author included personal experiences of their own during each sabbat and how they also talked about the history of the celebration of the sabbat itself along with other cultural and religious celebrations that occur around the same time. The recipes and rituals suggested throughout the book were well written, and I especially loved the recipes. This was a nicely written, well-thought-out, and detailed book that inspired me to learn more about the wheel of the year and how one can center nature and celebrate it during each time.

Whether you believe in Wicca, magic and spirituality or don’t, this book is for everyone. It helps you appreciate and connect to life around you, to nature and to the environment. Even just to look within, to you yourself and gives you a gift of calm appreciation throughout the pages.

It’s a journey through the year, with sprinkles of history and mythology, small activities and prompts to have fun with (if you so chose) and some fantastic information about the wheel of the year. It’s one of those books that you can put as little or as much as you want into it, taking what you want and giving you the choice to ignore those you don’t, or adapt to whatever works for you. I also love that the author was mindful to vegan alternatives throughout which isn’t normally a consideration in many books! Thank you.

Its wonderfully informative and I love the authors world view. This book is non preachy, respectful of every religion, belief, thought process and identity. It’s a book to help you connect with your world, the seasons and nature and to yourself. It’s beautifully written and I connected to it immediately.

I read another review that said upon reading, they went straight to buy a physical copy and I feel myself thinking the same way too! An ebook is fantastic but a physical copy for this book is something you need on your shelf too (or at your altar!). I can imagine myself coming back to this book regularly and found it to be a lovely and insightful read. Definitely manifesting a physical copy of this for the future to look back on and reference throughout the year. It was brilliant!

I really loved this book. I thought the author's writing was very beautiful and easy to understand. I loved that she included personal details of her life. I will admit, I was nervous at first when she started talking about other cultures, but she put it very nicely. I loved how she tied in other cultures so we can learn from them and be open-minded but not necessarily adopt it into our own practices.

I enjoyed the recipes a lot. I almost wish there were more recipes to enjoy but I can always research on my own for those. I thought the rituals were well done. I liked that they weren't the same for each turn of the wheel. Each chapter felt unique and not once was I bored reading this.

I highly recommend this book for beginner witches or for those that would like to learn more about these pagan holidays since not every witch celebrates them. It's informative but fluid enough for you to form your own thoughts and opinions.

I really enjoyed the depth of knowledge in this book and learned quite a bit about the solstices and equinoxes. Each aspect of the wheel is thoroughly explored, offering research, rituals, and facts that anyone interested in the seasons would enjoy. I chose to preview this book because so many of my high school students are into witchcraft and folklore, and while I would not be able to use this in my classes, I do know several students who would enjoy reading this and learning more about the symbolism and history of the seasons.

There are so many books that tell you about the Wheel of the Year, however this one hits differently.
This is not only the fact sheet you normally get. This is so much more, its provoking strong feelings of the nature beauty of each season! This journey covers History, Rituals, Planetary and Tarot connections.

I actually ordered the hard copy as it a very beautiful read! Can't stop loving it!