Llewellyn’s 2003 Wicca Almanac
Various
Llewellyn
“2003WiccaAlmanac”
Llewellyn’s first spring-to-spring annual promises to be the “Hip New Guide For Pagan Living.” Maybe I’m past their targeted demographic, but when it comes to my religious beliefs, I don’t feel the need to be trendy.
There are some interesting articles included in the Almanac; being a mother myself, I especially appreciated “How To Be a Thoroughly Modern Witch Mom,” (proving that you can take time for magic while juggling Little League matches and band practice.) All it takes is a little time and creativity. Other articles include a fascinating peek into Paganism Down Under and the challenges of practicing a seasonal-based religion below the equator, where the seasons are reversed from ours, and deosil and widdershins flow in the opposite direction. “Locating Pagan Clergy For Your Wedding” offers tips on planning a Pagan wedding and lists some websites that can help locate Pagan or Pagan-friendly clergy to perform a handfasting rite. This being the Technological Age, “E-Witching, A Wiccan’s Guide to the Internet” and “Wicca Sites on the Web” are entirely apropos, and includes some tips on searching the Internet for quality Pagan sites and links to some of the authors’s recommendations.
There are some “misses” in the almanac – I could definitely have done without the article about “Current Pagan Fashions.” While the point of the article is to make your own fashion statement and not rely on what Versacci tells you what to wear, I fail to see how this has anything to do with religious beliefs or convictions. While the almanac is geared towards being “hip,” the mere suggestion of the use of religious ideology to enhance one’s Q rating just left a bad taste in my mouth. “Witch Pop,” subtitled “Popular Songs About Pagans” is downright misleading – the songs mentioned were never written about religious issues; no one is ever going to mistake Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” as being about Pagan practice. Perhaps it would have been better to focus on true Pagan artists, rather than trying to make silk purses out of the sow’s ears of non-Pagan artists.
The actual “almanac” section is a nice, hearty 67 pages long. Each day from March 20, 2003 to March 20, 2004 is denoted with its lunar phase, Moon sign, color, and magical influence for that day; indispensable for those who rely on such information for plan their witchy activities. There are short “News Items” after each month, on everything from the Dracula theme park in Sighisoara, Transylvania, to the election of a Wiccan to the Global Council of the United Religions Initiative.
Llewellyn’s 2003 Wicca Almanac is a good resource for your astrological witchy needs and its articles provide food for thought. A worthy addition for any Pagan’s library.
Llewellyn: http://www.llewellyn.com
