Author: Temperance Alden
Length of the book: 186 pages
Verdict: Not what I was expecting, more basic witchcraft than actual facts about the wheel of the year and how to personalize it.
Would I recomend the book? Depends on what you're after. If you are into gardening you might appreciate this book, since she focuses a lot on that - her tips are very basic though (even I knew most of them). She puts a much magickal focus on growning your own food; sometimes as offerings for e.g. Samhain.
Description: I bought this book because I wanted to straighten out some questions I had about the wheel of the year; like, what celebrations do I connect to? How do I want to celebrate them? etc... Since this book advertised about making your own wheel through intuition I thought this would be a perfect fit! Unfortunately consists more than half the book of basic magick, like: what does the elements stand for?/ how do you set up an altar?/ the zodiac... Not really what I was looking for.
What I do appreciate about the book is that the vibe is pretty lax; Temperance writes out rituals, but points out that if there's something in it that you don't vibe with there's nothing wrong in changing it. We love a witch that is pro-personalized craft!! She also brings up blood magick, which is fun! It's a little basic, but still ^^
When Temperance finally starts to write about the different witchy holidays it's only 6 pages at most, and it's almost 100% based on a celtic/ wiccan perspective. The chapters mostly contains a short explanation of the mythology behind the holiday (here's where the wicca comes in, with e.g. the Holly king and the Oak king). After that she'll write something connected to the holiday; at Samhain she writes about ancestor- and spiritual work, and at Lughnasadh she writes about the connection to bread in the french revolution. Temperance rounds up every chapter with a short ritual for the season; like one to let things go, or maybe a dumb (/quiet) supper. Out of all of these her Mabon ritual (pick apples and drink warm apple cider) was the one that spoke to me the most - maybe because Mobon easily passes me by, and now I have something to remember it.
After Temperance has gone through a whole year of how she celebrates she's written 10 pages about how to create your own wheel of the year. Which is a fine setup. I just would've prefered that the where upfront about it - I came here to learn how to personalize mine - not to get to know her wheel. Something I really did appreciate was her philosophy on rituals tho: No witch is on a 100% every minute of every day, so instead she made a wheel that has small acts of devotion regularly - then you don't loose focus even if you don't feel real witchy that month.
A setup I'd have prefered:
1) Cut out all the basic witchcraft - sometimes witchbooks needs to be able to be intermediate/ advanced, and since the basic wheel of the year is easily found on the internet/ in most beginner books, maybe use this one to hone in on personalization. Just be clear in the blurbe that it's not for beginners and it's all fine.
2) Write the wheel of the year, but try to get as many perspectives/ traditions as possible for every holiday. Wiccan, celtic, heathen, hellenistic, atheistic... Bring up other holidays that aren't as common but you/ your friends still celebrate them. The birth of a pet can be a holiday! The first time you see a spring flower in bloom! The first leaf you see falling down!
3) Write more than 10 pages of your main thesis in your book.
Remember that review on the Dream Balm I mentioned a long time ago? Here it is, finally.
About the product:
It’s originally by Herbal Moon Apothecary, but it comes came in a subscription box at one point called the Sabbat Box. You can buy it at their website for $12usd for 1oz (I’ll provide a link). Now of you go to the Herbal Moon Apothecary on Etsy, they charge $15usd? I don’t know why, but yeah.
Here is the description on the Sabbat Box website:
This beautifully hand crafted Dream Balm by Herbal Moon Apothecary is a unique choice for those looking to dive deeper into their dreams, or for those who need a little help with their dreamwork, astral projection, or journeying. This all-natural balm is made to assist in helping to increase your dream state and further help with remembering your dreams. Dream Balm is ideal for those who do dream journaling or dreamwork in general. Each dream balm is made with organic herbal components that correspond to or have long been used spiritually and mundanely to assist with sleep, dreaming and protection.
Here is how they say to use it:
Apply a small amount to your temples, forehead and/or third eye area before bedtime. The cedarwood and lavender will help to relax and induce sleep, while palo santo, sage and mugwort help enhance and offer protection while you dream.
Now I already have a hard time remembering my dreams, so this is honestly going to be a short review, sorry. But I did say I was going to make it, and here I am. Actually doing something for once.
I used this for a week straight, and I noticed that I had more results after I had used it a few days. (I have used it quite a few times since then) It certainly helped make the dreams I could remember very vivid. I remember I had a dream and the setting was at night. I can still remember the detail of the moon shining on dew covered leaves.
I did have to use it with other things, things I made myself, including a spell. I don’t think it has anything to do with the actual product itself, I think it’s just because it’s really hard for me to remember my dreams.
The product has a nice consistency. But I do think I have a few more pimples where I put it (on my temples and on my third eye). That could be caused by my skin itself. They aren’t bad.
All in all, I like this stuff. I feel like it would would better for someone who can remember their dreams more easily.
Thanks for reading! Peace to you and yours!
🌹🌹🌹
For my second review I thought I'd maybe go a bit controversial and pick a popular (or at least one that was heavily featured on witchtube) book that I didn't like. If this is your fave, and you don't want to read some asshole tear in to it, you should probably just stop reading here...
Author: Diane Ahlquist
Length of the book: 6 h 43 min
Verdict: One of the worst books on magic I've read. Directly harmful in some places.
Would I recommend the book?: I mean... If you really LOVE the moon to the point where you want every single waking moment planned after what planet she's currently in... I guess? But I feel like there are other similar books out there (that doesn't recommend you postpone cancer operations until the moon is in waining...).
Description: I was planning on buying this one, then - thank the Gods - I found it on Storytel and listened to it before I threw away my money on That Woman. I was looking for a book that delwed a little deeper in to the symbolism the moon takes depending on which month it is, maybe a deep dive in to the moonphases etc. That was about 1/10 of the book. The rest was... Well, just sit down and get ready. Maybe hold someones hand, cause this shit gets scary at times…
After she - with as few sentenceses as possible - written two very short chapters about what I actually wanted to read about she had a chapter about the moons effect on nature, humans and animals. In the chapter she mixes in personal anecdotes that makes it clear that I would not want Diane in my life; like the fact that she tried to foist her theory about moonphases on to some poor interiour designer that she'd "discovered made much more inspired designs" during the full moon - as opposed to the rest of her designs that was "plain, and something easily done by oneself". Note: This interior designer was not pagan/ spiritual or anything of the sorts. Diane also bribed someone she was vaguely aquainted with to write a sleep journal for FIVE MONTHS, just to prove that the person slept best during the dark moon).
After this Diane wrote a chapter about the scientific facts about the moon. Let's be clear: In principle, I think this is a great idea, and I love mixing science with magick - one can never have to much knowledge imo! However, this chapter was so uninspiring and boring that I - and I'm really not joking here - lost my faith in magick and became atheist for about 20 minutes. Granted, I was hungry at the time, but how does something like that even happen??! I had (at the point of writing this review in my BoS) been a practising pagan for over 2 years, but her writing style was so boring that I lost my faith... This book is something else. After I'd eaten and contemplated some of John Becketts writings (which will probably be a future review) I realized that I'm still pagan, it's just that this woman is insane. With that in mind, I figured it would probably be good for a hate-listening.
Diane feels that you should plan your entire life after the moons phases (and their corresponding weekdays). Not only when to do spells or rituals - but when you should book a dentist appointment, ask someone out, buy a pet - check your moon calender first! Is it a waining moon on a Wednesday? Better not risk it. She writes - in all seriousness - that she thinks you should consult a professional astrologist before you buy a pet.
She brings up how the moon can "help you loose weight" if you only "start your diet in the right phase of the moon", which is something she writes about in total 10 times, of which she at one time characterises it as "smaller moon, smaller waistline". As someone who's recovered from eating disorder, and since then has been an advocate for Health At Every Size - Yuck! I wanted a book about the moon, I don't remember inviting Diane to talk about weight loss?? At one point in the book she claims that the moonphase, combined with the weekday, would decide the gender of the baby. (Doubtful, but ok...) Later she writes about a lithuanian folktradition about the making of babies and comments “no doubt this was to make the boys stardy and the girls slim and delicate”. And why wouldn't one want a stardy girl or a delicate boy? Way to go in the crusty gendernorms D! On the topic of children btw; Diane thinks that the moonfases are so important that you should teach your children about them, so that they can schedule when to meet friends, study for tests etc according to the phases of the moon.
The worst part in the book is what D recommends when it comes to using the moonphases for medicinal procedures. Gods dammit. Anyways. Of course she writes that if it's a life-threatening emergency one should go through with the necessary operations, but in all other cases one should adapt to - you guessed it - the moonphases. One should never voulontarily get an operation when Mercury is in retrograde - which btw is 3 times a year, 3 weeks at a time... So for over two months every year no-one should get surgery unless it's an emergency... Seems like a healthy belief... Diane also want you to keep track on what zodiac the moon is in; this is because the zodiacs represent different parts of the body; If the moon is in the zodiac for the bodypart that you're operating, that means the operation isn't going to go well - you should probably postpone it. She justifice the claim with "we've known this since Ancient Times", and uses in this argument a new definition of "known" for me; since that theory has been completely disproven since the 1800s (at one time we "knew" that bloodletting was the cure-all for any deasise, but I guess that one isn't centered enough in astrology for her). The part about how medicine should be planned in accordance with the moon is so important for her that she brings it up two times in her book. In the latter one she claims that one should schedule when to remove fucking SKINCANCER AND TUMOURS after the moonphases (in waining, since that is when to get rid of things). I would urge anyone that has cancerous growth tho remove it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, since delaying it can be FUCKING DEADLY.
Nearing the end of the book D walks us through the chinese zodiacs. All different versions, connected to positive/ negative, what animal and what element every year from 1930 to 2044 has. The does not explain anything about how these circumstances affects anything, she only lists them. Like - as a somewhat made up example (since I don't have the enery to look it up) - "1954: Rooster in wood, positive"... Okayy?? And since her spann is huge, this section goes on forever. I understand that isn't as dangerous as recommending to postpone surgeries, but it's also time that I will never get back, and I'd like you to spare a thought for me who had to listen to all of this.
When you see a book named "Moon Magic" one would think that it would be a pagan/ secular witch who wrote the book, and that it would at least share some of your worldviews, but that's a no from me Sir. It feels more like a wannabe hippie appropriates pagan and native american beliefs, and wrote a book about it for those cashinos babey! Because of course she uses the word "smudging" instead of smoke cleansing, but also take it one step further with the sentence “Did your ex just move out? Give it a smudge!” A smudge of what, Diane? More bullshit? Okay, let's go! The Law of Attraction is definetly real (and not remotely an ablephobic, classist grift to make people complacent): So be sure to always think positive thoughts! Don't ever complain or be negative; That's how you bring on misfortune! And heres the thing (sssschhhhhh, it's a secret!); If you make a "vision board" and write extremely clearly and focus on it every day... It will Magically just pop up one day! But make sure that jus extra super very clear - otherwise you might end up with a yellow car instead of a red one (the horror!) - but you will Absolutely get a Mercedes as long as you focus enough, don't experience negative emotions, and use the power of the moon to get it!
Lastly she writes about setting up an altar for the moon, where you are supposed to put something that represents divinity to you. She gives us some different possibilities here, like: 1. The cross, 2. A picture of Jesus, 3. A statue of Buddha, or even... (her words, not mine) 4. A God or Goddess. Wow, Diane, do you mean that I can view divinity in the same way as those who originally worshipped the moon? Thank you, I feel so honored <3
