Editor: Michael Fallon
Trade Paperback, 264 pages
Publisher: Llewellyn
Publication date: August 2002
ISBN: 0738702277
Price & More Info: Click Here
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I reviewed Llewellyn's 2001 Spell-a-Day desk calendar a couple of years ago. It was nice, but keeping the spells provided for each day when you tear off the page the next day requires quite a bit of organization. The publisher seems to have realized this as they are publishing the 2003 Witches' Spell-A-Day Almanac instead of a calendar. The almanac format is far more convenient and still provides a spell or meditation for your Book of Shadows every day. Spell contributors include Karri Allrich, Elizabeth Barrette, Therese Fancis, Kristin Madden, Robert Place, Abby Willowroot, and many others.
The spells in this volume cover a variety of areas of life. Health, home, protection, travel, money, and love spells each get a day of the week (Sunday through Friday). Saturday is a grab bag. This schedule is interrupted with special magick for new and full moons, the major Wiccan festivals, and certain other important days. Many of the spells directly relate to the the specific day of the year they are for. The almanac format is much easier to read and use than the old desk calendar format.
The 2003 Witches' Spell-A-Day Almanac provides some basic astrological information for each day: the time the moon enters a new phase and when it enters a new sign. All times are in Eastern Standard Time, although this is only mentioned at the very end of the book. Llewellyn wall calendars tend to give more astrological data, but this is really enough for basic magick. Each day's entry also gives a color and incense for the day.
In addition to the spell or meditation, some days have a short paragraph of "holiday lore." The Wiccan festivals and a few other holidays have this lore section. I suspect this new material will expand in future editions. On the last page of the book, the publisher requests that readers submit additional "lore" material for the 2004 edition. Future editions of this almanac could also benefit from a "spell index." When you need a spell to help get rid of a bad habit in September, you may remember that you saw one somewhere early in the book, but you'll probably have to start at the beginning and page through to find the "Release Bad Habits Spell" on March 22. An index would make finding the right spell much easier.
While the spells in this almanac are generally nothing to get excited about for the well-read or the well-trained witch, they are all simple to perform, use easily available items, and present few moral issues for anyone but a Rede literalist. In other words, the 2003 Witches' Spell-A-Day Almanac would make a nice, affordable gift for an inexperienced Witch interested in the magickal aspect of his or her craft. If you know someone who is always asking others for spells, this might be a perfect birthday or holiday gift.
Reviewed by Randall
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