4 out of 5 stars
A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.
Jennifer Lane had lots of opportunities ahead of her. She was an award-winning writer who had been published in many prestigious periodicals, but with this success came the many pressures of modern life. The relentless deadlines, long days and sometimes unbearable pressure. She thought she was coping, but one winter she reached a breaking point with the stress of everything.
She knew what she had to do though and that was to take charge of her destiny once again. The day was the 21st of December, I know it as the winter solstice but for a witch, this was Yule; the fire season. Her current life needed to go. Into the cauldron went the lists of things to do, notes for projects and other papers and she lit it. As they burnt, the white paper turning to black ash, a weight was lifted from her.
This was only the start though, she was going to rediscover the solace and purpose that witchcraft had given her as a teenager. She would follow the ritual from the Wheel of the Year that divides the regular calendar year into eight and is focused around the solstices and equinoxes. It is a system that seeks to find balance and harmony with the natural world and her body was yearning for it.
Her particular version of witchcraft is rooted in Wicca and she has adapted it to suit her particular needs, using Reiki and crystals at specific moments. Her journey was painful at times, as she moves away from the stresses and anxieties that nearly pushes her over the edge. But in here too, are moments of joy love, laughter and most of all healing as she rediscovers a path that she thought was once lost.
Lane is an engaging and thoughtful writer. She has a way of explaining the key elements of witchcraft that make it feel like a normal process that is as ancient as it is intrinsically linked to the world we inhabit. It doesn’t feel evil or weird occult practice. Her connection to this way of life has been rocky because of the pressures of modern life, but the journey that she takes us on around the wheel of the year shows how this works for her and gives her the tools to cope with the stresses of modern life.
I like the sound of this. Witchcraft has had such a bad rap over the years but at its core appears fascinating.
It is deeply rooted in the natural world. I think that some people saw it as a threat, hence it never got a good press.