Wheel of the Year: Living the Magical Life (Paperback)

~ (Author), Dan Campanelli (Illustrator) "The sounds of December days are muffled under a blanket of snow, whether the gray and white days of falling snow, or the sunny days..." (more)
Key Phrases: altar oil, sanctuary garden, amulet bag, Wheel of the Year, Yule Log, Beltane Fire (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Wheel of the Year has a down-home flavor reminiscent of visiting close friends or family on a winter evening. Campanelli's poetic style evokes the emotions of the different seasons as she shares how her family celebrates with rituals, recipes, and crafts, from the midsummer festivals of June to the kindling of the yule log in December. Within these pages, you will find enough ideas to fill your entire year with magic. --Brian Patterson

Product Description

Discover the ancient lore, household techniques, and spiritual wisdom that will help turn every day into a time of magic, respect for all, and love of the Goddess, when you get Wheel of the Year by Pauline Campanelli.

Wheel of the Year takes you on a month-by-month journey of discovery through seasonal aspects of Paganism practiced both in recent and ancient times. Just look at a few of the things shared in this gentle, loving book:

For December: The Magic of Mistletoe; The Ritual Burning of the Yule Log; Magical Uses of Ashes from the Yule Fire; A Ritual for Cutting Sacred Fir; The Pagan Symbolism of Santa Claus.

For March: Nine Magical Woods for the Beltane Fire; Psychic Skills for Working Magic; Making and Using the Magic (Black) Mirror; Telepathy; The Ouija Board; A Ritual for Opening the Heart Chakra.

For May: Seeing Faeries; A May Wine Ritual; Symbolism of the Maypole; Sacred Marriages; Hawthorn Protection Amulet.

For August: Celebration of the Grain Harvest; Ritual for Baking Sacred Bread; Making an Onion Charm; Magical Symbolism of Garlic; Natural Dyes and Inks.

For October: Apple Traditions; A Hazelnut Charm; The Man in Black; Ritual Costuming and Mask Making; Divination for Samhain.

This is only a small amount of the lore and a few of the many activities you will learn for each of these five months, in Wheel of the Year. The other seven months of the year are covered in depth, too, and each chapter has beautiful illustrations by Dan Campanelli.

Whether you live in a city, suburb, or farm and whether you live by yourself, with a partner, or with a family, Wheel of the Year will reintroduce you to the magic that is all around you. For Wiccans, Pagans, Witches, and people interested in using the past to enhance today and the future, Wheel of the Year is a must.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 159 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; 1st edition (1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875420915
• ISBN-13: 978-0875420912
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #184,767 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended....., September 27, 2004

By	Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

I love this book. I've been using it for several years and recommend it as a good monthly guide for `Living the Magical Life' year round. If you want to learn more about keeping the Wiccan calendar this is a good source. You can begin living the magical life anytime, as each solar cycle brings a wonderful progression of the old holidays. WHEEL OF THE YEAR shows you that even in months without a major holiday, there are many opportunities to reconnect with the ground of your being and celebrate the seasons of Nature and the natural world.

If you are inclined to connecting with the other world, Samhain is the best time to undertake living the spiritual life. October is nearly here, and thus Samhain and the New Year are upon us, making this is an especially good time to buy this book.

The text is interesting and contains many nice illustrations. As the book is printed on soft paper with a soft cover, you can take it out doors where many practices are to be undertaken. It won't hurt the book one bit if you spill a little oil or candle wax on it.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent guide to the holidays,one I refer back to often, November 1, 1999

By	"vayla-nightshade" (Murphy, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews

I bought this book several years ago in the beginning of my "craft" days.After being in two covens and using the holiday suggestions for ritual ideas I moved and am now solitare. I still refer back to this book,now even more so.The ideas are back to basics and not all fluffy like some neo-pagan books I've read. This book also got me to start planting my own vegtable garden!! This book is well worth the money if you're NOT looking for fluff.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The one that changes your faith!, December 15, 2003

By	River (California) - See all my reviews

For nearly every religious person, there seems to be one experience (sometimes more) or one book or one person that brings your faith to life and shows you how to live and breathe it day to day. For me, as a Wiccan, reading this book was that life-changing experience.

Pauline and Dan Campanelli have laid out and illustrated in WHEEL OF THE YEAR the activities and festivals, spells and charms, stories and lore that make up their own way of celebrating the seasons every day in and around their home in rural New Jersey. The book is organized by months, beginning in Decemeber and continuing through November, highlighting not only the Sabbats and full moon celebrations, but day to day activities, etc, that are appropriate to the time of year. For example: the DECEMBER section includes the symbolism and magical uses of holly and ivy, and how and why to make a bayberry candle charm; JANUARY has much information about crafts to do and magical ways to do them while you're spending so much of your time inside; FEBRUARY is full of ways to develop psychic abilities and includes a ritual for Valentine's Day that helps open your heart chakra; JULY talks about ways to collect and magically use seashore items, and how and when to harvest and use certain magical herbs. And lest you think these categories too narrow, the above are just small examples from chapters literally packed with interesting things to learn and do.

It may sound as though the Campanelli's perspective is rather limited, since they're writing only about their own celebrations, but they do SO MUCH that it's almost impossible NOT to find something in each chapter that you can use. You may wonder how a city witch could use this book written by country witches, but I'm a suburban/city witch myself (though not by choice) and I use it frequently. You may also wonder how you can use certain seasonal ideas if you live in a place where "traditional" seasons just don't happen. Rest assured, however: I live in Southern California -- where Dry and Hot and Somewhat Dry and Cool are the only seasons -- but I can absolutely use this book seasonally.

This is the book that inspired me not just to believe Wiccan and act Wiccan and talk Wiccan, but to DO Wicca every day. I can't use everything in here, but what I can't actually do I use as a starter for seasonal meditations, or just as lovely escape reading about the kind of magical country life I dream of living. (The book is quite well written.) Whatever your limitations, unless you are a thoroughly modernized city witch with little need for connection with nature or "the old ways" (how many witches like that do you know?), you will almost certainly enjoy and use this book.