Llewellyn's 2008 Witches' Datebook © 2007 Llewellyn Worldwide

ISBN 0-7387-0556-X 144 pages Paperback

$9.99 (U.S.) $13.95 (Canada)

 

Reviewed By: Mike Gleason

Every year Llewellyn puts out a variety of calendars, datebooks, almanacs, etc. They all share a number of similarities: each daily entry will give you the moon phase and sign, a color associated with the day, and any significant astronomical/astrological events. Each of these publications will also include short bios of the contributing authors and a list of eclipses, Full Moons, and planetary retrogrades. This one also includes a table of Moon Void of Course data and a few pages for a phone book.

I always look forward to the Witches' Datebook. It doesn't contain any earth-shaking revelations, nor is it filled with what we once called "mystic, trystic b.s." In all the years I have picked up copies of this book (dating back to at least 1999) the price has not increased appreciably (to be honest, it has gone up in price - from $9.95 to $9.99). There is something to be said for consistency.

Each month includes an article on the moon in a sign and either a recipe or data on the Sabbat which occurs in that month. There are also stories, poetry, illustrations, etc., which occur on the odd numbered pages beginning on page 31. These add a variety of informational sources and inspirational ideas.

Some of the daily entries contain historical facts ((January 8th: The birthday of MacGregor Mathers [of Golden Dawn fame] is one example), while others contain bits of arcane lore.

There are also a few short articles at the beginning of the book, which this year include "Magical Clothing", "The Sacred Flame", "An Astrological Look at 2008", Faery Magic: Best Times, Places", and "Create and Use Thoughtforms".

You could read through this book, or you could skim the articles and the 1/2 page informational inserts and save reading the daily entries until you actually encounter them. I have found, more than once, that some note for the day ends up being particularly appropriate when I come across it unexpectedly.

There isn't a lot of room for notes, as each day only takes up about 5 square inches - and half of that is often taken up with data already. Of course, this can be an incentive to keep your notes short and to the point.

One major plus for this book, as opposed to many of the other almanacs Llewellyn produces annually, is that it is spiral bound, so it is easy to lay it open and expect it to remain open. It is a bit more expensive than some of the almanacs, but I suspect that the spiral binding is responsible for that.