Temperance Alden - Year of the Witch

Presenting a fresh take on an old subject, Temperance Alden's Year of the Witch has a refreshingly conversational tone. Temperance encourages us to both live in the moment and in the specific environment in which we find ourselves. This book is great for people new to the wheel of the year, as well as old friends seeking to refresh and reinvigorate their practice.

Amy Blackthorn, author of Blackthorn's Botanical Magic,
Sacred Smoke, and Blackthorn's Botanical Brews

Year of the Witch surpasses all other wheel-of-the-year books on my shelves as a perfect mix of traditional practices and modern application... An absolute must-have if you're looking to incorporate the wheel into your life without the pressure of ideas about what you should do and only build instead upon what is authentic to you.

Olivia Graves, The Witch of Wanderlust

Temperance Alden is at the fore of a new generation of witches, and they are smart, fearless, and ready to overthrow paradigms that many of us have taken for granted. Year of the Witch invites readers to challenge the assumption that the wheel of the year needs to uphold Arcadian agricultural ideals that just don't apply to how we actually live and practice our Crafts. Temperance is here to remind us that we don't know as much as we think we do, and thank goodness for that.

Thorn Mooney, author of Traditional Wicca: A Seeker's Guide

Temperance Alden has written a book about the wheel of the year that can finally serve all witches and magickal practitioners living anywhere in the world in any climate. The authenticity in Alden's prose enables her to effectively teach how to develop intuition and work with elements, leading to a more profound understanding of the power of life's cycles. Delightful recipes and engaging rituals and spells help readers to create a wheel of the year unique to their own experiences. Year of the Witch is a direct conduit to Mother Earth and all Her power, and Alden has unveiled secrets even experienced witches will want to know.

Lawren Leo, author of Horse Magick:Spells and Rituals for
Self-Empowerment, Protection, and Prosperity

TEMPERANCE ALDEN

This edition first published in 2020 by Weiser Books, an imprint of
Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
With offices at:
65 Parker Street, Suite 7
Newburyport, MA 01950
www.redwheelweiser.com

Copyright 2020 by Temperance Alden

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from
Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

ISBN: 978-1-57863-712-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request.

Cover design by Kathryn Sky-Peck
Interior illustrations by Opia Designs
Interior by Kasandra Cook
Typeset in Weiss

Printed in Canada
MAR

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter

For Carole and Eric

May you be forever reunited on the other side

There are two things that interest me: the relation of people to each other,
and the relation of people to land.

Aldo Leopold

The Buddha once said, Follow the truth of the way. Reflect upon it. Make it your own. Live it. It will always sustain you. Each day, we are given a unique chance to craft the type of life we want to live, from the friends we surround ourselves with and where we choose to live to the beliefs and attitudes we adopt.

I was first introduced to a form of Irish folk magick as a child and continued to learn about different traditions throughout my teenage years. Wicca was popular during that time, and the wheel of the year even more so. Growing up, I lived all over the United States: the tropics of South Florida, the Rockies of Montana, the high desert of Oregon, and so many other wonderful places. These areas had such different geographies and climates that each time we moved I found that what had once felt familiar became foreign and strange. I lived where it was hot when it should be cold; how does this fit in Yule?

These moves helped shape my idea of what it means to experience the wheel of the year. They made me think critically and ask questions such as, Can we still celebrate the wheel of the year as it is written if we don't live in a place where the climate matches the theme of the sabbat? What happens when the climate we live in is drastically different? How can we live in our own truth?

My truth is a direct reflection of my specific path of witchcraft. Folk witchcraft draws its knowledge from many places, mostly through word of mouth, passed down from generation to generation. I am an Irish American hereditary folk witch, but I haven't always been pagan. Throughout the years, I shed my Judeo-Christian religion and turned to a more left-hand path of paganism, crafting the unique practice I use today.

Each person, no matter where they live or what background they come from, has the ability to live intentionally each day. The combination of these days together forms the wheel of the year that we personally live by. Some may have a wheel of many holidays celebrating celestial events, secular holidays, and religious festivals. Others may compose their wheel of harvest seasons, lunar cycles, and climate conditions. That is what makes creating and celebrating your own unique wheel so fun.

Witchcraft is bold and unique, and there are no rules except the ones we set for ourselves. What is right on one person's path might not be right on our own. Celebrating the natural cycles and rhythm of the year is no differentand that is what this book is all about. There is no law that says all witches must celebrate Imbolc or Mabon. No one is going to come knocking on your door to let you know they think you're wrong for incorporating secular holidays such as Valentine's Day or Independence Day. Making space for freedom and pleasure in our daily lives will only ever impact us in positive ways.

When sitting down to write this book, I couldn't help but think back to my early years when I was still trying to grasp what it meant to be a witch. My mother was Irish Catholic and passed down to me a strong tradition of folk Catholicism. My father was a Buddhist convert whose convictions grew after the death of my mother. While I learned my folk traditions from my mother, my outlook came from my fathermy concepts of life and death, suffering, and what it truly meant to be alive.

Through these two influential people I took away two of my most valuable life lessons: Never take information at face value and keep chasing my own inner truth. The year of the witch is not a year that belongs to me or any one witch, but to all witches collectively. It is a year when we as witches decide to live in our truth, taking back our power and our voice. What will you make of your year?

Whether you've studied the wheel of the year in depth or just heard about it in passing, chances are high that you have had some form of run-in with this beloved pillar of modern witchcraft. Comprised of the eight sabbats of Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, and Mabon, the traditional wheel of the year is, on some level, part of most witches' daily and yearly practice. Not included in this version of the wheel are local seasonal celebrations, specific climate considerations, and your own unique traditions.