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Diana Helmuth, thirty-three, is skeptical of organized religion. She is also skeptical of disorganized religion. But, more than anything, she is tired of God being dead. So, she decides to try on the fastest-growing, self-directed faith in America: Witchcraft.
The result is 366 days of observation, trial, error, wit, and back spasms. Witches today are often presented as confident and finished, proud and powerful. Diana is eager to join them. She wants to follow all the rules, memorize all the incantations, and read all the liturgy. But there's one glaring problem: no Witch can agree on what the right rules, liturgy, and incantations are.
As with life, Diana must define the craft for herself, looking past the fashionable and figuring out how to define the real. Along the way, she travels to Salem and Edinburgh (two very Crafty hubs) and attends a week-long (clothing optional) Witch camp in Northern California. Whether she's trying to perform a full moon ritual on a cardboard box, summon an ancient demon with scotch tape and a kitchen trivet, or just trying to become a calmer, happier person, her biggest question remains: Will any of this really work?
The Witching Year is a "compelling memoir" (Frances Denny, author of Major Arcana) that follows in the footsteps of celebrated memoirs by journalists like A.J. Jacobs, Mary Roach, and Caitlin Doughty, who knit humor and reportage together in search of something worth believing.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 3, 2023 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781668003015
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781668003015
- File size: 6106 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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June 5, 2023
In this animated offering, Helmuth (How to Suffer Outside) chronicles her yearlong exploration of contemporary witchcraft. Drawn to the practice for its promise of “agency in a world that... buzzes with a thousand things I have no control over,” Helmuth struggled through spellbooks with highly specific ritual instructions and requirements (one altar ritual calls for a cauldron, a pentacle, a candle snuffer, two kinds of ceremonial daggers, and “an unconscionable number of candles”); attended group practices that ranged from a well-crafted Gardnerian Wicca ceremony to 15 minutes spent eating marshmallows with strangers in a parking lot; and interviewed witches and scholars of paganism. She recalls frustrating instances when spellwork failed to aid such real-life issues as her chronic back pain, as well as moments of true revelation, like when she felt “plugged into the flow of the world” after communing with divine spirits. Though Helmut sometimes sidetracks her interviews with pagan luminaries by soliciting their encouragement, her wry tone will charm readers, and those who have taken on similar spiritual quests will relate to the author’s desire to know if she’s “doing it right.” Aspiring witches and readers itching to learn more about the occult will find inspiration and amusement. -
September 1, 2023
Witchcraft is organized around annual cycles, and so is Helmuth's (How to Suffer Outside, 2021) second book, which records her yearlong engagement with Wicca. Her initial research reveals that Witchcraft has no single source of truth, is self-driven, and, to her delight, doesn't even require belief to practice. Motivated by ""a desire to feel safe, to feel sure about . . . identity and purpose, to have power,"" Helmuth bumbles through her attempts to be a witch. In between dealing with personal trials, including a major back injury, conflict with her atheist boyfriend, a dead pet chicken, the pandemic, and crime, she buys books, creates alters, casts spells, goes to witch camp, and visits Salem and Stonehenge. She also interviews prominent witches and reads essential texts that provide ideological frameworks for Witchcraft's modern practice. Some of Helmuth's religious performances result in ecstasy and connection, others are awkward failures. Both readable and relatable, this book models how a person seeking faith outside of organized religion's rigidity might conduct a search for authentic connection and belief.COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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