Diana Helmuth, The Witching Year: a memoir of earnest fumbling through modern witchcraft. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2023. ISBN: 9781668002988.
Up front we need to note that she starts from a Wiccan point of view. She starts picking up very classic Wiccan texts to start her journey. Witchcraft, especially in this 21st century, is way more than just Wicca. It seems she chose that out of convenience plus the possibility that a lot of people in the United States equate witchcraft and Wicca. As I understand it, all Wicca is witchcraft, but not all witchcraft is Wicca. It's like all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon. So that seemed limiting, but it is her journey, and we come along. It is a journey that starts like so many journeys for beginners in this era: with a Google search. In her case, by typing something like "best books for beginner witches."
One element I found irritating is her constant need to doubt and constantly question herself. I do not mean being skeptical or questioning now and then. I mean that she can be seriously insecure, and she constantly overthinks. There were times I honestly wanted to tell her to just go with the flow. In fact, some of her friends and witchy experts she consults tell her as much. After a while, it gets tiresome to read.
Issues aside, the book overall is interesting. Her narrative is arranged by day numbers. Every day chapter features an epigraphy from the witchcraft and/or pagan genres, which is a nice detail. The day chapters vary in length, but the longest chapters are only a few pages, which makes the book relatively easy to read. The author writes about her good and not so good moments, the ups and downs from starting on her own and trying to figure it out to seeking others and fellowship in covens and witchy camps. It is a very humane story, and I think it is one that some spiritual seekers, whether in witchcraft or other paths, might find they relate too. I still kept reading because I wanted to see where the journey took her. As a solitary devotee of the Cosmic Joker, I did not really agree with needing a coven or fellowships, but I believe that is up to each practitioner to decide. The book ends with a nice epilogue where she offers her final reflections, which are somewhat bland to be honest.
Overall, this is a pretty good book. Unlike other books from seeker authors exploring witchcraft, I don't feel this one will piss off pagans as previous books have, for example the by now dreaded by many pagans Witches of America (link to my review). Then again, I never claim to know what may piss off pagans or not. Anyhow, this is a pretty good account of one person exploring witchcraft, mainly Wicca, in a curious and honest way. In these Hard Times where so many are asking questions and seeking different paths, paths to reclaim their power, this may serve as a good read to learn what one different path may be like.
I do recommend the book for libraries. You can add it to your pagan and esoterica holdings. You can also add it as a memoir or as another "done in a year" book. That last option sounds like a nice library display idea. We ordered it for our library, and I checked it out to read.
In the end, I liked it but did not really like it. It can be interesting and irritating. I can she put in a lot of research, but in the end the story wraps up in a milquetoast way, which seems a bit sad given what she went through. At the end of the book, you may end up asking if that was it. Book includes a bibliography, from which I may select some works for future reading.
3 out of 5 stars.
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