Seasons of a Magical Life: A Pagan Path of Living, by H. Byron Ballard. Weiser Books, 2021
At first glance, this book is yet another ‘wheel of the year’ book for pagans. But it’s different from most; for one, the author adds in some celebrations. Surprisingly, she chose to name and time them to the Christian calendar, adding in Rogation days and Ember days. She also explains how the Christian calendar fits nicely with the pagan wheel of the year. This framework defines the rest of the book, going through the seasons. Rather than just talk about how to celebrate the holy/holidays, she talks about living your life in tune with the old ways. She tells it through tales of her own life, and it’s grounded in a country way of living. Gardening, putting food by, mending, weaving, cooking, bread baking, herbs; it’s all there. The instructions for these activities are very brief, but can work as a starting place to interest a person in finding out more about any of it. The stress is very much on connection with nature and the earth.
The writing is good in most places, but there were a couple of spots where it bogged down and I just skimmed. I’m old, so I’ve read some of this many times before. One thing that interested me was that she is aligned with old Appalachian folk magic, rather than following the Celtic path that so many wheel of the year books do. Good for someone new to earth centered spirituality, or looking for a slightly different slant on the subject. Four stars.
