A Year of Ritual: Sabbats & Esbats for Solitaries & Covens

Rating:
Summary: There's Always More to Learn
Review: I thought I had learned a lot about sabbats over the years but this book proves that there is always more to explore. There's plenty of food for thought about ritual itself.

This book is beautifully written and I shall enjoy using these words in my rituals for a long time to come.

Rating:
Summary: Starting place for group and individual ritual
Review: Ms. Kynes presents to us in this book a basic handbook of very generic rituals focusing on individuals and covens.

The book is broken down into three main parts: The Sabbats, The Esbats and Appendix. Each of these are broken down even further.

The Sabbats and Esbats focus on ritual in two parts, one for covens and one for individuals. After a brief introduction to the Holiday or Moon, and a little background, she goes into themes, preparations, setups, and the rituals. Every ritual is laid out with all the elements of ritual spelled out, all the lines written, and it is a matter of picking up the book and reading through the ritual. No fuss, no muss. Solo Rituals are the same, with everything laid out so all you have to do is read.

The Rituals are specific to the Holiday, or the Moon, and each one is seasonally appropriate, but they all follow the same format. The same holds true for the Solo Rituals, while being specific to the Holiday or the Moon, they are pretty much a format ritual. There is included an 'October: Moon before the Dark' ritual which is based on the J.R.R. Tolkien's version of how the sun and the moon came into being, and it offers some originality but still sticks to the format introduced in the beginning of the book.

The Appendices all contain some basic additional information, regarding: Your Practice, Ogham, Glossary and Pronunciation Guide to Non-English Words, How to Make a Flower Sachet and Preparing for Ritual. These elements are incorporated elsewhere in the rituals in the book, and again give a general overview of the subject.

As you make your way through the rituals in this book, you will learn the meaning of many of the symbols, tools and the origins of the Holidays and Esbats and various traditions. There is some background into the Wheel of the Year and the book is easy to understand and clear in what the author is saying. The book is well written, easy to follow, provides an interesting bibliography and is Indexed.

However, this is not the only way to do things. The book can be used as a basic primer, a pre-Wicca 101 book on ritual if you will, but should be augmented with additional references, study and practice. In the introduction, the author states " Whether you are a beginner or an experienced practitioner, sooner or later when putting together a ritual you may not have enough time, or creative inspiration may remain elusive. This book contains rituals that are "ready to go" for both group and solo practices." Indeed, this book almost reads like fast food take out menu with the pre-packaged rituals and repetitive format. I think the experienced practitioner will become bored quickly with the material, if not immediately, and will prefer something with a bit more 'meat and potatoes'.

But for the beginner, this book could be a good tool. If you have never before done ritual, if you are working with a group that is totally unfamiliar with ritual and you need something to get you all started, this book offers ready made, no fuss rituals, with a little fries on the side. This can be a useful tool to the newly forming study group, a solitary practitioner very new to the path, and someone who is teaching beginner groups, or even children, and wants something that sets a simple pace, gives a basic outline and will be augmenting this material with additional reading and learning.

The author does a good job at creating simple rituals, with a repetitive format that will teach by rote how to do ritual, incorporating the very basic Wheel of the Year beliefs so you can add your own belief system without any dogma clashes. The author makes no claim to this being the only way to do ritual and provides a good solid base from which to work. I would also suggest that you might want to experiment with these rituals after you have become familiar with them, dress them up, make them a bit more personal and you may find yourself with some good personal rituals.

This is a good place for starting and learning ritual. It is up to you to expand on it. boudica

Rating:
Summary: A Real Source of Inspiration
Review: This is a great book to keep on your shelf because you'll find that it will always be useful and you will keep going back to it.