Llewellyn's 2020 Sabbats Almanac: Samhain 2019 to Mabon 2020

Llewellyn's Sabbats Annual

by Llewellyn Publications

Make your seasonal celebrations even more magical with Llewellyn's 2020 Sabbats Almanac. Packed with rituals, rites, recipes, and crafts, this helpful guide offers fun and fresh ways to celebrate the eight sacred Wiccan holidays and enhance spiritual life throughout the year.

Get a new perspective on honoring the Wheel of the Year from your favorite Wiccan and Pagan authors. Plan spiritually uplifting celebrations and sustainable seasonal activities. Perform Sabbat-specific rituals and family activities. Create tasty treats and crafts as reminders of the season's gifts and lessons. Also featured are astrological influences to help you plan rituals according to cosmic energies.

Genres: Nonfiction, Wicca, Witchcraft, Paganism, Spirituality, Magic

312 pages, Paperback

First published July 8, 2019

About the author

Llewellyn George started his publishing company in Portland, Oregon in 1901, concentrating Astrological books and annuals. In 1961, Carl L. Weschcke of St. Paul, Minnesota purchased the company and relocated it to the Midwest.

Llewellyn is the world’s oldest and largest independent publisher of books for body, mind, and spirit.

Reviews

[Plateresca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should probably stop buying such Llewellyn books: they always seem so promising, but then, in the end, I never like them as much as I expect to. By 'such' I mean the ones that are a hodgepodge of articles each written by a different author.

What I liked about this book:
- some interesting Sabbat-related stories;
- some good recipes! And I must say I am very critical to recipes. (This is why I am adding that the author spells 'provelone' and uses ingredients like 'Italian seasoning' - and it's not that I think everybody should grow their own herbs, but shouldn't witches want to know what herbs exactly they're adding?);
- some useful information on crystals;
- the artwork is nice.

What I didn't enjoy that much:
- Llewellyn books are notorious for typos; this one is not as bad as it gets, but has some.
- The astrology bits! Like this:

'If the conversation or circumstances turn dark, be prepared to duck and cover, as this is a drink-in-the-face sort of Moon.'

What exactly does this mean? So confusing.
- The crafts - well, one or two projects maybe sound OK, but mostly they seem troublesome - but that's just me, in this case, really.
- Consider this:

Yule: 'The power of renewal'
Imbolc: 'The magic of beginning new projects'
Ostara: 'The vernal equinox is associated magickally with a time of new beginnings'
Litha: 'Do you need to make some big changes and clear out some debris from your life?'

I mean, how many times over the year does one want to start anew? I do believe in making careful plans and then sticking to them, not throwing them away every sabbat.
- This:

'A Capricorn Moon can also be hard on the knees, so sit rather than kneel, should taking in the local fireworks display become the evening's entertainment.'

Fireworks heavily pollute the environment - how can anybody who deals with the energy of nature find them entertaining? Last time there were fireworks somewhere near, I spent a sleepless night hugging my stressed dog, who thought maybe our house was being set on fire. Please, people, please, whenever you want to let off fireworks, please consider if this is worth the suffering it causes to animals around you, domestic and wild. (Yeah, and the quote above comes from another astrology bit).
- I'm sure Ronald Hutton knows he is hugely popular in pagan circles, but I sometimes think he'd be surprised at the extent to which he is referenced. I love Ronald Hutton, I do as much as anybody, this is why I'm afraid his work is being overexploited.

So, there are useful bits here and there, but on the whole, this was not, sadly, among the best investments in my magick library.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book as all the year's Sabbats, Major and Minor starting with Samhain in 2019 and ending with Mabon in 2020.

I thought this was a fantastic book to introduce each of the 8 Sabbats and I loved that they all had the same break down (see below) for each one. If you want to learn more about Sabbats then I would highly recommend starting with Llewellyn's Almanac in the year that you are currently in. I will be purchasing one for Samhain 2020-Mabon 2021.

Each Sabbat "Unit" contains each one of these "Chapters":
An introduction/story/origins/history (section named for the Sabbat- Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas, and Mabon)
Cosmic Sway - The important Moons during that Sabbat holiday
Feasts and Treats - recipes
The Old Ways - contains the history of that Sabbat and/or a ritual and/or another craft
Crafty Crafts - sharing craft ideas for the holiday
Crystals for Every Season - crystals important and/or useful for that holiday
Ritual - a small, usually simple ritual or spell for that Sabbat

[Rachel Jitsawat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean... it’s an Almanac. Not the most riveting writing going on here. But I do enjoy the articles about the mythology behind the seasons/sabbats, the recipes and the “Crafty Crafts.”

My first Almanac, I may invest in another one for the incoming year.

[Barbara]

This pass year the book has given me much to look into. I found it far more user friendly to, which I find weird to say. So if you have never read the yearly 'Sabbats' books before you might want to try a year to see what you think. I find it dose help my practice in many ways.

[cammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had some good recipes and crafts, as well as information.

[Savannah Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as great as past editions.

[Sarah ~Goddessofthestory~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good information and great ideas in this book. Already bought the 2021 almanac.

[Sheri Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always enjoy reading the articles in this, love this series.