A new calendar is always a pleasure for me, so… well… new, so open with possibility of what might happen. I feel like a child with a shiny new toy. As I begin to fill it with my ongoing commitments, moons, sabbats and birthdays of friends and other loved ones and I manipulate my schedule to fit, it brings me a peaceful, but eager, feeling. I recommend certain calendars to my coven members, students and friends each year, so I thought it only appropriate that I should peek at what is available this year before offering my opinion.
It was fairly easy. Llewellyn Publishing sent me a whole pile of review copies of what they publish and tracking down the few others was not that difficult. I ended up with 13 in all. How coincidental! Some of these are variations of the same thing... like smaller versions. I'll lead with the one I get myself every year, and go from there.
We'Moon '00, Gaia Rhythms For Womyn. ISBN: 1-890931-03-9, Paper bound book format, $14.95. Published by Mother Tongue Ink from Estacada Oregon.
This is my all time favorite. It always has a theme or topic— this year the topic is "Open".
I have used a version of this book for numerous years and I especially enjoy the feminine Goddess focus. Some men might find it a bit female centric— but most women fancy it. Filled with images, artwork of various kinds, poetry, short stories, herbal lore, chants, rituals, excerpts and an amazing amount of astrological data, it is delightful to behold as well as practical to use.
It begins with a "year at a glance" calendar, with all the full and new moons highlighted, which is very useful for us witches! It expounds on natural cycles and the relationship between women and the moon and goes on to clarify some of the changes specific to this year's version. It continues with a "how to use this book", and explains the features included on the calendar pages— which aids both the uninitiated and long time user.
It incorporates a great deal of useful information such as: sun sign, moon sign, moon phase, lunar quarter phase, day of the week, eclipses, and daily aspects. Other features are the Moon pages— which feature two pages of artwork near the new moon; month and year at a glance pages; annual predictions for each sun sign; holy day; herb features; time zones; planetary ephemeris; and an asteroid ephemeris.
There is room on each day square to write in appointments, thoughts, doodle or whatever… When you use it as an appointment book, it is inspiring to consider that all of the artwork was done by women from around the world. Highly recommended, especially for the Goddess-oriented person.
Llewellyn's Astrological Calendar 2000. ISBN1-56718-957-1, Wall calendar, $12.95, By Llewellyn Publications.
This is another one I personally have used over the years. It has plenty of astrological data including monthly horoscopes for every sign, a monthly ephemeris listing daily positions of the sun, moon, planets, Chiron and four asteroids. Moon quarters, moon signs, moon void of courses. Sun signs and planet changes stations, like retrogrades. Daily planetary aspects and best hunting and fishing dates are a bonus if you like that sort of thing. Lunar gardening tips, a comprehensive guide to astrology, advice for travel and financial matters and a global prediction for 2000 round it out.
I find this calendar useful and fairly complete, if a bit pretentious. You almost need a course in astrology to use it. It also suffers from one of the main downfalls of Llewellyn publishing: it has weird artwork. It has a nice astrological correspondence table in the front. Another good feature is the nice big boxes for the days, so you can write in it. Would I put it on my wall at work if I worked for a mainstream company? No.
Dailey Planetary Guide 2000. ISBN: 1- 56718-955-5, Soft spiral bound $9.95, by Llewellyn Publications.
A smaller version of the previous, without the bad artwork— in an easy to use spiral bound small book format. This book is preferable to the wall calendar in my opinion. It has everything the calendar has and more, including weekly astrology forecasts; holidays and birthdays of famous people and an address book in the back. What it is lacking is any art to speak of. It, as well as the wall calendar, have another thing that Llewellyn is known for, ads! Lots of them! It's a decent date book if you don't mind no art and many ads. You CAN always rip out the majority of the ads, as I have been known to do.
Llewellyn's 2000 Astrological Pocket Planner. ISBN: 1-56718-956-3, Softbound small pocket book format, $6.95, by Llewellyn Publications.
Third and smallest of the three, it would be great for those already familiar with astrology since it contains no extra information. No horoscopes, and little in the way of astrological data. It is spare— with no artwork and not as many ads as the first two. It has smaller pages so there is not as much room for aspects and less room to write in appointments or other important data. If you need to carry a very small calendar, I suppose this would work well, but there is better.
Greenman Faces Unearthed Calendar 2000. Published by Extravert.
This is a radical departure from the Llewellyn series. It is a desk calendar with a spiral binding that stands upright and each month flips over to the next. No astrological data except the full and new moons, and no ads. It wins in the art department, with lovely images of green man faces from around Europe, situated on brightly colored pages. Unfortunately, that only left room for a smallish monthly calendar on each page. I would have preferred the images, as well as the calendars to be a bit larger. The typeface suffers also as it is very small and difficult to read.
This is a nice and decorative piece that would grace any desk, but it doesn't supply any magickal info. Also, since it is produced in the UK, it has the major British holidays, which may not mean anything to you. Maybe next time, Extravert will work a bit more on design and will make the images as big as possible on the page. It is a fine effort for an independent publisher. All in all, I enjoyed this calendar, available by mail order for $18.00 US; $25 Canadian,PPD from: Extravert, P.O. Box #59, Ipswich, IP4 5BJ, UK. Tel: 01473 726294 or email extravert@talk21.com.
Llewellyn's 2000 Crop Circle Calendar. ISBN: 1-56718-962-8 Wall calendar format, $12.95 Llewellyn Publications.
Full color photographs of crop circles. What? Crop Circles? What is that doing in here? I am not a fan of crop circles, so I guess this one was lost on me. Nice pictures of crop circles, mostly from the UK with a few paragraphs on each page about the various data, facts and aspects of crop circles.
Nice size day squares with just the basic national holidays, pagan and Jewish holidays and new and full moons. A very basic calendar— Ok, but not my cup of tea. I just don't "get" the crop circle thing, I guess.
Llewellyn's Witches' Date Book 2000. ISBN: 1-56718-952-0 Spiral bound book format, $9.95, by Llewellyn Publishing.
Opens with a simple "how to use" section including the moon quarters, signs, void of course, planetary movements, planting and harvesting times, time zone changes, planetary symbols and a day key showing all the pertinent data.
Then it moves on to a spell working and festival day's section, which explains the festival days and what they mean. It has a bit about astrology and the equinoxes and solstices. The waxing and waning of the sun and how they affects magick are explained in a page or two, and it has a simple and helpful section about each holiday. Celtic tree/moon signs are explained with a paragraph on each of the thirteen Celtic tree signs. Using moon signs in magick, moon void of course, mercury retrogrades and how they affect witches, as well as an explanation of magickal times are all somewhat interesting reading and are especially useful for beginners.
Llewellyn seems to try to exploit their big selling writers as much as possible and many of them have contributed to this work, but it is not necessarily a good showcase for them. Each author was allowed only a few paragraphs to explain a concept.
This is a good date book for witches though, as it includes many of the things that affect us and our workings the most, as well as many interesting facts and data on most every day square. Recipes, meditations, small spells, and info about each Celtic moon appear in each section. There is artwork in black and white, some of which is nice and some not so good. Birthdays of famous or semi-famous people as well as magickal tips appear often, and there is a color listed for every day.
This is a very good book for new witches, with just the right amount of magickal data and some interesting stuff thrown in. With few ads and an address book in the back, I like it and I'd probably have it as my second choice.
The `00 Lunar Calendar: Dedicated to the Goddess in Her Many Guises. ISBN: 1-877920-10-X $20.00 Luna Press Boston Ma.
Now for another departure from the mainstream, this is the 24th edition of this beautiful wall calendar. Appealing artwork on the cover made me notice this one, it has interesting black and white artwork inside— some with poetry. It is a completely different format— not a month to month, but rather a moon month format. I found it appealing but difficult to figure out, with no day squares at all, just moon phases with dates above or below and simple astrological-data for each day, including signs, void of course and set and rising times. Celtic tree months are shown in green, as if the trees leaves were pressed on in color. Chinese years are noted, as are solstices and equinoxes and eclipses. I really like this one in theory, but practically speaking it would take awhile to get used to, for me at least, your mileage may vary.
Llewellyn's Tarot Calendar 2000. ISBN: 1-56718-960-1 Wall calendar format, full color, $12.95, by Llewellyn Publishing.
With an enlarged color image of a tarot card on each month and several decks (Shapeshifter Tarot, Faery Wicca Tarot, The Arthurian Tarot, The Witches Tarot, and The Robin Wood Tarot) represented, it is very enlightening. It is fairly easy to understand. It begins with an introduction that includes Astrological Glyphs and Symbolism and an explanation about what is included and how to use it.
Each month introduces a new tarot spread, the usual astrological data and a tarot card to meditate on each day. Interesting quotes appear on most days, as well as on some of the popular holidays. Also incorporated are some simple tarot spells, such as how to cleanse your deck.
The day squares are a bit busy, and, if you wanted to write appointments in, it would get messy, but this calendar could be a great daily aide if you happen to be studying the tarot this year.
In the back are nine large pages of educational information about reading the tarot from the simple meanings of the cards to articles on A Journey Through the World of Tarot, The Wheel of the Year Archetypes, Tarot and Astrology and The Qabalistic Tree of Life.
What I do not like is that the artwork, again, is shaky, with some really nice renditions and some that are not so great. I often wonder why Llewellyn does not do better art reproduction. They also have included some ads at the back, but these, at least, are all tarot related, so that didn't bother me as much in this calendar. There are networking resources, which might prove invaluable to some and I think that makes up for the ads.
My favorite part of this calendar is the Tarot Ethics, Six Tips Hollywood Forgot to Mention which are all very good, if pretty basic, advice. The American Tarot Association Code of Ethics is included for all who strive for professional standards. All in all a pretty decent selection, especially if you are learning the Tarot.
Jim Maynard's Celestial Influences 2000: An Almanac and Textbook of Astrology, Ephemeris and Calendar. Wall calendar format, full color, ISBN: 0-930356-35-7 $9.95 Quicksilver Productions.
One of the most popular calendars according to Robert, at Edge of the Circle Books, who was kind enough to lend me several of these non-Llewellyn calendars as review copies. He says it's one of his top sellers. I always liked it myself, and used to buy it often, before I discovered the We'Moon. It has an abundance of astrological information, a fine ephemeris, an almanac and plenty of astrology instructional text. With a Planetary Motions table and Celestial Influences for 2000, it leads with a summary of the year from a heaven's eye view.
Then it moves onto a description of each Zodiac sign, Moon sign, the Lunar cycle, a summary of the Planets and Aspects, and a "How to Use" page. It covers Moon Void of Course, Time corrections and a world time zone map.
Each month has a full color picture on half of the page with a handy ephemeris on the other half showing planting days, and planets visible in both the morning and evening skies. Each day square has astrological information with the moon phases large enough to see at a glance and birthdays of famous people. The day squares are roomier than some with enough space to write in some appointments and, best of all, it is all done in Pacific Time!
Most of the artwork is somewhat hokey and I didn't really care for it, but what can you put in astrology calendar, except astrological pictures?
As it is rounded out with the declinations and asteroids, phenomena, sunrise and set, moon planting times, meteor showers and the Chinese year, it has a sizeable variety of info. A very few ads in the very back make this calendar one of the better ones. It is for a more for a serious astrology student than the average Witch. Despite the art, I'd buy it myself.
Jim Maynard's Celestial Guide 2000: An Astrological Week at a Glance Engagement Calendar. Spiral bound, book format. ISBN: 0-930356-39-X $9.95 Quicksilver Productions.
As a convenient appointment book size that lays flat when open, this book is more to my liking than almost any other, except, of course, the We'Moon. It has something most of the rest do not have— an "If Found, Please Return To" place to write your name in the front, in case you happen to lose it. I think this is a great idea, I have lost my appointment book before and I know it is not fun!
As well as containing all the same information as the wall calendar, it has an explanation of the Y2K phenomena that has been dubbed the Great Alignment right up front. It has a quarter at a glance small calendar and basic calendars for 1999, 2000, and 2001 for reference.
Kicking off with the 1999 Winter Solstice, and continuing through January 2001, it has a great deal of basic astrological data. It includes aspects, moon and sun signs, Eastern, Standard and Pacific times, holidays, birthdays, meteor showers, ephemeris for all the planets and asteroids, a table of ascendants, and rulers (in both inches and centimeters). It even has a few zodiac wheels to write in personal charts and an address book complete the picture. A very fine offering from Jim Maynard, highly recommended.
Jim Maynard's Pocket Astrologer 2000. (Pacific Time) Small book format. ISBN: 0-930356-37-3 $4.95 Quicksilver Productions.
I think this is one of the best, least expensive Astrology date books available. With all the same info as the larger versions, only simplified. Very much like the wall calendar and date book but in a smaller format, it is less daunting for the average person. The very small day squares are a drawback, but they couldn't be bigger in this size book.
It has the same hokey art as the wall calendar, which I could do without, but it's not as objectionable in this size as the larger version. The other drawback is that the text, in tiny type, is very hard to read. Don't get this one for an older person, unless they wear bi-focals!
Llewellyn's Herbal Almanac for the Year 2000. ISBN: 1-56718-961-X Book format, $6.95, by Llewellyn Publishing.
When I first looked at this, I thought it was a calendar, date book, and almanac. Not at all!
It is actually an herbal magic and lore book with a good deal of data and numerous facts about herbs and their uses, both magickal and mundane. It covers growing and gathering herbs, culinary herbs, medicinal, remedial herbs, herbs for beauty, herb crafts, and herbal history, myth and magic. Good for the herbal student or your garden variety Witch. It has a wealth of information including some lovely recipes, plant care and identification, aromatherapy, food, oils, ritual preparation, dyes, and a section on Culpeper in the herbal lore section. A nice, down to earth, approach to working with herbs, although I can't say I agree with all of the information. I do especially like the recipes and craft projects.
Again, I feel that I must complain about the 13 pages of ads in the back. They do detract from this book and I would cut them out so that there is a bit more room for the book to lay flat when open.
There is a moon and correspondence table in the back, which is as close as you get to a calendar, but after 12 of them, I was really ready to look at something else. Good basic info for a new Witch or a long time practitioner.
Well, I hope this helps you with your Yule shopping! Have a Joyful Solstice and a happy, healthy, prosperous, and love filled year!
Most of these calendars can be purchased at local independent bookstores such as The Edge of the Circle Books 701 E Pike Street, Seattle, WA. Phone PAN-1999, and others that advertise in Widdershins. Please support Pagan and Pagan-friendly businesses.
Sylvana SilverWitch is a long time member of the local Seattle pagan community, the High Priestess of Sylvan Grove, psychic reader, tattoo artist, writer, publisher of Widdershins and wonderfully wild woman. She can be contacted through Widdershins by leaving a message at 206-366-2265 or e-mail her at SylvanaS@juno.com
[Home Page | Other Articles in This Issue | FAQ | Local Resources]