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Seasons of Witchery: Celebrating the Sabbats with the Garden Witch
In this charming book, award-winning author Ellen Dugan offers an intimate look at her personal practices and magickal life throughout the wheel of the year. Written with humor, warmth, and practicality, Ellen offers a fresh twist on ways to honor each season, along with insightful journal notes about her enchanted gardens. Her magickal lessons and stories about her own coven—how they celebrated, changed, and grew over the course of the year—will inspire you. Enjoy sabbat-themed spells, rituals, herbal magick, and holiday recipes that will motivate you to make your own seasons of witchery more unique and meaningful.
Midsummer Faery Garden Blessing Butterfly Magick Jack-o'-Lantern Spell The Wild Hunt at Yuletide An Imbolc Spell to Celebrate the Goddess Brigid Perfect Eggs for Ostara Herbal Bouquets and Tussie-Mussies
Midsummer Faery Garden Blessing Butterfly Magick Jack-o'-Lantern Spell The Wild Hunt at Yuletide An Imbolc Spell to Celebrate the Goddess Brigid Perfect Eggs for Ostara Herbal Bouquets and Tussie-Mussies
285 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2012
42 people are currently reading
590 people want to read
About the author
Ellen Dugan
77 books503 followersEllen Dugan is the award winning author of over thirty six books and the Witches Tarot. She branched out successfully into paranormal fiction in 2015 with her popular Legacy Of Magick series. Her portfolio of work also includes dozens of articles in the Llewellyn Almanacs and Calendars and 15 non-fiction books. Ellen's non-fiction titles with Llewellyn Worldwide have been translated into over twelve foreign languages. She is a psychic-clairvoyant, and has been a practicing Witch for over thirty-five years.
With over 300K books sold Ellen has a global following. She currently has over twenty published novels, the eleven book Legacy Of Magick series and three other paranormal series: The Gypsy Chronicles, Daughters Of Midnight, and Hemlock Hollow. The first four books in her Legacy Of Magick series were made into audio books with Tantor Audio in 2018.
Ellen was featured on the cover of Witches & Pagans Magazine. She has been interviewed in the studio on KMOV News Channel 4 in St. Louis, done numerous newspaper and radio interviews, and a two hour guest spot on the national syndicated live radio show, Coast to Coast. In 2017 Ellen was also featured in USA TODAY'S HEA column. More information on Ellen's work can be found at www.ellendugan.com on Instagram at www.instagram.com/ellendugan/ or on Facebook www.facebook.com/ellendugan
With over 300K books sold Ellen has a global following. She currently has over twenty published novels, the eleven book Legacy Of Magick series and three other paranormal series: The Gypsy Chronicles, Daughters Of Midnight, and Hemlock Hollow. The first four books in her Legacy Of Magick series were made into audio books with Tantor Audio in 2018.
Ellen was featured on the cover of Witches & Pagans Magazine. She has been interviewed in the studio on KMOV News Channel 4 in St. Louis, done numerous newspaper and radio interviews, and a two hour guest spot on the national syndicated live radio show, Coast to Coast. In 2017 Ellen was also featured in USA TODAY'S HEA column. More information on Ellen's work can be found at www.ellendugan.com on Instagram at www.instagram.com/ellendugan/ or on Facebook www.facebook.com/ellendugan
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 22, 2023
What can I say about this book that I haven't already said a trillion times about other Pagan literature in the past... Because the history and folklore is questionable at best, and flat out inaccurate most times (and occasionally she straight up just makes things up). And in terms of spells, they're the usual bad rhyming set to a fairly standard Neo-Wiccan process (so if you're not interested in that, they probably won't be of any use to you); in other words: Pretty par for the course as far as Pagan literature goes. Nothing really new, there- and nothing terribly good, either.
The truly annoying bit of "bad history" to me, probably because I've spent the last 5 years of my life as an Irish Reconstructionist, is the suggestion that Lugh (a distinctly Irish Gaelic God) was the Husband of Rosmerta (a Gallo-Roman Goddess); Pan-Celticism is an incredibly annoying habit of modern Paganism founded in the Victorian romanticism and misguided nationalism of the Celtic Twilight- and always wrong. I'm not surprised by the author saying this, however, as Rosmerta's imagery was typically linked to Mercury's, and she'd just waxed poetic about Mercury's similarities to Lugh (despite them sharing none in reality)... But in case any of you need reminding: Gaelic and Gaulish are not the same (in fact they were quite far away from one another all things considered), nor do their religions hold very many similarities- especially after the Roman occupation of Gaul and its resulting syncretism. The two are not, in fact, comparable or combinable with any degree of ethicality or accuracy.
The irony isn't lost on me that, in the chapter about Mabon, Dungan makes much ado about "the need to be honest and not over-romanticize our history to death". Especially considering that is exactly what Neopaganism does, frequently, at every conceivable turn possible. Her being hung up on this about Mabon in particular and the lack of a historical precedence for an autumnal celebration, is honestly nonsensical; you'd think someone who cared that much about hyperomanticism and accuracy in one area'd truly be much more concerned with it in regards to all the others. But sadly that's just not the case.
A more minor annoyance was that, while I did appreciate the note to plant local and native (though a nursery tag is the worst way to pick natives) and enjoyed the inclusion of the scientific names next to herbs listed (a rare inclusion in most Pagan books, but one that's incredibly important)... Immediately after was a list of non-native plants listed as "herbs for a faerie garden". Later there's even mention of a Butterfly Bush she bought, which is nothing if not entirely invasive to the US (so much so they're intentionally breeding sterile / low fertility varieties in an effort to prevent their spread, as people like the author and big box stores won't quit planting them despite plenty of warnings).
Going further, the "Rules" for working with the fae were just weird in general. And I was incredibly unhappy with the outdated insistence on using the word "Totem". Further points were deducted for the conflation of "Plant Allies" with "Plant Familiars", as well as setting up "plant familiars" / "plant allies" as essentially just being plants that you're particularly attracted to and like the most; it's overly simplistic in a way that bothers me, but which I can't quite articulate the why's of. Past that, the same complaints can really be brought up throughout the rest of the book so I won't bother repeating myself in regards to other holidays.
I will say, however, that the content was at least interesting in the way that I've never seen someone tackle a book about the holidays from the perspective of "personal musings and lessons". That being said, frankly little of it actually has anything to do with anything at all- let alone the holidays themselves. And after a bit, it just kind of got boring (though focus on the Fae for Litha is an interesting take that's rather unusual and did give me some food for thought- as is the emphasis on greening for the same holiday).
If you want a look at someone else's thoughts on the holiday in a way that's definitely outside the norm, then at least giving it a brief read would be... Ok, I guess? But I wouldn't trust a single ounce of it for a bucket of salt in regards to anything being historically or mythologically accurate. If that's what you're looking for, no Pagan book is really the way to go; you're better off looking into academia proper.
The truly annoying bit of "bad history" to me, probably because I've spent the last 5 years of my life as an Irish Reconstructionist, is the suggestion that Lugh (a distinctly Irish Gaelic God) was the Husband of Rosmerta (a Gallo-Roman Goddess); Pan-Celticism is an incredibly annoying habit of modern Paganism founded in the Victorian romanticism and misguided nationalism of the Celtic Twilight- and always wrong. I'm not surprised by the author saying this, however, as Rosmerta's imagery was typically linked to Mercury's, and she'd just waxed poetic about Mercury's similarities to Lugh (despite them sharing none in reality)... But in case any of you need reminding: Gaelic and Gaulish are not the same (in fact they were quite far away from one another all things considered), nor do their religions hold very many similarities- especially after the Roman occupation of Gaul and its resulting syncretism. The two are not, in fact, comparable or combinable with any degree of ethicality or accuracy.
The irony isn't lost on me that, in the chapter about Mabon, Dungan makes much ado about "the need to be honest and not over-romanticize our history to death". Especially considering that is exactly what Neopaganism does, frequently, at every conceivable turn possible. Her being hung up on this about Mabon in particular and the lack of a historical precedence for an autumnal celebration, is honestly nonsensical; you'd think someone who cared that much about hyperomanticism and accuracy in one area'd truly be much more concerned with it in regards to all the others. But sadly that's just not the case.
A more minor annoyance was that, while I did appreciate the note to plant local and native (though a nursery tag is the worst way to pick natives) and enjoyed the inclusion of the scientific names next to herbs listed (a rare inclusion in most Pagan books, but one that's incredibly important)... Immediately after was a list of non-native plants listed as "herbs for a faerie garden". Later there's even mention of a Butterfly Bush she bought, which is nothing if not entirely invasive to the US (so much so they're intentionally breeding sterile / low fertility varieties in an effort to prevent their spread, as people like the author and big box stores won't quit planting them despite plenty of warnings).
Going further, the "Rules" for working with the fae were just weird in general. And I was incredibly unhappy with the outdated insistence on using the word "Totem". Further points were deducted for the conflation of "Plant Allies" with "Plant Familiars", as well as setting up "plant familiars" / "plant allies" as essentially just being plants that you're particularly attracted to and like the most; it's overly simplistic in a way that bothers me, but which I can't quite articulate the why's of. Past that, the same complaints can really be brought up throughout the rest of the book so I won't bother repeating myself in regards to other holidays.
I will say, however, that the content was at least interesting in the way that I've never seen someone tackle a book about the holidays from the perspective of "personal musings and lessons". That being said, frankly little of it actually has anything to do with anything at all- let alone the holidays themselves. And after a bit, it just kind of got boring (though focus on the Fae for Litha is an interesting take that's rather unusual and did give me some food for thought- as is the emphasis on greening for the same holiday).
If you want a look at someone else's thoughts on the holiday in a way that's definitely outside the norm, then at least giving it a brief read would be... Ok, I guess? But I wouldn't trust a single ounce of it for a bucket of salt in regards to anything being historically or mythologically accurate. If that's what you're looking for, no Pagan book is really the way to go; you're better off looking into academia proper.
October 1, 2014
I really enjoyed this book! All of the information was great and written in a way that kept me interested. I really enjoyed the snarkiness of Ellen Dugan... I will definitely be checking out her other books.
April 12, 2012
ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley
Very interesting read. A bit of history, lore and magic communicated in a style that is like a conversation with someone you know.
Very interesting read. A bit of history, lore and magic communicated in a style that is like a conversation with someone you know.
January 15, 2020
I have read every nonfiction book Ellen has penned and this has to be my favorite. Her humor shines through, and I feel like every time I read her work it's like sitting at a kitchen table with a friend over a cuppa tea. Informative (even for 15+ year witch like myself) and a must-have for anyone that follows a Wheel of the Year lifestyle. Recipes and spells are excellent ;-)
February 3, 2021
I always enjoy Ellen Dugan's books on witchcraft, because they're a lot more practical than some books and she doesn't take herself too seriously. This is another good addition to her library. As someone who centers the Wheel of the Year in my own practice, I enjoyed learning about her way of celebrating and adding some of her suggestions to my own practice.
September 15, 2019
This book is a better fit for children interested in Wicca and perhaps doing some simple spells, making charms, and celebrating the holidays. For the adult, however, it is oversimplified information most people, pagan or not, already know.
March 14, 2021
Listen....Ellen Dugan is so good. She is the perfect mix of practical and magical. I so enjoyed this book and it will be a staple in my future sabbat celebrations. Highly recommend for anyone curious about the wheel of the year. And of course I'll be picking up more of her work.
February 22, 2019
This book does a great job of covering all the Wiccan Sabbats, with each section offering history, traditions, spells, recipes, and personal lessons. The author always uses personal stories to illustrate her points, so if you are looking for something that is strictly academic, this isn't the book for you.
My favorite section of the book was Yule, which contained many Scandanavian traditions that I found interesting. My least favorite thing was the information about fairies, which came off rather "twee". I find this to be the case with most witchy books that attempt to broach the subject, so it wasn't surprising.
This would be an excellent book for someone who is Wiccan or just starting out. However if you are more advanced, you may find the material a tad bit elementary.
My favorite section of the book was Yule, which contained many Scandanavian traditions that I found interesting. My least favorite thing was the information about fairies, which came off rather "twee". I find this to be the case with most witchy books that attempt to broach the subject, so it wasn't surprising.
This would be an excellent book for someone who is Wiccan or just starting out. However if you are more advanced, you may find the material a tad bit elementary.
October 11, 2022
Seasons of Witchery: Celebrating the Sabbats with the Garden Witch
I *thought* when I bought this book it was gonna be about how to celebrate the sabbats. As I got into this journey in my life I realized that I *should* be embracing some aspects of it more and that’s mainly that I want to get more into celebrating the sabbats. I’m a solitary so if there are just little ways, I can do this suggestions would be helpful.
But this book was nothing like I thought it would be. First off it starting talking about fairies and fairy magic (Side Eye). I just could not bend my mind to take the belief of actual fairies seriously. I’ve watched Winx and Tinkerbelle and other animated shows about fairies and I was trying to twist my mind to think ok when she says fairies does she mean little people with wings or is it a symbolic for nature spirits that are unseen to the eye or something. Because the former kind have been so cemented in my mind that it won’t let me see fairies any other way. Therefore, it’s kind of hard to believe that these actually exist. I know I’m Wiccan and thus a magic believer, but my mind does try to still hold onto what’s fiction and what’s real. So this part just didn’t mix well with my head.
Then it turned into more of a personal nature journal. I won’t say I wouldn’t like to get into gardening (the thought doesn’t turn me off) but I will say that reading about a thousand plant names and herbs and insects didn’t make me wanna jump right up and go to Home Depot and get a gardening kit either.
Then it turned into a personal journal about issues with her coven and it was like umm ok, but does this really belong in a book like this? Do we really need to know about the issues you're having with one of your coven sisters in a book entitled CELEBRATING THE SABBATS?
The same with mentions of her spouse. I actually made a contest and highlighted how many times she said “Me and my husband”. Maybe that’s personal. I’m single, but even if I were married yes I’d love my husband to death. Even much more so because I don’t think I’ll ever have one. But I think at the same time, I’d be a little more self-conscious of the title of my book and my readers who won’t all have a husband. So I’d go light on mentions of my own. And that’s if I mentioned my spouse at all. This isn’t my autobiography.
It did around getting into Samhain start to focus more on what it needed to, but then it jumped back into a personal journal and a nature journal.
By the end, I couldn’t even finish it because it started talking about a bridal bouquet and more herbs. By this time I thought, no this just isn’t my kind of book. So instead of forcing myself further I skipped a head to the end and just finished it. And that’s got to be a first for me because I usually like to complete what I start. But this just wasn’t for me!
Rating: 3 Had some good ideas but it got distracted with things not relating to the topic.
I *thought* when I bought this book it was gonna be about how to celebrate the sabbats. As I got into this journey in my life I realized that I *should* be embracing some aspects of it more and that’s mainly that I want to get more into celebrating the sabbats. I’m a solitary so if there are just little ways, I can do this suggestions would be helpful.
But this book was nothing like I thought it would be. First off it starting talking about fairies and fairy magic (Side Eye). I just could not bend my mind to take the belief of actual fairies seriously. I’ve watched Winx and Tinkerbelle and other animated shows about fairies and I was trying to twist my mind to think ok when she says fairies does she mean little people with wings or is it a symbolic for nature spirits that are unseen to the eye or something. Because the former kind have been so cemented in my mind that it won’t let me see fairies any other way. Therefore, it’s kind of hard to believe that these actually exist. I know I’m Wiccan and thus a magic believer, but my mind does try to still hold onto what’s fiction and what’s real. So this part just didn’t mix well with my head.
Then it turned into more of a personal nature journal. I won’t say I wouldn’t like to get into gardening (the thought doesn’t turn me off) but I will say that reading about a thousand plant names and herbs and insects didn’t make me wanna jump right up and go to Home Depot and get a gardening kit either.
Then it turned into a personal journal about issues with her coven and it was like umm ok, but does this really belong in a book like this? Do we really need to know about the issues you're having with one of your coven sisters in a book entitled CELEBRATING THE SABBATS?
The same with mentions of her spouse. I actually made a contest and highlighted how many times she said “Me and my husband”. Maybe that’s personal. I’m single, but even if I were married yes I’d love my husband to death. Even much more so because I don’t think I’ll ever have one. But I think at the same time, I’d be a little more self-conscious of the title of my book and my readers who won’t all have a husband. So I’d go light on mentions of my own. And that’s if I mentioned my spouse at all. This isn’t my autobiography.
It did around getting into Samhain start to focus more on what it needed to, but then it jumped back into a personal journal and a nature journal.
By the end, I couldn’t even finish it because it started talking about a bridal bouquet and more herbs. By this time I thought, no this just isn’t my kind of book. So instead of forcing myself further I skipped a head to the end and just finished it. And that’s got to be a first for me because I usually like to complete what I start. But this just wasn’t for me!
Rating: 3 Had some good ideas but it got distracted with things not relating to the topic.
October 14, 2014
I read this book hoping to find information on the meanings and folklore behind each sabbat, and ideas for seasonal activities and rituals that I could do to observe them. There was some of this in the book, but a lot of it seemed superficial and I felt like there was too much of a focus on the author's personal life. She tended to go on tangents that didn't seem relevant to what the book was actually supposed to be about. I think this book would have much more appeal for people with an avid interest in gardening and decorating (not really my thing) because it has a lot of ideas and information on those subjects.
August 24, 2013
I love Ellen Dugan's work. This one left me slightly disappointed, however. I was hoping for more DIY ideas, recipes and rituals, and this book was simply Ms. Dugan relating her own stories and experiences. Lovely writing, to be sure, and I did get some fun ideas from her stories. I just wish there has been more how-to's included.
September 17, 2012
this is a lovely warm book - a personal journey through the wiccan year. It covers each sabbat with suggestions for rituals, plants and gardening, folklore, crystals and seasonal food. It has lots of suggestions and recipes that I'm going to try.
June 16, 2012
A pleasant read with some useful tables of correspondences.
September 10, 2012
it goes on about all the wiccan holidays and how you can celebrate them
as always she has even put some little stories of her own life which i think is great
as always she has even put some little stories of her own life which i think is great
June 21, 2012
I enjoyed Dugan's latest, though at times the text was a bit repetitive. Not sure if I will keep going back to this the way I have with some of her others; time will tell.
April 22, 2013
Love It!! Good tips on gardening while enjoying the Sabbats. Good reference book to utilize over & over again as the Wheel of the Year never stops turning.
June 29, 2013
A must have... For those interested or practicing.
April 7, 2014
Interesting,but I still can't keep all the holidays separate. Never can remember which is beltane which is samhain and which is lughnasa. I'm hopeless!
March 9, 2015
Love this book! I look at the coming sabbat every time to get ideas on how to celebrate.
August 6, 2012
Definitely must-buy two copies, one for me, one for a sister witch.
February 27, 2015
Excellent reference book. Exactly what I needed!
November 21, 2015
a very nice read. its also much morevpersonsl as the writer brings you in on how she celebrates.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews