For want of a better definition I am a Quantum Pagan. Which is to say I have a workaday understanding of Quantum physics, and I believe both science and pagan spirituality to be in a quest for answers and the underlying truth of the universe. One approaches the questions of reality and the universe through the pursuit of testable facts, thesis, and theories, the other through the pursuit of faith, our connection to the natural world, ritual, and the commonality of ancestral experience.

I am not going to go deeply into the concepts and ideas of my personal faith in this particular blog, but I thought it worth mentioning at the outset, given the subject matter of this post. For anyone interested in the subject however I have written on the subject extensively but the most pertinent of my blogs on the subject can be found here , here and (he says with a rye smile ) here…

In any regard, this blog is not about my personal belief system but something broader and a tad more traditional, as it concerns a layperson’s guide to the wheel of the year. This, if you are unaware, is an ancient framework to pagan belief systems that dates back to the dawn of human spirituality, or as it is otherwise known the 1970’s…

Yes, I am being slight flippant here as you may have guessed but it is ostensibly correct that in its current form ‘The Wheel of the Year’ or the four major and 4 minor sabbats that frame most general contemporary pagan belief systems, is an modern invention. All be it drawn from various interpretations of ancient rituals and feast days. This doesn’t make it or paganism any less valid however.

Unlike the ridged structures and beliefs of the mainstream monotheistic religions pagans are oft encouraged by their fellow pagans to find their own way in their spiritual life. That is not to say guidance is not offered, or that there is a lack of teachers. But what you practise and how you practise is far more a matter of the personal interpretations than the structured interpretations of a ‘church’. How a pagan seeks to connect to the divine, be it in a group or individually is not for anyone else to say. There is no hierarchy beyond that which exists within small groups.

I’m explaining all this because I’ve always had a vague awareness of the history and the wheel itself. I have always been somewhat sporadic in my paganism. Some feast I celebrate, Beltane Samhaim, Yule, mid summer… Others I merely nod towards at most. A sort of pick and mix paganism, that is not uncommon even among those who are more spiritually inclined than I. Paganism is a broad, forgiving and very personal church.

It does, for me, however require an openness and willingness to explore.

Which brings me to The Witches Feast by Lilian Brooks, a fascinating little book that is in part a history, in part reference guide and in part a cookbook with recipes for the various pagan feast of the wheel…

Lilian is a practising pagan and the writer of ‘The Whitby Witches’ novels, which is how she ended up writing this small none fiction guide to the wheel of the year, because her non-practising readers kept asking her questions about it in response to it coming up in the books, in particular the third novel which take place through a full turn of the wheel. She has also been sharing recipes on her newsletters and in the original editions of her novels. At some point doing the book probably just made sense in order to avoid the same questions coming up time after time…

Divided into nine sections, the introduction and then one for each spoke of the wheel, each section has an overview of beliefs and a history of the feast in question, along with ideas and suggestions for how you may wish to celebrate the feast and several recipes for food and drinks that fits the season and the feast in question.

While it doesn’t pretend to be an academic text as such, it does give broad strokes and fascinating snippets of information. It certainly serves as a good introduction to the wheel and the foundations of pagan belief systems. What you will take from the book will vary from person to person. But it does form a useful and entertaining resource, even if you have a grounding in paganism to begin with . also there are recipes for cocktails.

I may not be much of a baker, but I am always happy to try a new cocktail…