When I received The Witches’ Oracle, I thought that the cover looked familiar. When I opened it up, I knew why: I had this very deck that was released around twenty years ago! Originally called The Wicca Pack, this wonderful deck has been re-released by Eddison Books as The Witches’ Oracle.

In actual fact, this was the first deck that I had ever bought about a decade into my Pagan journeys. And it was so easy to work with, and so accurate for my readings, that I’ve kept it all these years. This new version comes in a beautiful box with a picture of the Witches’ goddess, Aradia on the cover. They have streamlined the book now to correlate only to the deck, and have taken out the Wiccan practices that was in the original book. This makes sense, as now there are so many good books available on Wicca that you don’t need to combine the two.

I love these cards. The artwork is by Danuta Mayer, and it was written by Sally Morningstar. The new deck has cards the same size as the old deck, but these have a nice border which means that the artwork won’t get affected as much through decades of use. It contains cards that relate to Wicca and Witchcraft, such as the ritual tools used, animals and deities. It is certainly a very “witchy” deck, and I love it.

The book does contain a little more information than just the cards and their interpretation, such as a short history and tradition section, before diving right into the card meanings. There’s a final section on how to use different spreads. All in all, this is a wonderful deck, and I love both versions that I now have J

I also received A Spellbook for the Seasons, by Tudorbeth (aka Sarah Coyne). I have to say, I LOVE what they are doing with books these days. They are making books so beautiful again! This lovely hardcover comes filled with gorgeous artwork inside, and it truly is a pretty thing to have and to hold.

The layout of this book is quite different from other compendiums I have come across. It contains the usual material, such as the Wheel of the Year and the festivals, along with spellwork. What is different is that the author has chosen a different pantheon of deities for each section, such as Norse for winter, Celtic for spring, Greek for summer and Roman for autumn. This is a good introduction to different deities and allows the opportunity to work with different pantheons each season, and may bring new gods and goddesses into your work that you have never come across.

This book contains ceremonies that are coven-based, but which can be adapted for solitaries. Other ideas you might find in this book are things like a Sage Water House Cleanse for autumn, or a Sun Day Love Spell for summer. There’s an Ostara Magic Salt, and a Winter’s Morn strength spell. There’s a seasonal garden section, and a crystal section. All in all, this is a very attractive book, which may inspire you on your own magical journeys through the seasons, and is just a delight to flip through on a rainy day to cheer up the heart as well.