Seasons of a Magical Life: A Pagan Path of Living

by H. Byron Ballard, Amy Blackthorn (Foreword by)

Overview

"This book looks at the agricultural year as a starting point for a deepening of Earth-centered spirituality. It gives a set of back stories to ease the reader into a time between the pre-Industrial Era and the uncertainly of the modern one, into a place where the fast-moving stress of American life can be affected by a better connection to not only the natural world but also the pageantries of the year as expressed through seasonal festivals and celebrations"--

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781578637232
Publisher:	Red Wheel/Weiser
Publication date:	08/01/2021
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	438,472
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

H. Byron Ballard is a teacher, folklorist, and writer. She is senior priestess and cofounder of Mother Grove Goddess Temple and the Coalition of Earth Religions/CERES, both in Asheville, North Carolina, and writes as The Village Witch for Witches and Pagans Magazine, where she is also a regular columnist. Visit her at myvillagewitch.wordpress.com.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Foreword Amy Blackthorn ix

Preface xv

Introduction: Notes from a Small Forest-Farm xix

Part 1 Reaching Bedrock: Background Essays

Chapter 1 Animism, Mutual Aid, and Permaculture 3

Chapter 2 Tower Time and the Conceit of the Ever-Turning Wheel 25

Chapter 3 A Different Means to Reckon Time 39

Chapter 4 Re-enchantment and the Uses of Magic 43

Chapter 5 The Good Neighbors, the Land Spirits 53

Part 2 The Wheel of the Agricultural Year

Chapter 6 Winter: The Waxing Year 61

1 The Season of Samhain, Summer's Ending 63

2 The Solstice of Winter: A Thoughtful Quarter Day 77

3 The Season of Imbolc: Light in Hand, in Heart, in Hearth 95

4 The Vernal Equinox: A Blooming Quarter Day 107

Chapter 7 Summer: The Waning Year 119

5 The Season of Beltane: Dancing Life 121

6 The Bright Solstice; Midsummer 135

7 Lammas: The Season of First Harvest 149

8 The Autumnal Equinox: A Fruitful Quarter Day 163

Part 3 Hearth

Chapter 8 Homely 177

Conclusion 189

Glossary 191

Resources 195

Editorial Reviews

06/07/2021

Ballard (Roots, Branches, and Spirits) encourages modern pagans to “return to a simpler and quieter time” and “re-enchant the world” in this engaging guide. She blends the idea of an agricultural wheel of the year with Christian concepts, such as Ember Days (three-day seasonal celebrations that she repurposes as times for reflection and spiritual recharging) and the Roman crop blessing Rogation Day, to create a rich sense of appreciation for the natural world. For each season, she proposes activities: Samhain (the end of summer) is a time for telling stories and tending to the dying; midwinter is a time for chores, creative projects, and foraging. Included are many ideas for crafting and exploring, such as nature walks, candle-making, and gardening. She recommends a daily routine of “wake, work, wonder, and sleep” and describes the pagan practices on her Appalachian homestead. Ballard closes with an exploration of the concept of hearth—a safe hub from which to live one’s values while building kinship with one’s environment. Ballard’s gentle tone and appealing descriptions of a bucolic lifestyle will appeal to spiritual readers looking to connect with the natural world. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Ballard’s gentle tone and appealing descriptions of a bucolic lifestyle will appeal to spiritual readers looking to connect with the natural world.”
 ―Publishers Weekly

“With its philosophical and practical explorations of contemporary pagan life, Seasons of a Magical Life is a spiritual self-help book that invites its audience to reconnect to the natural cycles of the earth and expand their spiritual practices.”
―Foreword Reviews

“H. Bryon Ballard has written a completely original book, designed to reconnect Pagans to the land and to the Wheel of the Year. Part lyrical philosophy, part guidebook, and part instruction manual, Seasons of a Magical Life will stay with you long after you have read it.”
―Deborah Blake, author of Everyday Witchcraft

“The gentle art of engaging with the everyday through time and space is wonderfully gathered up here by Byron Ballard, showing us how we can reconnect with the continuity of ancestral life through our own daily actions. Sheer magic.”
―Caitlín Matthews, author of Singing the Soul Back Home and Diary of a Soul Doctor
 
“In today’s quest for authenticity and elder wisdom, we are blessed to have the wise voice of one of the most authentic witches I know: Byron Ballard. By authentic, I mean someone who is truly living it, and willing to share the hard-won wisdom of her life. Ballard practices all that she teaches, living the magical life with the land she loves, and spreading the love of that land wherever she travels to inspire us to love our land. As the proverbial Village Witch, she weaves the strands of poetry, science, history, farming, medicine, and magic into her holistic vision” 
―Christopher Penczak, co-founder of The Temple of Witchcraft and author of The Plant Spirit Familiar, Spirit Allies, and Sons of the Goddess

“Our world needs elders speaking their truth and sharing their wisdom teachings. H. Byron Ballard is such a global elder, unafraid of using her voice. Seasons of a Magical Life demonstrates an earth-based spirituality which seamlessly weaves together land and soul, building fences and seeking solidarity, tending bees or chickens, and the practice of laundry as a meditative practice. Brava!” 
―Imelda Almqvist, author of Natural Born Shamans, Medicine of the Imagination, and Sacred Art
 
“A cozy stroll through H. Byron Ballard’s forest-farm, Seasons of a Magical Life offers inspiration for a down-home yet revolutionary Pagan, animist path.”
―Christine Grace, author of The Witch at the Forest’s Edge and co-host of the Betwixt & Between podcast

“This deeply personal work may be Ballard’s best yet, as she reconnects the reader with their own lands, spirits, sunshine, and storms. The philosophical blends seamlessly with the practical, as Byron takes you juneberry picking or teaches you the hidden history of her homeland. This is magical lore and regional animism and is as likely to lead you down paths of biodiversity and permaculture as altars and charms. This is a book about what it means to be a magical human animal in a living and enchanted world.”
―Cory Thomas Hutcheson, author of New World Witchery

From the Publisher

Our world needs elders speaking their truth and sharing their wisdom teachings. H. Byron Ballard is such a global elder, unafraid of using her voice. Seasons of a Magical Life demonstrates an earth-based spirituality which seamlessly weaves together land and soul, building fences and seeking solidarity, tending bees or chickens, and the practice of laundry as a meditative practice. Brava!” 

Imelda Almqvist

A cozy stroll through H. Byron Ballard’s forest-farm, Seasons of a Magical Life offers inspiration for a down-home yet revolutionary Pagan, animist path.

Christine Grace

H. Bryon Ballard has written a completely original book, designed to reconnect Pagans to the land and to the Wheel of the Year. Part lyrical philosophy, part guidebook, and part instruction manual, Seasons of a Magical Life will stay with you long after you have read it.

Deborah Blake

The gentle art of engaging with the everyday through time and space is wonderfully gathered up here by Byron Ballard, showing us how we can reconnect with the continuity of ancestral life through our own daily actions. Sheer magic.

Caitlín Matthews

In today’s quest for authenticity and elder wisdom, we are blessed to have the wise voice of one of the most authentic witches I know: Byron Ballard. By authentic, I mean someone who is truly living it, and willing to share the hard-won wisdom of her life. Ballard practices all that she teaches, living the magical life with the land she loves, and spreading the love of that land wherever she travels to inspire us to love our land. As the proverbial Village Witch, she weaves the strands of poetry, science, history, farming, medicine, and magic into her holistic vision” 

Christopher Penczak

With its philosophical and practical explorations of contemporary pagan life, Seasons of a Magical Life is a spiritual self-help book that invites its audience to reconnect to the natural cycles of the earth and expand their spiritual practices.

Foreword Reviews

This deeply personal work may be Ballard’s best yet, as she reconnects the reader with their own lands, spirits, sunshine, and storms. The philosophical blends seamlessly with the practical, as Byron takes you juneberry picking or teaches you the hidden history of her homeland. This is magical lore and regional animism and is as likely to lead you down paths of biodiversity and permaculture as altars and charms. This is a book about what it means to be a magical human animal in a living and enchanted world.

Cory Thomas Hutcheson

The gentle art of engaging with the everyday through time and space is wonderfully gathered up here by Byron Ballard, showing us how we can reconnect with the continuity of ancestral life through our own daily actions. Sheer magic.

Caitlín Matthews