Last year, I bought myself Llwellyn’s witchy datebook in hopes of being more organized. In the last humble bundle book bundle I got, it had with it the Practical Witch’s Almanac 2023.
Both have good points, neither will work for me as I am about the most unorganized person trying to cram too many things into too little time and discovering that means occasionally sitting frozen with no idea what I should be doing.
The biggest thing my Llewellyn planner has over the Practical Witch’s Almanac – it’s on paper and I can write on it. I cannot figure out how to use the digital version of this planner as anything more than a reference.
The Practical Witch’s Almanac does include places to document your period’s cycle which is very nice to see, even if it doesn’t apply to me personally anymore. It also includes some very interesting spell framework that could be exceptionally helpful for someone new to all of that. I’d love to see a version of it that just plugged right into my google calendar with all the moon phases, holy days, astrological information but in a way I can also use it to keep track of all of my to do’s also.
It’s the hundred or so pages of beginner information around the planner that really sets the Almanac apart. The front end being moon phases, astrology, and monthly sorts of things and the back end being the how-tos of various types of spellworking, spell casting, correspondences, record keeping, tarot/rune spreads, and a number of specific articles like: How to Read Tea Leaves and Beware of Frauds, recipes for magical oils, inks, waters, and incense, and cookies all of it capped by a really nice glossary.
The Llewellyn planner had the daily astrological and planting sorts of correspondences and some recipes and spell ideas but nothing with the detail the almanac contained.
Both are good. If I had the almanac in paper and not digital, both would be incredibly functional. But if you’re shopping for a beginner or a beginner yourself – definitely grab the Practical Witch’s almanac.
I’m not saying I agree with everything in either book and I do have an issue with the snickerdoodle recipe but that’s just because I can’t imagine chamomile on my snickerdoodles – there are other complementary spices that would work for the spell being done that aren’t chamomile. But that’s definitely a ME issue and not a book issue.
The Practical Witch’s Almanac definitely goes on the Beginner Witch Shelf. If you don’t need the beginner stuff, the Llewellyn datebook is great to work with – I am just terrible at planning, at organization, and all the things I start every calendar year trying to be better at.
Witch of Crow Hollow 
Leave a Reply