The Witching Year: A Memoir of Earnest Fumbling Through Modern Witchcraft

In this animated offering, Helmuth (How to Suffer Outside) chronicles her yearlong exploration of contemporary witchcraft. Drawn to the practice for its promise of “agency in a world that... buzzes with a thousand things I have no control over,” Helmuth struggled through spellbooks with highly specific ritual instructions and requirements (one altar ritual calls for a cauldron, a pentacle, a candle snuffer, two kinds of ceremonial daggers, and “an unconscionable number of candles”); attended group practices that ranged from a well-crafted Gardnerian Wicca ceremony to 15 minutes spent eating marshmallows with strangers in a parking lot; and interviewed witches and scholars of paganism. She recalls frustrating instances when spellwork failed to aid such real-life issues as her chronic back pain, as well as moments of true revelation, like when she felt “plugged into the flow of the world” after communing with divine spirits. Though Helmut sometimes sidetracks her interviews with pagan luminaries by soliciting their encouragement, her wry tone will charm readers, and those who have taken on similar spiritual quests will relate to the author’s desire to know if she’s “doing it right.” Aspiring witches and readers itching to learn more about the occult will find inspiration and amusement. (Oct.)