Review: The Great Work - Tiffany Lazic

[Vesca]

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Work-Self-K ... work+lazic

I've recently read through this book, and since at least one person is interested and it seems to be a good starting point for working one's way around the wheel of the year for those just starting to get their feet wet (or for those of us who like an easy read and reminders), I figured I'd let our members know what I thought.

Let me preface this by saying that I'm not Wiccan, nor do I follow a Gaelic, Celtic, Egyptian, Greek, or Norse path. But all these paths are mentioned a bit throughout this book in an effort to associate deities, archetypes, practices, and myths into explanations, ideas, and self-healing techniques throughout the phases in the book.

The book itself is laid out in 13 parts coinciding with the 13 cycles of the year. I would assume that the 13 cycles are based on lunar cycles, but because there are actual dates for each cycle I can't be entirely sure if the author is saying to stick to the dates, or to tweak the dates a bit to coincide with the lunar cycles.

In each phase it talks about the general feeling of that time of the year, some practices from around the world and from different belief systems, as well as some deities and myths associated with that time of the year and the emotional and spiritual upheavals that may occur in that phase. Regarding emotional/spiritual upsets, each phase includes some discussion on what may be arising in your life throughout that part of the moon phase (but there is an index in the back that shows you what pages to turn to if you're going through some other inner turmoil despite the time of the year). It also offers up some techniques, meditations and exercises ideas to help you work your way through those challenges.

In certain phases, techniques such as meditation, divination (tarot, tea readings, etc...), astrology, and other staples that people tend to be drawn to when following a pagan path are discussed.

Nothing is gone into in great depth, but it does give some reading lists throughout the chapters that build upon the "lessons" and discussions the book goes into. It seems like a good starting point, a good broad view of what people can investigate more deeply if they're interested, and it walks you through the basics of the different phases of the wheel of the year.