In lieu of the obligatory holiday gift guide, this year I am just going to give you all a list of every book I worked on that was released in 2012. Since I am already working on 2014 books, this certainly feels like a trip down memory lane for me! So I have also added a couple pictures of authors and fun stuff, too. You’ll notice that I’m not calling this the list of “best 2012 books” or anything like that because, when it comes to my authors and their books, I just can’t pick favorites! It would be like asking a mother to pick her favorite kid.

If you’re looking for a cool gift idea for someone in your life, scan through this list and perhaps one of these will be the perfect fit. If you need more gift ideas though, check out my 2011 guide, my 2010 guide, or donate to Circle Sanctuary’s Operation Circle Care to send Yule gifts to Pagan military service members stationed overseas.

My list will be divided by catalog, as that’s how everything is organized at a publishing company! And it’s too big for one page, so please click through for Part Two and Part Three (or bookmark it for later if your eyes are going wobbly!).

Winter 2012

The winter catalog for us means books released from January through April of 2012 – not to be confused with the Winter we are currently entering! These books are almost a year old, but every single one of them is still pertinent.

Incense Magick by Carl Neal – this is a superb book, not just on how to make and select ingredients for incense, but on how to really enhance rituals, meditations, and spirituality by using incense in different ways. For example, chaining incense, making incense trails, writing hidden words that show up when incense is burned, holding an incense smelling memory game, and much more. My previously casual relationship with incense definitely deepened when I read this book. I got to meet Carl Neal in person at PantheaCon in February 2012 where I attended his workshop on making incense.

Here is a pic from the workshop:

Cool, eh?

Spells for Tough Times – in this book author Kerri Connor describes almost every bad situation that could ever happen to you, and gives sane, careful, thorough advice, both magical and mundane, for dealing with these unexpected horrors. In spite of the topic, the book is actually really uplifting to read. Every spell is different, this is not a cookie cutter book. And it’s huge. So if you know someone who’s been dealt a couple rough knocks in life, this might just cheer them up!

Haitian Vodou – Mambo Chita Tann gives a thorough history lesson on Haiti’s unique culture and how this led to the emergence of a unique spiritual system, that is quite unlike either its roots in Africa or newer versions like New Orleans Voodoo. This is not a “how-to” book since vodou is an initiatory and community religion, but it explains so much about their lwa and their beliefs, and gives great guidance on how to get involved if it does seem like a match for you. A wonderful book for anyone interested in diasporic religions, Haitian culture, syncretism, and more. At PantheaCon I observed my first ever vodou ceremony, held by her house Sosyete Fos Fe Yo We, and I’m really glad that I did. Here are some of the participants before the ceremony, Mambo T, Kelli, and Marie Parsons:

I thank them again for so kindly opening their ritual to any respectful observers at the conference, and for their permission to post this photo of them!

The Essential Guide to Natural Skin Care – this is not a magical or witchy book, it’s simply a book on using nourishing natural oils, extracts, and botanicals to care for your skin and hair, rather than relying on major brands with their dangerous mix of untested chemicals. I have been doing so ever since I read the manuscript and it feels great and saves me lots of money. Read this review about why the book is so great or use our browse inside function to see for yourself. Written by French Canadian aromatherapist Hélène Berton.

Priestess of the Fire Temple – the third and final installment in the fiction series by Druid priestess Ellen Evert Hopman. The whole series focuses on the lives of Druids in an imagined British Isles from around the third to the sixth centuries, just as Christianity was coming into dominance and slowly edging out the traditional religion and practices. At the heart of this story is Aislinn, who flees a hollow marriage and becomes a priestess of one of the many fire temples that have since been converted to Christian shrines, like the one at Kildare dedicated to St. Brighid. Romance, danger, Pagan faith, herbal lore – it’s all here in this true-to-life novel for the Celtophile or Druid in your life. Author Susun Weed wrote, “Herbal lore, ancient Celtic ways, Druidic secrets, magical workings, and much more are woven into a tale that will touch your heart and grace your life.”

Continue here to Spring/Summer 2012…