It’s that time of year again, that time where mundane calendars start to pop up in bookstores and metaphysical shops.  I don’t know how I manage to do it, but I end up with just about every Pagan themed almanac out there, at least 2 wall calendars and 3 daily/week calendar books each year.  The last few years I’ve found myself particularly torn when it comes to the daybook type.  I like having a calendar/schedule book that I can carry with me.  Yes, I have a phone that’s able to do all that and I run Outlook which also has a calendar, but no matter how hard I try and move to a fully digital scheduling system, I can’t.  I guess physically crossing things off my schedule is just too fulfilling!

The problem I have been having though is deciding which one of the many daybooks to use.  The big deciding factor seems to always come down to what is less bulky and easiest to carry in my bag.  Because of this the Llewellyn Witches’ Datebook  just about always wins.  And it’s certainly not a bad calendar!

Some of the pros:

• It’s lightweight
• A whole week fits on two pages so when you have the book open flat you can see your whole week
• Each week has either a little passage or piece of art that has a spiritual focus
• There are indicators for planting and harvesting days
• The moon phases and Sabbats are naturally listed
• During the week dates of note are listed including Pagan centered historical events and the births and deaths of Pagan and occult notable figures
• There is also a nice appendix section in the back.

One of the big cons, for me at least, is that there is no month-view and each month blends into the next based on how the weeks fall.  Visually it’s always been more or less the same; the graphics have never changed year to year and it’s very “Plain Jane” given it’s black on manilla colored pages.  It’s a good one to work with though and gives all the basics that someone would need to tracking the wheel of the year and planning ritual and spell work.  And, if you’re like me and need to use it to track appointments and projects, you have some room for that but it’s not a great deal of room.

The other book that I been using for the last 6 years now is the Seasons of the Witch Datebook which is put out by 7th House Publishing.  This is another one that has a great deal of pros but a few glaring cons.

In the pro department:

• You get a great deal of information on a daily basis
• You get the moon phase, the sign the moon is in and transitioning to along with the times and your Moon Void of Course times.
• There is an icon to indicate days that are in Mercury Retrograde along with an icon for days when protection magick is best worked.
• Days marked in red indicate secular holidays while days marked in green denote the Sabbats (these are also listed in print, of course).
• They also have a system that they employ called “PowerCast”.  On days when a particular energy is going to be at a peak, there may be a “PowerCast” opportunity.  Days where major energy is available, the item is listed in all caps (like “COURAGE”) or when there is lower energy but energy that is still potent for spellwork, it will be listed in lower case letter (like “warrior energy”).
• A number of charts and lists of information related to ritual and spell components, planetary hours and moon names and times help to make this date book extremely useful for those that like creating their own spells.
• This one also has each week displayed over two pages, roughly the same amount of writing space for each day, and little bits of other info each week along with artwork. One of the big pluses for me is that it does have a month-view at the beginning of each month and it’s in big, beautiful color.

The cons for this one, it’s BIG.  It has a hard cover, large spiral binding and runs around 200 pages.  It’s also inconsistent.  Each year there is a change to this annual and you never know completely what you’re going to get.  The 2009 edition has been my favorite so far.  It came with a red placeholder ribbon that was glued into the back and could be used to mark your place during the year.  The pages where a little thinner than usual but glossy which made it a little thinner than usual but I did need to use a special Sharpie pen to write in it without it smearing.  Each year there is a theme and the art throughout the book as well as some of the info provided during the week.  For example, one year it was tarot and this past year was “the bog Witch” and featured an emphasis on herbal magick.  For 2010 the theme is “10th Anniversary Goddess Edition” and focuses on a different Goddess each month.  However, this year’s is really big but has fewer pages than last year; the pages themselves are back to being bulky, thick, dull (i.e. non-glossy).  This makes for a little bit more ease in writing but a large book.  I’m not a fan of this year’s cover at all (last year’s was beautiful I thought) and the Goddess art inside nice.  Some of the Goddesses are beautiful, and some are interesting interpretations (I particularly found the image of Hecate interesting).  And no marker this year, though the there are tabbed dividers for the months.

Now you can also consider the costs:
Llewellyn Witches’ Datebook – $10.99
Seasons of the Witch Datebook – $19.99  (If you order on their site you can get it for $16.95 but you’ll have to pay shipping so you’re not really saving any money verse purchasing it in a retail shop.)

So yes, again, I find myself at odds.  I ended up buying the Seasons of the Witch book out of loyalty and the fact that I couldn’t resist it.  I stood in the bookstore holding both trying to decide and just put one down without really deciding and I ended up still holding the bigger, more expensive one.  I think I’ll end up using this as a schedule and desk calendar and I’ll learn to be more reliant on my new phone to keep track of things on the go (I broke down and got rid of my Blackberry this weekend so that I could get away from T-Mobile and got one of the new Hero’s from Sprint).  I’ll probably get the Llewellyn Witches’ Wall Calendar this year.

Do you bother with a Witchy themed calendar?  What are your requirements for one and which do you usually get?