I picked up Willow Polson's "Pagan Rituals" because I've enjoyed other books she's written like "Sabbat Entertaining" and "Witch Crafts." I'm glad I did because it's a great book and one that I'm sure I'll use frequently in years to come.

The book is a collection of creative rituals grouped into seasonal categories suitable for Wiccan or eclectic Pagan groups. With her strong do-it-yourself crafts and cooking background, it's not surprising that some of the rituals are designed around specific things like candlemaking. Making craft sessions into full fledged rituals like that is a great way for a spiritual group to expand their rituals beyond just ritual dramas and spellworking sessions.

I really like the ritual for founding a spiritual group and plan to use it with my own group as part of a rededication ritual sometime in the future. I also really liked the ritual for thanking the land spirits and used some of the ideas in my own group's recent Beltane ritual.

The rituals are much more than the standard collection of sabbat and life event rituals like birth, marriage, and death ceremonies found in most collections. There are a lot of excellent examples of ways ritual can be used to acknowledge or celebrate a wide variety of life events, or help when times are tough.

While the rituals are designed primarily for group performance, there are lots of ideas that could be easily incorporated into solitary practice as well.