Blog

Today I received my copy of Deborah Lipp’s memoirs, Merry Meet Again. Full disclosure: Deborah was one of my teachers, and we visit each other for rituals, tabletop games, etc.

If you click on the web site link, you’ll see that the book is not available until February, but I’m special. Full disclosure: This means Llewellyn already has the copies, and will send them to you right away if you order through their web site; if you order from Amazon, you have to wait until Llewellyn sends copies to Amazon first.

When I ordered Merry Meet Again, I took the opportunity to order another of Deborah’s books: The Elements of Ritual. It’s a handy book for a Wiccan teacher to have around. If someone is about to be the High Priestess at a ritual for the first time, and she’s not sure what to do, give her a copy of The Elements of Ritual and tell her, “Just read the Earth sections. You can get to the rest later.”

About a year and a half ago, I reorganized my bookshelves. I noticed that my copy of The Elements of Ritual was missing. I’m not sure what happened to it; probably I loaned it to one of my former students before she had to the HPS at a ritual for the first time, with no prior experience except attending a Yule ceremony.

So I get both books today. Merry Meet Again goes on top of my “read this next” pile (after I finish Philip Heselton’s Witchfather). The Elements of Ritual goes into my bookshelf, next to Deborah’s other books, where my students and I can easily find it.

I walk over to my bookshelf. I reach to put the book away… and find a copy of The Elements of Ritual is already there.

Deborah knew about the missing copy. I’d suspect that she sneaked a copy onto my shelf, except I’m pretty sure she would have autographed it if she had. I think I have to attribute this to my superb memory, or my keen observational skills as a physicist.

Now I have two copies. I’d like to give the extra copy to one of my students. But which one? If I were a cruel teacher, I’d give it to the first one to complete all her homework assignments.

Why say “if”? I am a cruel teacher. Okay, Acorns, you know what you have to do.