Seasons of the Witch: Yule Journal, by Lorraine Anderson with illustrations by Giada Rose
Rockpool Publishing, 1923208365, 208 pages, October 2025
Yule, which is celebrated during the winter solstice, marks the longest night of the year and the quiet beginning of winter’s embrace. As the world slows and darkness lingers, the season’s energy naturally calls us inward, inviting stillness, reflection, and renewal. This quiet time, when trees are bare and many animals are hibernating, is a moment to honor the cycles of rest and rebirth, tend the inner flame, and listen to the wisdom that emerges in silence.
It is in this silence where some of the most profound spiritual insights can finally be heard, especially with tools that attune people to their inner landscape. Journaling during the winter months becomes a powerful practice, offering space to reflect on the past year, release what no longer serves, and plant seeds of intention for the light’s gradual return. Similarly, the introspective energy makes this season a wonderful time for oracle readings, promoting deep spiritual work, reflection, and intention-setting for the year ahead.
Season of the Witch: Yule Journal crafted by Lorriane Anderson and illustrated by Giada Rose is a wonderful companion for the winter months, blending the art of journaling and oracle readings. This beautiful, full-color journal is designed to provide people with ample space for their solitary musings, seasonal observations, and oracle card readings during the Yuletide season.
Spanning 208 pages, this paperback journal includes 50 thoughtful journal prompts. 44 of the prompts come directly from Seasons of the Witch: Yule Oracle, making this journal a great resource for those who enjoy working with the deck (me!). The additional six new prompts offer further questions for reflection, creating space for even more insights to emerge. As an extension of the oracle deck, the journal deepens the experience of one’s reading by offering a place for personal reflection about the divinatory messages.
However, Seasons of the Witch: Yule Journal can absolutely be used independently from the deck as a space for reflective writing. The combination of the beautiful illustrations with meaningful writing prompts promises an inner sanctuary for thoughts, musings, and spiritual nourishment. The prompts skillfully weave themes of gratitude, restoration, and inner wisdom, offering insights about what the darkest time of year emotionally, spiritually, and intuitively awakens within. Here’s an example of the prompt for Perseverance:
“Yule is a celebration of the return of the light. When you are facing a difficult time, how can you bring light to your situation? What are some ways you can carry the light in your soul despite the darkness you’re feeling?”1
As reflected in this prompt, Anderson really gets to the heart of the season with her questions. She approaches the process of journaling with a gentleness that leaves room for the writer to find their own voice. The questions are specific enough to give focus to a topic but also leave room for open-ended exploration through the journalling process.
What’s really nice about the journal is the rounded spine and flat-lay binding, which makes it easy to write in. On the left side of the journal is an illustration by Rose that captures the many themes of the season from the starkness and chill of the snow to the merriment of coming together to feast with those you care about. Then on the right side, there’s the prompt at the top in a box followed by two additional empty pages for writing, making nearly three whole pages for reflections. For those of you who write big, the spacing of the lines is very easy to fit your script into! Though it’s worth noting, once in a while, some of the pages are left blank with no lines.
While I haven’t officially started writing yet (I’m waiting for December!), I can tell the amount of space for each prompt will make it easy to fit multiple entries in. Whether one is using it in tandem with the deck and a card comes up twice or you want to return to the journal year and year and keep adding to it, the size of the journal leaves plenty of space for multiple musings about each journal prompt.
Just flipping through this journal has given me so much excitement for Yuletide season! Seasons of the Witch: Yule Oracle is one of my favorite winter decks, and seeing the images on the cards amplified on the pages of the journal brings me pure delight. I also love the embellishments of holly, pine, pinecones, and little moons around the border. The whole journal really captures the essence of Yule.
And while I do enjoy working with my deck, and I’m sure I’ll use it in combination with this journal, I also like how the journal will be a safe space for me to explore without the external guidance of the deck always steering my reflections in a certain direction. I definitely see myself flipping through the journal and writing where I feel called to in that moment without any oracle prompting, which is why I know this is a great resource even if someone doesn’t have the deck.
Overall, Seasons of the Witch: Yule Journal shines as a seasonal, art-infused companion for anyone seeking introspection and exploration of their inner landscape during Yule. Its visual beauty, intuitive prompts, and thoughtful design invite a contemplative experience throughout the chilling winter season. If you already love the Seasons of the Witch: Yule Oracle, this journal adds a lovely layer of personal reflection. But it also makes for a wonderful stand-alone tool for navigating some of the darkest times of the year. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes through in my writing this Yuletide season, and I’d definitely recommend it as a gift for your witchy friends this winter!
Alanna Kali is an astrologer, numerologist, and pioneer spirit that loves to explore life through the lens of depth psychology. She has a passion for studying the humanities and social trends. Her academic work is centered upon reuniting body, mind, and spirit through eco-psychology. She loves reading, spending time in nature, and travel.