Laurel A. Rockefeller Books

December 2004. Mithril (left) and Aragorn (right) sit in my Yule tree.  That year Mithril’s hobby was throwing the collector ornaments out of the tree — especially my Princess Leia from the original Star Wars. Way back in 2004 the following circulated on social media.  I always call it “A Parrot Thanksgiving” but its original title was “How to Stuff Your Turkey On Thanksgiving.” Whatever you call it, this is what nearly all of us with birds experience over the holidays. ————

“Is Jesus’ birth worth celebrating?”  In it Valarie Talerico takes us beneath the surface of the Christian celebration of Jesus’ birth and looks at the inherent messages about female sexuality. “A woman used is a woman soiled. A woman raped is a woman ruined. A girl who explores her body with a boy is a licked lollypop.  A divorced woman shouldn’t get married in white. Only an unbedded and so unsullied female—a virgin—could be pure enough to birth a perfect child, the son of

The count down is on for my flight and the excitement is building.  I am making my food shopping list, checking it twice, and going to find out who is naughty and nice! (Couldn’t help the pun). You can’t bring the beef jerky into the UK nor bring UK origin beef jerky into the USA. The trail mix is fine going into the UK, but must be declared at customs returning to the USA. Time to really look at government websites and see what is and is not allowed.  Fortunately my post fro

Saint Patrick’s Day is a festive day celebrating Irish heritage and culture and Irish-Diaspora around the world. It’s a day when everyone wants to be Irish and wears Irish green. Yet the holiday itself is named for an English Bishop who hated the Irish and did everything he could to destroy and undermine the same Irish culture and heritage most of us today celebrate in his name. I am 1/8th Irish. As I became more and more interested in my Irish blood, Saint Patrick became of

Originally published March 20th, 2012, this is a practical guide to the spring equinox celebration of Ostara. Honoring Ostara, Easter: Simple Ways to Honor the Goddess of Spring and the Dawn Wicca is a predominately reconstructionist religion. That is, one of its aims is to redact the Old Religion practiced in pre-Christian Europe. One key way we do this is by recognizing the European cultural and religious traditions that were preserved-even if altered-through Roman Catholic

Originally posted February 28th, 2012 Hamantaschen are delicious cookies traditionally eaten at Purim. The Jewish Holiday of Purim is a festive, often raucous holiday filled with gaiety, great food, and parties. Yet for the gentile, this holiday is often a bit of a conundrum, even though many gentiles know the essential story behind Purim from the Biblical book of Esther. Purim is a spring holiday, typically celebrated in March, celebrating Jewish survival in the face of geno

All Wiccan holidays are based on the seasons.  That means that witches in the northern hemisphere celebrate the opposite season holidays as those in the southern hemisphere. As European and American Wiccans prepare to celebrate Samhain, the last and final holiday in the Wiccan calender (the new year beginning on November 1st), let’s turn our thoughts to spring — and our southern neighbors — with this look at Beltane and Beltane music. Medieval Beltane Music It’s almost Beltan

Originally posted January 25, 2012 I’m a medievalist. I love history. I love learning how to make things the way they were made before everything was pre-made for you and sold in stores. Before the industrial revolution, most people spun their own thread and yarn which they then knitted, crocheted, or, if the yarn is fine and smooth enough, strung into a hand loom and wove into cloth. Up until the 19th century, these methods were the dominate ways most people produced the tex

Written December 12, 2012, this set of recipes for mulled wines is especially great for warming a cold winter’s day and for bringing holiday cheer.  But why wait until November to enjoy a delicious cup of wine? Mulling Over Wine: Three Favorite Recipes for Your Happy Holidays Classic Medieval Beverage Stands the Test of Time The holidays are here…along with the darkness of winter, biting cold winter storms, and frozen toes. It’s also a time of year when we look back on the ye