Entertainment and Fun Page: Book Review

Circle Round-raising Children in Goddess Traditions (By Starhawk, Diane Baker and Anne Hill)

Review's Biography: Kristin Peterson-Candelaria is a mom of three kids, Brittany, Josh, and Jake. She teaches English and is working on her Masters in Special Education. She is married to Bart and has a dog, Bo, and Hercules, the killer cat. She is a green witch and makes wonderful handmade candles, oils, bath salts and other goodies.

My copy of this book is worn, with dog-eared pages and various unidentifiable spills on the recipe pages. That should tell you how often I use this book. I received this book last Yule from a friend of mine and it has become a priceless addition to every Sabbat I plan.

This Yule we made the salt dough and created our own ornaments which we used as gifts for the family, and we spent Yule-Eve making a beautiful orange, cranberry, apple and popcorn garland that I still haven't taken down and probably won't. I experimented with one of the recipes- Mother's Winter Wish Bread (Monkey or Bubble Bread) which is a wonderful, gooey, fun concoction with hidden raisins that involves the kids not only in the process of making bread but the idea of making wishes and plans for the new year. The wishes came and went, but I have made this bread about ten more times because it tastes so good!

There are marvelous stories for each Sabbat that touch upon the myth and meaning behind the holiday as well as songs that include the music for those so inclined. Each Sabbat includes a description of both the God and Goddess and the mythology behind them.

I am looking at Imbolc (February 2) and Brigit and how she is the Irish goddess of the holy well and sacred flame. The moon phases are touched on, as well as rituals to celebrate the New, Full and dark moon.

There is an entire chapter dedicated to craft making and the necessary tools for creating them, most of which we all have in our homes already. The recipes are incredible and I was especially impressed with the section on Sacred Baking, which is an art my grandmother passed on to me and I hope to give to my children.

This book is worth the money ten times over. I highly recommend it.