Welcome to
THE LAUREL SOCIETY
We reject all rules and edicts that oppress women.
Join THE LAUREL SOCIETY!
We are a secret society.
Our mark is the laurel leaf.
Follow the leaves to find us.
Submit your info to the right and we'll mail you a FREE handmade bookmark with the official Laurel Leaf Society stencil.
You too can spread word of the Laurel Society.
Together we are strong.
#FindTheLeaf
Official Laurel Leaf Bookmark Stencil
Handmade by Laurel Society Members
HELP US
MAKE THE LAUREL SOCIETY BETTER
As you'll read in Time Zero, Rayna doesn't think men should be allowed into the Laurel Society. Do you? We'd love to hear your answer and reasoning. Please submit below:
OUR NAME
We take our name from the ancient Greek myth of Daphne and Apollo:
Daphne was a beautiful young maiden walking in the forest and Apollo, the god of sun and light, saw her and fell madly in lust. He tried to force himself on her, so she ran away through the forest. But she was a girl and he was a god, and he quickly caught up to her, so she cried out to her father, the river god, for help. She didn’t ask him to strike down Apollo. She didn’t ask him to quell the lust in Apollo’s heart. She didn’t ask him to root Apollo’s feet to the ground, so that he would no longer be able to give chase. Instead, she cried out to her father, “Change and destroy this body which has given too much delight!” and her father heard her and answered her prayer. In that instant, he changed her into a laurel tree. No more voice, no more body to provoke sin, no more woman. When Apollo saw that his love had been transformed, he plucked some leaves from a branch and made the laurel his symbol from that day forward.
The Laurel Society uses the symbol of the laurel leaf in order to reclaim it for Daphne. It was never Apollo’s to have. A woman shouldn’t be punished for the sins of man, for the lusts of man. If a man cannot control himself it is his duty to answer to God, not ours. We will not be dead stumps in the forest. We will fight for women’s rights until our dying breaths.
OUR HISTORY
When the Prophet died and the Teachers outlawed reading for women, Maud Gayhill began to hide books in her attic. After word spread about Maud, books started arriving from all over the island. Women carried them across town under their cloaks or hidden in grocery bags or strollers. They brought any reading material they could get their hands on, anything they thought might one day help their daughters get an education - newspapers, magazines, letters, even restaurant menus. Maud moved the collection when it got too big. It went several places, including Carnegie Hall, before it ended up underneath the Macy’s at 34th Street. It is the largest remaining library in Manhattan. The Laurel Society is dedicated to protecting the library and to offering asylum to women in need.