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A blessingway is a beautiful way to honor a mother and her pregnancy.
It seems in our society we have lost the rituals that celebrate rites of
passage. For my sixth baby my best friend hosted a baby shower for me.
We tried to implement some ideas from the blessingway to put the focus
of such a celebration where it ought to be: the miracle of having a
baby and becoming a mother. I admit, it's nice to get material things for the baby, especially when you
are having your first. For this baby though, what I really wanted most
was a blessing from my friends and family, to be honored as a woman
about to become a mother to yet another child.
A blessingway can be whatever you want it to be. Start your own tradition!
You can research rituals and ceremonies of several different cultures, or create
your own. Weave several ideas together to make a memorable and special
occasion that may just become a tradition for your circle of friends
and family.
Pam England writes in Birthing From Within, "The love and support of this
kind of ceremony will boost your self-confidence...A Mother Blessing
acknowledges the mother's new status, and also helps her say goodbye to the world she
is leaving behind."
Some blessingways are women-only celebrations that take place in the
room or home where the baby will be born or where the mother will
spend time laboring. Home baked goodies are made, fresh flowers are set
out, special music is chosen, candles may be lit and the scene is
set for a lovely gift giving of hopes, prayers and blessings.
You may choose to use incense, or aromatic herbs that are historically
symbolic to fertility, health or childbirth. Guests may want to prepare
themselves by bathing, meditating, taking a walk-anything to quiet their
souls and enter into the spirit of the blessingway. Gifts for the
mother may include a song, a poem, a prayer, a special home-made treat,
a special bead, or the guests may plan ahead of time and create together
a patchwork quilt or blanket for the baby. Use your imagination, heart,
and soul and you will truly bless the mother-to-be.
At a spontaneous blessingway I attended, a midwife presented a group
of women with a long strand of yarn that we encircled ourselves with.
Each woman gave an impromptu blessing for the
expecting mom and afterward we cut the strand of yarn and each tied
a small piece around our wrist to remind us of our blessings and the
woman who would soon be giving birth.
I had never met most of the women there before that time, but many
of us shared tears over the sheer cleansing power of participating
in such a ceremony. It is incredible the amount of joy that comes from
taking the time to give the gift of a blessingway.
Another popular way to celebrate the pregnancy during the ceremony
is to make a cast of the mom's pregnant belly. You can find supplies
and instructions from many sources on the internet. What a wonderful
keepsake!
You may want to bless the expecting mom with a massage with scented oil,
a footbath, braid her hair, adorn her with flowers, sing her a song,
dance, or tell joyful birth stories.
At my own baby shower, my friend asked guests to bring a bead along with
a prayer so that I could have a bracelet of beads to remind me of
the blessings I had been given for the new child. My mother-in-law
wrote a beautiful haiku:
As the season changes to fall Email me if you are interested
in having an online blessingway here at Mother's Nature Pregnancy Community. |
