Resources for Pagan Pregnancy and Birth
November was a big month for reflecting on self-care... "Self care might just be the most religious act that one can do." -- Crystal Blanton; Author, High Priestess, Counselor, Witch From deprivation to ease: Pagan parents taking care of ourselves The Power of Self Care There were also posts around the web on pregnancy, birth, abortion, and parenting... The Birth of a Mother | Jodi the Doula Place at the Table Loving kindness at Thanksgiving 40 Days of Ritual to Keep … [Read more...]
By Kira Nuit I started doing nightly meditations with my daughter when she was about 18 months old. I mentioned this in my latest post about spiritual practices to do with toddlers. A few people asked about the specifics of these meditations, so I will detail them here. During the first year, I kept the meditations simple. To relax, I introduced her to a star that shone light down into her body. As I named each part, I massaged it gently, both to relax her and to teach her words for her … [Read more...]
By Julianne Davidson Birth art can help you understand how you envision birth at the deepest level. This exploration is like stepping into an ancient archetypal force and journey of self discovery. The actual process of creating birth art requires one to partake in the process of visualizing their birth. Consciously thinking about and imagining your birth aligns your goals, may set fears at bay and help you to understand true feelings about birth. Birth art can be meditative, relaxing, … [Read more...]
By Janet Callahan Not every pregnancy goes according to plan. After 5 years of on-again, off-again fertility treatments, my son came crashing into the world by emergency c-section at 27 weeks and a day, weighing only a pound and seven ounces, thanks to pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome. With that kind of delivery, there isn’t time for setting the mood – no candles, no soft music, no labyrinth or birthing tub….just panic. The spiritual side of that sort of birth defaults to praying, … [Read more...]
by Kira Nuit When I was pregnant, people often joked: "you'd better do all those things you've put off, because you won't have time once the baby comes!" I thought they meant things like travel to Europe, play video games all night, or go out dancing. I didn't realize the wisdom included things like cleaning house, any project requiring more than 10 minutes, or performing the regular spiritual tasks vital to my soul's health. Fortunately, I dove into my spirituality during pregnancy and … [Read more...]
By Jackie Singer Greetings to all of you from the UK. Sarah Whedon contacted me recently when she found a copy of my book, Birthrites, in a bookshop in San Francisco. I'm touched that it was an actual physical book in a real life bookshop! I imagine the pages in her hands, and feel a connection across acres of land and Atlantic waves to our little island, and me in my attic on a grey November morning. Birthrites is not a book for Pagans per se, but it does deal with matters of … [Read more...]
"Here, under my heart you'll keep till it's time for us to meet..." --Erica Mann Jong (33) Edward Searl is a Unitarian minister and the editor of Bless This Child: A Treasury of Poems, Quotations and Readings to Celebrate Birth. He writes that the collection, "gives voice to the many hopes and wishes that accompany the arrival of a new child." (vii) These prayers, poems, and meditations are "culled from antiquity and from our contemporary world, written and spoken by parents, priests, … [Read more...]
By C. B. Cabeen Midway through the second trimester, my ribs started hurting around the bra line, like something was cutting into them. It wasn't my bra's fault, though, because taking it off didn't help, and changing bras didn't help. It messed with my ability to exercise and cook dinner, and after a few weeks I was sick of it. I was even more sick of hearing myself talk about it. So many of the ways we describe pain are boring. If I describe exactly where my ribs hurt, how much does … [Read more...]
Note: This essay by Suus is a slightly revised reprint from Heart of the Witch. Many of the practices described in this essay come from the Feri tradition. Recently one of my pagan friends complained on facebook that there is not a lot she could find around pagan pregnancy, so I guess it is about time I share my experiences, having gone through a pagan pregnancy myself. Is there any difference to a non-pagan pregnancy you might wonder? And I must say that I honestly don’t know, because … [Read more...]
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