Pagan Families
Pagan Families was created to fill a gap in resources on Pagan pregnancy and birth. Google something like “Pagan pregnancy” and you’ll come up with a lot of queries on message boards complaining about the dearth of information.
But it’s certainly not the case that there aren’t any existing resources. The problem is that they tend to be scattered and often brief. You can easily find lots of one-time blog posts and webpages about a single aspect of Pagan pregnancy or birth, such as baby welcoming rituals.
Only a few sites attempt to cover multiple aspects of the childbearing year:
- Pagan Pregnancy, Birth, and Parenting is a site that looks like it has aspirations similar to those of Pagan Families, with sections such as “fertility spells” and “birth celebrations” but most of the sections are still “coming soon!” I’ve tried a couple of times to use the site’s contact form to reach the author, but haven’t heard anything back. Does anybody reading this know her?
- Pagan Birthing Rituals features ten short essays on rituals for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. It’s interesting because the author doesn’t seem to be either Pagan or a parent, but rather simply curious about this topic and willing to do a little research. Some of the writing implies that there is only one way that Pagans do or should ritualize bringing a child into the world. I’d prefer to see these described as some choices among many.
- The Pagan Pregnancy and Childbirth page accurately describes itself as “a fledgling collection of links and information.” It provides lists of links, songs, and book chapter recommendations, as well as a Pagan review of Hypnobirthing. Future reviews here at Pagan Families will hopefully offer a more in depth look at many of the resources suggested by this page.
Did I miss any websites or pages that compile multiple resources? What book chapters, films, or other media would you like to see reviewed here in the future?
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