“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... 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... Read more
The day before Samhain, Diane Baker stood in her kitchen thinking about needing to plan a celebration for her family and wondered, “Why isn’t there just a book I could open?” So she collaborated with Anne Hill and Starhawk to write the book she wanted to read, Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess Traditions. Circle Round offers resources divided into four sections: *Part One: Welcome to the Circle introduces the book and the practice of Goddess traditions with children. *Part... Read more
The state of mind you're in when you create artwork is the same state of mind you are in when you labor and birth. It is a fluid, intuitive, timeless space where you accept everything as the whole and have a harder time reasoning, rationalizing and compartmentalizing. By making lots of art during pregnancy you are practicing being in that state of mind and becoming familiar inside it so that when you give birth it's easier to sink into that mindset. Read more
Amy is a mother, birth doula, La Leche League leader, and artist. She says on her site, "Especially for birth art the mandala is perfect because it is the shape of pregnancy itself. The circle holds, for me at least, feminine energy and endless perfection. It is soft and curvaceous and represents the continuation and cycle of new life." Read more
As this site launches, it’s been really gratifying to get lots of positive feedback. One reader commented on FaceBook: What a great page! I wish I had found found a page like this whilst I was pregnant! Pretty hard to find pages like this Blessings ♥ That is exactly why Pagan Families was born! We’ve also been getting a lot of questions about the name and scope of the site. Why is it called Pagan Families if it’s only about... Read more
Since the names our parents give us mark us throughout our lives (whether we like them or not), it’s a huge responsibility. I personally found it intimidating. In my efforts to appropriately yet creatively name my daughter, I kept these qualities in mind: the commonality, pronunciation, implication, and emotions inherent in the names I gave her. Read more
Let’s be honest. Pagan names are weird. They are the source of much mockery, from both within and without the pagan community. For some reason we feel the need to name ourselves BlazingRaven Night Hawk’s Daughter or Moonray Celestina Wolf, or maybe just Thorson, which is like Madonna, but less obvious, right? But now some of us are having kids and they need names. What’s a pagan to do? First off, all names have meaning. Do we pick Jim, because... Read more
Welcome Wild Hunt readers! There are currently five ways to stay connected with Pagan Families as it grows: Bookmark Pagan Families. Grab the RSS feed from the lower right column of the site. Like us on FaceBook. Leave a comment here or on FaceBook to let us know that you’re reading and what you think. If you’re a writer, consider contributing to the blog. Thanks for stopping by. We hope you’ll stick around! 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... Read more
Pagan Families
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