Mother Rising – Pagan Baby Showers

First off – a *HUGE* CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS to my dearest friend and sister-heart who has recently (finally!) conceived and found out she was expecting last month. Her cause for joy has sent me to the shelves and sites looking for books about pagan pregnancy.

The first title I was able to get my hands on is Mother Rising: The Blessingway Journey into Motherhood co-authored by Yana Cortlund, Barb Lucke, and Donna Miller Watelet. This is the first time I have ever heard the term Blessingway (after 6 years I still consider myself a ‘new’ pagan, not a ‘know-it-all’ pagan), so discovering another term I could use to refine future searches was a bonus.

In short, a Blessingway is a mother-centered baby shower, and they are much more spiritually focused than materialistic. Blessingways are more structured than they typical baby shower since it is a ritual gathering.

The chapters of Mother Rising are arranged in a way meant to guide the reader through preparation of the Blessingway, as well as assiting them through the actual ritual. Not only does the book provide practical advice to help make the various elements of the Blessingway a success, but there are a multitude of suggestions and ideas to help tailor the event to a desired (in)formality to make it a unique experience centered around the Mother-to-be (as it should be!).

There is a wide selection of activities, recipes, crafts, and chants to choose from to include in ritual. At the end of the book are fantastic additional resources available, including:

• checklists for all activities in one place
• a variety of symbolism associations related to the themes of a Blessingway: Feminine Expressions of the Divine; Animal, Color, Flower/Plant, Herb, Tree, Food, Gem/Stone/Shell, Number, and General Object
• Music recordings
• Magazines
• Organizations
• Supplies
• The booklists and overall Bibliography are impressive and provide a great starting point for further related reading.

There are black and white photographs provided throughout, and I especially like how the participants are depicted: wearing spring-like wreaths on their heads, but dressed in “every-day people” garb. The photos compliment the text and some act as a visual guide for set-up.

Overall this is a fantastic book and worth the purchase.

Merry Twelfth Night!

What are some Twelfth Night traditions?

According to the Pagan Book of Days (my new addiction), it is customary to take down winter holiday decorations. I read some where else (I can’t remember) that decorations can be taken down anytime from now until Candlemas/Imbolc. As I’m back in school now, I doubt I’ll have time tonight to take our decorations down, and my SO would rather keep them up until Valentines Day (yes, he’s serious…) so Imbolc would be a good compromise. (I have also asked for that day off from work for Sabbat, so perhaps I could do this before my Imbolc ritual.)

I discovered another bit about Twelfth Night in one of my books by Aoumiel (Green Witchcraft series). According to Ann Moura (Aoumiel), in her book Green Witchcraft: Folk Magic, Fairy Lore and Herb Craft:

“January 1 is merely a compromise as a midpoint between Yule and Twelfth Night, which the Christians appointed as Epiphany, the day the three Wise Men located Jesus and recognized him as Christ… Marion Green states that in earlier times this was a day for bringing children into the community of adults through a naming ceremony, which relates to the naming of the God. With each community the God’s name would be different, and perhaps revealing the name to the child in a puberty rite was part of the ceremony.

“In the old tradition, the God was from birth to Naming Day simply, Son, the Son of the Mother, or Mabon. The indication, then, is that a Green element such as Naming Day only be used when someone, either the individual Witch or a family member such as a child who has reached the age of puberty (generally between the ages of twelve and fourteen), is brought formally into the craft and chooses his or her Craft name. In modern Wicca, this is a Rite of Passage.” (pg. 24-25)

Has anyone ever been a part of a Twelfth Night Naming ritual? Do you follow the tradition of taking your decorations down?