The Blessingway

This week I feel blessed, blessed with all the people who have ever touched my life. The material blessing that led to this gratitude was the blanket that we had created through the Blessingway Ceremony of the pregnancy for my daughter, which she just started to use. This blanket which I had named back then as the Circles of Life, had bundled all the pieces gathered by all the women who were dear to me around the time of my daughter’s birth. I had asked them each to bring a piece of fabric, which have been woven together by the magnificent Judie Craycraft to create a beautiful quilt. A precious gift for me and my daughter that will stay forever, instead of potential sets of baby clothes she would have received if I had chosen to go for a usual baby shower instead.

The fabrics which led to the creation of a blanket was of course just one part of the story of this Blessingway. The presence of my friends and my doula, the singing, eating and laughing together; the fact that they were all there to honor my pregnancy and to express their wishes for my upcoming birth were priceless. And all those wishes tied in a lint which I used during my birth, and the candles that my friends took home and lit when the birth started, gave me power. All my friends were there with me in spirit, even though they were not there physically.

The objects we created together were my connection to these women. They symbolized the extra shoulder could lean on. During my first Blessingway Ceremony of the pregnancy for my son, we had created a bracelet composed of the beads my friends had brought. The bracelet which I used during both the birth of my son and my daughter and held on to tight.

So what is a Blessingway? It has its origins in the Navajo native American tribe, and it is a ritual that celebrates a woman’s rite of passage into motherhood. This ritual marks a woman’s transition, for with every birth, not only a baby, a new soul in the world is born. A mother is also born and reborn – as a new mother, as a mother of two kids and says goodbye to her previous self. These major transition moments are worth a celebration, a moment to sit still with dear ones, and to bless the magic that is unfolding.

How you organize your blessingway is very personal.

The most important part is to invite the most dear women in your life at that moment in your life. It is also nourishing that these women stand still with the question of what they wish for you for this birth and its aftermath – this could be spiritual wishes or practical tips or just sharing what comes spontaneously the moment you are sitting at the blessingway circle.

You can give the pregnant woman a massage or another pampering ritual she enjoys.

To create something with the group which the mother can use during the birth and/or after is empowering and forms the lasting memory.

The blessingway… One of the many gifts of my training as a doula. And I am happy to finally share this ritual. I would love to facilitate your blessingway ceremony, the one you want to give as a gift to yourself, to your daughter or a friend. Together we can create a unique ritual that has the mother as its focus, a ritual that blesses her and will warm her heart forever.