Category: Blessing Ceremony

Mother Blessing Rituals from a Blessingway Ceremony

3/30/2015

Here I am, one year to the day since I had my mother blessing. Last year, March 30th was a new moon - the perfect time for a blessingway.

"Restfully, gently the world prepares for new. To embrace the potential of darkness we must surrender to the unknown and let go of our attachments to the future. For it is in darkness, this place of the unknown, that all things sacred, all things of joy and beauty and pleasure come. From darkness, life is born."

~ Brittany Nickerson, Thyme Herbal

Of all the rites of passage I've experienced, both formal and informal, my blessingway stands out as the most significant, and perhaps the most powerful. I was so grateful to have six of the dearest women in my life, including my mother and sister, come together to bless my journey into motherhood just 11 days, it would turn out, before I gave birth.

Birth Affirmations

One of the most cherished gifts from my mother blessing were the affirmations for my birth. Full of powerful wisdom, encouragement and faith, these blessingway affirmations stayed with me through birth and continue to offer guidance as I journey deeper into motherhood.

May their words bring you strength and confidence!

You can read some of their wonderful affirmations here.

I specifically requested touch; birth is, if nothing else, a physical experience and I wanted to honor that in the blessingway. The woman decided to take turns massaging my belly with lavender oil while offering their blessings to my soon-to-be-born daughter.

Mother & Child card by Maxine Noel

I ask that the new child/woman
be filled with light
all her days,
that she be treasured
in the arms
of Hannah and Alexander, and that she be sheltered
and lifted up
in the hands
of the Goddess.

They also included a fear release exercise from "The Pregnant Woman’s Comfort Book," adapted slightly by TalkBirth. One idea she suggests for a blessingway ritual is to circle around the pregnant woman holding hands and then read the following together:

There goes all fear you hold about giving birth. The birth will be perfect.

There goes all fear you hold about healing. You will heal beautifully.

There goes all fear you hold about not being a good mother. You will be enough.

There goes all fear of never being creative again. You have a deep well of creativity within your soul.

There goes the deepest, most private fears you have about giving birth. You will be enough.

You will be enough. You are strong enough.

As a writer, one element that was particularly meaningful from my blessingway were the readings and poems my mother, sister and oldest friend shared with me. You can read those and along with a labor prayer here.

Last and most dear is this doll my mother gave to me, along with the story of Vasilisa the Beautiful. In the Russian fairy tale, on her death bed Vasilisa's mother gives her a tiny wooden doll to carry. With the help of the doll, Vasilisa was able to perform the many tasks set before her.

My Vasilisa doll stays by my bedside where I see it every day, and I live each day blessed by my mother's wisdom and love.

0 Comments

Poems, Prayers and Readings for a Blessingway Ceremony

3/25/2015

1 Comment

At this time last year I was eagerly awaiting the birth of our daughter. The labor and birth - not to mention finally getting to meet her and hold her in my arms - occupied my entire being.

The blessingway or mother blessing the dearest women in my life held for me was the turning point in my emotional and spiritual readiness for birth and motherhood.

You can read more about my own blessingway here and the special birth affirmations here.

Remember mother blessings can be anything from an intricate, scripted ceremony to a few women gathering together with the simple intention to bless the mother-to-be. One element that was particularly meaningful from my own blessingway were the readings and poems my mother, sister and oldest friend shared with me.

It wasn't until after I gave birth that I fully understood their powerful beauty and truth. I hope you treasure these words as much as I have.

Willow Tree
~ Anonymous

I am a willow tree,
Strong, yet fluid
graceful.

I can bend with the wind,
but my roots are tough,
indestructible.

Opening to birth my child
is flowing with the wind:

from a soft and gentle breeze
to a stormy gale
back to a soft and gentle breeze.

My body is strong, but flexible.
It is my friend, it knows how to open.

I am a friend to my body
eating well, walking, and loving myself.

I shall birth safely, freely, openly . . .
among my loved and trusted ones.

I am the willow, flexible
beautiful resilient
endowed with the power of surrender
to the wind rustling through my leaves,
my branches.

My roots reach deep into Mother Earth
Anchored in Her strength
I bring forth life
In joy!

From the book Joyful Birth: A Spiritual Path to Motherhood
by Susan Piver

The path of motherhood has a beginning but no end. It’s constantly changing and constantly challenging. Along the way, we encounter our personal limits over and over. We fall in love over and over. We ride the sharp edge of hope and fear. On this path of discovery, as on any spiritual path, our pretensions are shattered, our minds are blown, and our hearts are opened. We cry, we laugh, we bumble around and make countless mistakes. Through it all, we are gently—or abruptly—poked into greater honesty, loving-kindness, and understanding. It is a truly joyful path.

The memory of my children's birth has become a talisman that I hold in my heart as I journey deeper and deeper into motherhood. For these moments come again in every mother’s life—the times when we are asked to walk straight into our pain and fear, and in doing so, open up to a love that is greater than anything we ever could have imagined: all life’s beauty and wonder, as well as all the ways that things can break and go wrong…Again and again, motherhood demands that we break through our limitations, that we split our hearts open to make room for something that may be more than we thought we could bear. In that sense, the labor with which we give birth is simply a rehearsal for something we mothers must do over and over: turn ourselves inside out, and then let go.

A Prayer for One Who Comes to Choose This Life
by Danelia Wild

May she know the welcome
of open arms and hearts

May she know she is loved
by many and by one

May she know the circle of friendship that gives
and receives love in all its forms

May she know and be known
in the heart of another

May she know the heart
that is this earth
reach for the stars and
call it home

And in the end
may she find everything
in her heart
and her heart
in everything

My Birth Altar

There's one more prayer I want to include here. It arrived unexpectedly in the birth kit my midwives had me order from www.inhishands.com. It was a purple bookmark with prayer written by Donna Wilson. I don't identify as Christian but my father was (he died when I was 10), and we were raised going to church. Something about this prayer reminded me of him and it found a home on my birth altar; it's the kind of prayer I hope he might have said if he'd lived to see me become a mother.

A Labor Prayer
by Donna Wilson

Dear Father, thank you for this new baby.
Would You protect and nurture this baby
and bring this pregnancy to full term.

In labor, would You remove all fear
and replace it with faith and expectation.

Please give those attending the birth
wisdom to take the best care of mother and baby.

Please let this baby be born normal and whole,
healthy and strong, and at home
with no complications with baby or mother.

Father, thank you for hearing my prayer,
for I pray in the name of Him who is called
Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God,
The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Amen.

1 Comment

Blessing for a New Beginning

3/11/2015

0 Comments

Almost one year ago my stepfather, Peter, left for his two-month pilgrimage in Spain along El Camino de Santiago de Compostela. He walked 600 miles from Pamplona to Cape Finisterre (a name which means "the end of the earth"), practicing his Spanish, talking with fellow pilgrims, savoring the food and countryside, visiting churches and cathedrals along the way...

But, of course, these are merely the things you might see on the outside. What was really happening was on the inside, and far more profound.

The pilgrimage has always been a spiritual journey. That was the main reason Peter wanted to walk the Camino - to open himself to wisdom and guidance from the Divine.

My mother described it this way: "We are all locked in narrow views of life: whatever is in our sphere of awareness just is the way it is.

"What you hope for with pilgrimage, or with questing of any kind, is that you will get a new vision for your life - new ideas, new possibilities you hadn’t considered before."

Read about the blessing ceremony I performed for his pilgrimage.

To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

It's Peter's story to tell but I can say it was an amazing and life-altering experience for him. And he's about to do it again. In a little less than a week he departs to walk the Camino a second time. It will be the same route (mostly), but it will certainly be a whole new pilgrimage.

Peter asked me once again to bless him before his journey, and once again the Goddess (the face of the Divine for Peter) waited until practically the last moment to offer me her words. This evening I opened to the blessing "For a New Beginning" from To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings by the late teacher and poet, John O'Donohue. And it is perfect.

For a New Beginning
by John O’Donohue

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

0 Comments

Blessing Ceremony for a Pilgrimage

4/2/2014

2 Comments

Today Peter, my stepfather, begins his pilgrimage along El Camino de Santiago de Compostela, The Way of St. James. (Some of you may be familiar with the Camino from the 2010 Martin Sheen movie, The Way.) One of the world's oldest pilgrimage routes, Peter's 600 mile, two-month journey starts in Pamplona (famous for their running of the bulls), and ends at Cape Finisterre, a name which means "the end of the earth."

Peter asked "The Rev," as he calls me, to prepare
a blessing ceremony for his pilgrimage.

Map of El Camino de Santiago de Compostela

Peter sees the Divine in the face of the Goddess; I knew he made this pilgrimage to open himself to her wisdom and guidance in this, his 70th year. I also knew he wanted a simple ceremony - nothing complicated or fussy...only to receive the blessings of the Goddess through me, one of her daughters (and at 9 months pregnant, fully embodying The Mother herself!).

I mulled over ideas for the ceremony during the week leading up to their visit, when I'd have to chance to see Peter off on his journey. Finally, on the morning of their arrival, the ceremony came to me fully formed and scripted. I had only to write it out and gather the supplies.

Blessing Ceremony Altar

After lighting the candle, ringing the singing bowl and smudging with sage, we began:

The appointed time draws near
When you will walk the pilgrim’s path
Now fully ready
To receive whatever the Goddess wills for you.

I, Hannah Grace,
Daughter of the Goddess,
Mother Incarnate,
Offer the Lady’s blessings for your journey.

Next, I anointed his heart, third eye and hands with oil:

Oil for Anointing

On this walk, may your heart be opened once again, knowing it is safely held
in her bosom.

On this walk, may you see clearly, as if through new eyes, her world of
beauty and grace.

On this walk, may you know you are ever in her hands, and may all you touch
and feel be so blessed.

One of my favorite parts of the ceremony was the despacho I made for Peter to carry on his journey. A sacred Andean tradition, meaning "dispatch" in Spanish, I carefully chose small, symbolic items to convey prayers, blessings, gratitudes and love. I then wrapped these in handmade paper, tied it with silk string and sealed the bundle with wax.

Despachos are burned rather than opened, releasing the energy and blessings back into the earth. Only I know the magic woven within its contents.

Peter's Despacho

Take with you this despacho,
Made by my hand and with my prayers,
That you may walk with the blessings of those you love.

Child of the Goddess,
You are her beloved son.
From the mother you came into this world
And to her you shall return.
Every day between now and then is her gift to you.
Use them well,
And ever in her service.

My mother offered the final element for Peter's blessing ceremony: a handmade leather pouch, traditionally carried by pilgrims, bearing a scallop shell, the emblem of St. James and the Camino. Peter takes with him no phone, no camera, no book...only the despacho and pouch, a few changes of clothes and money for meals and the albergues where he'll be staying each night.

Pilgrim's Pouch

We're both embarking on a journey, both physical and spiritual. When Peter returns I will have given birth to my first child. I can't wait to hear what is birthed from within him.

2 Comments

Mother Blessing Rituals from a Blessingway Ceremony

I ask that the new child/woman
be filled with light
all her days,
that she be treasured
in the arms
of Hannah and Alexander, and that she be sheltered
and lifted up
in the hands
of the Goddess.

You will be enough. You are strong enough.

Poems, Prayers and Readings for a Blessingway Ceremony

Blessing for a New Beginning

Read about the blessing ceremony I performed for his pilgrimage.

Blessing Ceremony for a Pilgrimage

Rev. Hannah Grace

Poetry and Musings of an Interfaith Minister on the Journey of a Lifetime.

Categories

HOME ABOUT CEREMONIES COUPLES FAMILIES FAQS CONTACT BLOG

© 2019 Grace Ceremonies | Header © Sandra Costello Photography

Mother Blessing Rituals from a Blessingway Ceremony

​I ask that the new child/woman be filled with light all her days, that she be treasured in the arms of Hannah and Alexander, and that she be sheltered and lifted up in the hands of the Goddess.

You will be enough. You are strong enough.

Poems, Prayers and Readings for a Blessingway Ceremony

Blessing for a New Beginning

Read about the blessing ceremony I performed for his pilgrimage.

Blessing Ceremony for a Pilgrimage

Rev. Hannah Grace

Poetry and Musings of an Interfaith Minister on the Journey of a Lifetime.

Categories

HOME ABOUT CEREMONIES COUPLES FAMILIES FAQS CONTACT BLOG

© 2019 Grace Ceremonies | Header © Sandra Costello Photography

I ask that the new child/woman
be filled with light
all her days,
that she be treasured
in the arms
of Hannah and Alexander, and that she be sheltered
and lifted up
in the hands
of the Goddess.