What Is a Blessingway?

Hi! I recently had the opportunity to organize a blessingway for a future mother in the family. Most people look at me with question marks in their eyes when I say that word. A what?

A blessingway is a special celebration for a future mother. Here in our western society we talk a lot about baby showers, where a big party is organized with family and friends, where games are played and the future parents are litterally showered with presents for their baby. Baby showers are fine and fun, and are an opportunity for the future parents to get everything they need (and more) for their baby.

A blessingway is different. It is a moment we take, often just amongst women, to honor and celebrate the mother-to-be. There is usually a part where we care for the mother, a welcoming for the baby, and various activities like belly painting or song singing. Everyone can design their blessingway according to their own tastes and beliefs. The guests each take a moment to introduce themselves to the baby, tell her she is welcome, and make a wish for the mother and the big event to come. The ceremony can also contain various activities afterwards. Presents are not mandatory, and if there are some, they are not the main part of the ceremony.

The blessingway I organized this week was very simple, ane much appreciated by everyone present. We were in the country, in a gorgeous setting. We made a flower crown for the mother-to-be, and created a circle with candles and sage in the middle. It's important at the beginning of a ceremony like this to take a moment to settle the atmosphere, to create a sort of calm bubble and leave all our worries of the day behind. In turn, we took the burning sage, and went on to introduce ourselves to the baby, telling her she was welcome in our family and that we looked forward to getting to know her. We then made our wishes for the mother. Afterwards, the future mother recieved a rebozo treatment. A rebozo treatment consists in wrapping the person in seven rebozos (or light scarves), thus creating a cocoon around her. It is very relaxing, and symbolizes the transition of the woman becoming a mother, just like the caterpillar going into her cocoon before becoming a butterfly. On top of this, on a mattress in nature by a beautiful day, it was perfect!

We also could have taken care of her in other ways, like a massage, an energy treatment, a pedicure, or even simply brushing her hair and arranging it in a pretty hairdo. The possibilities are infinite!

For this blessingway, we finished by sharing a bottle of sparkly apple juice and offering the small symbolic gifts we decided to give her. Other ideas could have been singing songs, reciting texts or poems, doing a belly cast, sharing experiences, etc.

This celebration os a beautiful opportunity to create a pause to recognize the upcoming event, and to create a transition. In my opinion, we need more ceremonies/celebrations like this in our lives, to mark all the important passages of life, like turning five, the first period, becoming an adult, maternity, menopause, or any important event in life we wish to celebrate.

The other great thing about blessingways is that you can organize them in any way you want, according to the type of event, the age, beliefs and style of everyone. Some are more esoteric, others more down-to-earth. But the sure thing is that it's bound to be a great moment that will do a lot of good to the person concerned and everyone present, a beautiful pause to mark an important transition.

Have a nice day!

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