Speaking of Ritual

I am soon going to go through three rituals; two relatively voluntary, and one the hugest sacred rite of passage that is the cause of the continuation of humanity itself.

The first will be a tradition Baby Shower, an American ritual which became popular soon after World War I. It is most often baby-centered, commercially acted - with accompanying "Ooooo's," and "Oohhhh's" - and silly-game enacted. I did not want a wedding shower for this reason, and I've never been comfortable being the center of attention when that attention is manifest in commercialism (in other words, getting lots of stuff). But, in this case, it makes some practical sense. We don't have much money, we don't have much baby stuff, and feeling a bit isolated from many of my friends these days - a great excuse to be surrounded by people just waiting to "Ooo" and "Ohhh" this baby that will soon move from in-belly to in-arms.

The second is becoming more popular, but still not a widespread movement... still considered a bit granola. It's unfortunate that in most all of it's manifestations, it's a revival of what used to be practiced in many cultures, including LDS culture. I am organizing a Mother's Blessing for myself, also known as a "Blessingway."

In Navajo tradition, they would perform a ceremony celebrating this rite of passage from maidenhood to motherhood, and honoring the woman for her part in increasing the tribe.

In the early days of the LDS church, women would gather before a woman was going to give birth and perform a washing and anointing specific to this same rite of passage, giving the mother strength... woman to woman, mother to mother, priestess to priestess. This was not done underground, either. It was openly discussed in Relief Society meetings, and endorsed and encouraged by Joseph Smith. During the days of women's suffrage, and even more so during the campaign for the ERA, the hierarchy in the church decided this blurred the lines too much between male-centered priesthood sanctioned activity and what was not. This empowering ritual was removed from mainstream, and very little known today. See http://www.sunstoneonline.com/magazine/searchable/Issue29.asp for more details.

I plan on orchestrating a blessing for myself; a mixture of my religious cultural heritage (LDS) and the spiritual nature of art. Again, I don't think this type of ritual is necessary, but I look forward to creating a personal ritual to speak to my soul and empower me in this life-changing, life-creating step I'm about to take.

Third, I will be giving birth. This is something that is done in every culture, in every animal, throughout this planet. This could be called a ritual, and so far the only one I can logic a justification for it being the same. This is the only ritual I can observe that happens naturally in the animal kingdom as well as humanity. It is natural, part of the original created/creative process. Of course, it does get personalized and culturalized... in the US, it becomes a medical condition - treated with hospitals, tests and scans and even surgical procedures... not to mention a bundle load of money. 1 in 4 hospital births in the US are cesarian, and the numbers are rising sharply. In Turkey, it is up around 90%. In some cultures, women are sent into "confinement" where they are kept from men, but mothered by the entire community. In some cultures, it's treated like nothing special, except for a day when the woman goes off by herself to deliver. In some, it is a huge celebration of womanhood, from early pregnancy all the way through early childhood.

Birth ritual, here I come!