A Blessingway Celebration on Imbolc

I had the very great honour of attending a moving blessingway yesterday. It was for a woman whom I first met at a blessingway (my first ever blessingway) three years ago. A woman who is being supported by one of the doulas who supported me, and looks like she might give birth to her baby in the same pool that my baby and one of mutual friend's babies was born in! Such a special circle we are a part of.

Her blessingway was rich with rituals. We started with me reading a poem I wrote for L entitled "All You". Then we went around the circle presenting our gifts of beads and candles and telling L why we selected the items that we did, especially for her and this baby in her womb. Her doula gave a reading from a book of joyful birth blessings. It was the most emotional part of the day, the circle of women giving their gifts and their blessings to the pregnant mama and her unborn bubby:

I gave her one of the candles I had at my own birth experience, which I did not light. It was a fragapani shaped/scented candle which I bought myself during pregnancy so that I could have an open flower to look at during labour and think of my body blossoming and opening like a flower. I chose the fragapani because it is a summer flower and I was growing a summer baby, and so is L.

1 of the 3 in the front

I also loaned her a candle very rich in history and meaning for the two of us. I bought it the day that we met for the blessingway of a mutual friend. It burned throughout our friend's empowering freebirth and two years later it burned throughout my empowering freebirth. I told L I wanted her to have it with her during her upcoming homebirth so that she can have all that wonderful energy it carries bruning within her birth space too.

The purple and pink glitter candle on the right

At the end of the bead and candle gift giving I gave L the painting I had created espeicially for her to give on this day. Throughout her pregnancy I have been feeling drawn to the Goddess Brigit. Then by coincidence (though I don't believe there are such things as coincidences!) she scheduled her blessingway for February 1st, the day that Brigit is celebrated around the world (an occassion known as Imbolc)!

I read some notes I took earlier about Brigit, what she stands for and what she brings to women. She is said to be present at every birth, she is a Celtic triple goddess (maiden/mother/crone) and is the goddess of healers, poets, smiths, childbirth and inspiration. She is sometimes known as "firey arrow" and the flame inside every woman. She often brings the message to women to stand up for what they beleive, stay firm in their convictions and worry not about the judgments of others.

After the gift giving circle we had some lunch and then stood in a circle. L moved her way around the inside of the circle with red string, binding all of us together at the wrist. As she bound each woman she placed a candle in her hand and lit it. After making her way around the circle once she did it a second time and cut everyone's string so that they could tie their piece around their wrist and wear it until it falls off or until L's baby is born. She blew out each candle as she cut the string and told us to keep our candles to light in our own homes when we get word that her labour has begun.

After the binding circle we began talking about a design for a henna tatto for her belly bump. L had been feeling drawn to the image of the lotus flower so a couple of us took turns at sketching a lotus flower design in my note book before L picked one she liked and we drew it on her belly.

We drew it in pen first, smudging out any mistakes with a sweaty finger. Once the design looked as we felt it should we went over the pen in henna.

Meanwhile another of L's guests made a birth necklace out of the beads everyone had given her:

I have to say that this guest in particular was a delightful asset to the group. She taught us all a song about homebirth that she had learned at another blessingway, which we sang in unison. Later, she lead a chanting exercise, in which we chanted "ma" (the female side of "ohm"). There is something very special about standing in a circle with other women, eyes closed, holding hands, your voices singing the same sound together, each voice making the same sound unique.

Once L's belly art was complete we used some of the remaining henna to tattoo a dragonfly somewhere on each guests' body.

Dragonflies featured in L's lotus flower belly art. I love their symbolism:

The dragonfly symbolizes going past self-created illusions that limit our growing and changing. Dragonflies are a symbol of the sense of self that comes with maturity.

They are fantastic flyers, darting like light, twisting, turning, changing direction, even going backwards as the need arises. They are inhabitants of two realms - starting with water, and moving to the air with maturity, but staying close to water. Some people who have the dragonfly as their totem have had emotional and passionate early years, but as they get older they achieve balance with mental clarity and control. They gain an expression of the emotional and mental together.

Dragonflies are old and adaptive insects, and are most powerful in the summer under the effects of warmth and sunlight. Their colors are a result of reflecting and refracting the power of light. As a result, they are associated with color magic, illusion in causing others only to see what you wish, and other mysticism.

The are often represented in Japanese paintings, representing new light and joy.

Everyone had a really beautiful day. I don't think I'm alone in saying it was an honour to be part of such a meaningful and intimate celebration of this beautiful woman. And my, what a beautiful woman she is! I've never seen such a glorious belly as L's! She is the epitome of the glowing pregnant woman.