Blessingway Gathering

Last weekend a special group of women came and gathered with me in celebration of my pregnancy and upcoming birth. I was blessed to have 3 mothers, 3 sisters, 3 friends and 3 children attend my gathering.



As part of the celebration we sang together, and shared our thoughts and feelings about birth and motherhood. My mother washed my feet while we sang a special song "The river is flowing.. down to the sea". Mielle was very interested in the foot washing and helped Nonny with the task. It was very special to have my mother and my daughter work together at such a simple yet intimate act of love.



Each of the women who came brought a special bead or pendant to be part of a birth blessing necklace worn during labor. Each of the beads brought to me were special and I have really enjoyed making special peices of jewelery to wear during the birth. The beads and jewelery I am wearing in these photos all have special significance to me and I picked them with great care for the day's celebration. Mielle even wore the necklace I had created in preparation for her birth. Many of the women brought written blessings, poems and other significant objects as gifts and I have decorated my birth space with them.



In celebration of this special day, I created a special head wreathe using the same wreathe that I wore on my wedding day. For this special life event, I decorated it with fall leaves and special dried flowers. Wearing it, I felt so transformed... like an incarnation of the goddess, here on earth



Now that this blessing way has taken place I feel more prepared for the birth of my child. The birthing pool sits waiting in the corner of my bedroom, surrounded by special objects and images which I hope will fill me with inspiration and support while I am in laborland.

I am truly grateful to all the special women who gahtered with me at this special time. The few who could not join me in body were not forgotten, their love and support surrounded me and lifted me up to be transformed on this special day.

Thank you Beloved Mothers, Sisters and Friends... I value you greatly.