A blessingway full of ceremony and love.

Saturday was the Vernal Equinox. Click on that to read a nice blurb about the holiday. I chose to take you to my sister as opposed to some wiki or googly site becuase I thought she said it rather nicely. That, and I used her post as a bit of inspiration for a part of my blessing at another Blessing this weekend.

Yep, I attended another blessingway. This time it was for my friend Lori. Lori is a yoga instructor and this is her first child. She's planning a midwife-assisted homebirth (actually two midwives because our friend Holly is a midwife int training). I have a special spot in my heart for Lori because she taught the prenatal yoga class I took back when I was preggo with the Zomeister (duh, like I've ever been pregnant before!?). She is a cute little lady with a great smile and a gentle heart. (Yet she can swear like a sailor and likes beer - so I've been told, I've yet to have the pleasure of sharing a brew with her...)

This blessingway was much more ceremonial and traditional than the last few I have attended. Those ladies had been through the journey before and while still emotional... those blessingways were more connective than transformative - if that even makes sense....

Here's the mama-to-be, Lori, getting her traditional footbath and hair brushing. The one giving the footbath is Holly, our friend and midwife. The one actually steadying Lori on the birth ball, prepping to brush her hair, is Lori's aunt. (We tried to tell Lori that she should sit on an actual chair for this, but the ball was right there.... yadda, yadda... "it'll be fine...." and it was.... but I wouldn't recommend it.) ;)

The footbath represents the midwife being in service to the mother. - A way to show the mother has someone there for her needs. The hair brushing signals a change (and perhaps a bit of pampering). I'm not too big on the hair brushingness for myself... but I understand the concept. :)

This was toward the end of the ceremony. All of us in attendance had brought a bead for Lori. We strung them on a piece of cording and said a blessing for her birthing. The mother can either wear the necklace during birth or simply place it somewhere in the room as a focal point - or simply a reminder of the connectiveness of birth and the women who support her.

The picture shows Anne (sorry for the butt shot) lighting a candle. Lori is surrounded by the blessings that people brought. - poems, stories... The framed picture is what I made for her. It's a prisma-pencil drawing of a pregnant torso and a lotus flower. I wish I had taken a picture of it - I am pretty proud of the way it turned out! :)

I also love that you can see some of the women in the background - reflected in the mirrors. The BW took place at Lori's studio. It was actually in the 'hot' yoga room - which was interesting... some of the ladies brought their little nurslings and the kiddos were more affected by the heat than us oldies. But everyone was fine and fans were blowing.

There were many other beautiful points to this BW. Many wishes of love and strength. Many ceremonial pieces of which I didn't take pictures - I just enjoyed.

Here's my candle to take home and burn upon hearing of her birthing time. (Lori is also a Hypnobabies Mama, as I was.)

And just for fun, this is Christina and Kingston. She is also a fellow HypnoMama. We joke that Zoey is Kingston's boyfriend... it's more he wishes!!! He LOVES Zoey. She thinks he's a cute baby... but oh, so, young! HA! (He'll be one in April.)