HomeNaming Day Ceremony
A ritual of welcome and support – for the Journey of Life – for a new child arrived.
This beautiful ceremony has been adapted from traditional shamanic rituals and is designed to welcome the energies of the universe itself to support the child throughout their life’s journey.
Shamanic tradition acknowledges that the journey of life is always to be considered in its’ entirety and that the key component to that is the journey or flight of the soul, throughout the child’s life.
In the west we are so caught in the day to day reality of a time poor, daily financial grind of life that we often stop seeing the beautiful forest for the bloody trees. Literally.
We forget that we have a rich inner life trying to guide us on this journey, to help us keep a good balance in our hearts, minds, body and spirit.
We are so focused on what is not working for us and on what we don’t have, that the balance of our lives is lost and dis-easement can manifest.
This beautiful ceremony invites all the energies of the cardinal points of the compass or medicine wheel to work throughout the child’s life to support them and remind them that all is within them.
Some of the gifts and attributes brought in are vision, the creative seed, sky fathers and grandfathers, spirit, strength, courage, the ability to be still and dignified in the face of life’s challenges, the earth mothers and grandmothers, the wounded healer, love and compassion, ancestors, guides and the child’s personal medicine or their connection with spirit nature [totem in some cultures] and these are all welcomed to support the journey of life. As is the sun and the moon, earth and sky, bird and snake.
Then a person chosen by the parents speaks for each of the four directions, for the life of the child, their hopes and dreams for the life of a child while still a child. Joy, laughter, retention of innocence, curiosity unquenched, supportive family and friends etc.
This is then repeated for the life of the adolescent that the child will become, then the adult and finally the elder.
A tree then chosen by the family is planted and all present take a sip of wine to toast the life and then pour some into the tree [symbolizing the tree of life] to acknowledge that all things come full circle.
It is a powerful and beautiful ceremony and all present are deeply touched by it and one cannot attend ceremonies like this without all that is welcomed from the universe flowing into the lives of all present
Contact Prue if you wish to organize such a ceremony for your own precious gift from spirit!
“There are few things in your life that move you to utter wonder and having a child is definitely one of those. To be able to honour this wonderful life in a pure, loving, personalised and community orientated way is a very special thing indeed, the naming ceremonies performed for all three of our children were all of these things and more, and have become part of the rich fabric of our lifes” – Emma