Over the generations, man of our charms and much of magic have been lost, forgotten in the dust of time. As my wife and I prepared for the birth of our daughter, we dug through old reference books, searched our hearts, and slowly collected a small trove of birth magic that we used throughout the pregnancy and birth, and continue to apply during the growth of our first child.
 

 

~Labor~

As we prepared for the trial of labor, we gathered a number of small charms and observed a handful of old traditions which we carried into the delivery room with us. Each is simple and connected with unlocking the womb.

As the traditions suggest, there were no knots tied in my wife's clothing; the hospital gown was left untied and she wore no jewelry with a closed clasp -- nothing tied closed to keep the child's energy within the mother.

We also brought a small antique key, used to symbolically open the womb, which sat on my wife's stomach during labor. My wife's doctor, a good-natured OB/GYN of Irish descent, thought it was a wonderful idea and the nurse that assisted him commented that all women should be required to have a key.

As the father-to-be, the last thing that I wanted to do was be a helpless by-stander, so I did my best to help my wife focus, to move past the pain and have an effective labor. Before labor began, we talked about specific meditations to aid in pain management (like focusing intently on a candleflame in your mind's eye until you merged with the flickering flame and it burnt the pain away). But in the the most difficult parts of labor, we had to get more active.

 

Since magic is what I know, it's what I relied upon. Just as you would focus energy into a Circle, I had my wife continually focus on my voice as I held her hand and knelt by her ear, reminding her to keep herself focused up on my voice, and out of the pain. She shifted her focus to my voice, joining with that sound until she reached a space where she was able to handle the pain.

Thankfully, the labor was a breeze. No pain medication of any kind was needed and the entire labor went very quickly. We arrived at the hospital around 2:00 in the afternoon with my wife dilated 4 centimeters. Two hours and thirty-seven minutes later, our daughter came into the world through natural, vaginal birth. Dilation, effacement, and delivery came with an almost unheard of ease and quickness.
 

 

~Early Childhood~

There are two traditions that I observe, intended to bless a newborn and add magic to the child's life. The first is the burying of the umbilical cord which I carried out on a warm, sunny Saturday. The second is the concept of the naming ritual.

Burying the umbilical cord is a simple task which heightens the child's connection between herself and the energy of the earth. I chose a beautiful, protected riverbank in the Coast Range mountains of Oregon state and buried the tiny length of dried cord (after it had naturally fallen off) in the rich soil behind a group of flood-swept logs. The area was near the location where I carried out my vision quest when studying under a Native American woman. Because the area is federally protected land, it won't be logged. And because it was buried on the bank of a river in a temperate rainforest which annual floods, the cord will eventually be carried out to safety in the depths of the sea.

The naming ritual offered us the opportunity to bless our child with the energy which we hope will aid her and nurture her as she grows, the chance to present her to both the people who will influence her life (both those who are living and those who have passed on), and to welcome our chosen Goddess Mother into our family. (See Preparing for a New Child, for details on the concept of the naming ritual).
 

 

~Continuing the Magic~

My Norse ancestors believed that a warrior's measure was found in more than just his ability to swing a blade. He had to be quick of wit as well, able to compose poetry (or songs) on the spot.

How many of us sing to our newborn children when they're fussy? How many of us use rhyming in our spellwork? How difficult is it to put the two together?

As our daughter was growing in the womb, I spent some time with my mouth close to my wife's belly, talking to our unborn baby, telling her of the things we'd do together when she was born, while she grew accustomed to my voice. Moments after her birth, our strong, healthy child turned her head toward my voice the first time she heard me speak, a gift of immeasurable
worth.

Even now she quickly quiets down in my arms in my arms when she's upset. And if a soothing tone of voice doesn't work, Dad begins to sing. We're slowly growing a collection of heirloom tunes - both mother and grandmother sing them to quiet our little Sparrow when she cries. Each song is unique, written for our child, and hopefully, they are songs that will be passed on from generation to generation. Our favorite so far is one I began when it seemed that she was afraid to go to sleep, struggling to keep her eyes open and crying between the yawns.

She's my...
Sleepy little baby
Just a laying in my arms
Doesn't know that sleepy time
Won't do her any harm
She looks at me with those big ol' eyes
And says,
"Oh, Daddy! Oh, Why? Oh, Why?"