Within my Tradition, you are involved in interconnected Cycles of growth; I am constantly preparing for the steps of the path ahead, while focusing on my present growth and development. Not only does this concept manifest in my own personal growth and studies, but each year I gather natural resources to make ritual tools for the year ahead, I prepare sacred sites to work with as the seasons change and the natural energy shifts, and I take steps to begin raising energy for certain rituals long before the moment of that ritual arrives.

On Summer Solstice of this year, we will be gathering to perform the naming ceremony for our first child. Within the scope of my personal Tradition, there are specific elements that are incorporated into the rite.

It is a time when the child is named and blessed within the arms of a cast Circle. Where the newborn is raised to the sky and the sun is told its name that it may always watch over and protect our child. It's a moment where the
baby is welcomed into the family, a group formed of both our living relatives and our ancestors that have gone on to another world. And it's the time when the woman we've chosen as our Goddess Mother is not only given that title, but is ritually welcomed as a part of our immediate family as well, embraced as a part of who we are as a family in much the same way the child is welcomed.
 

 

~The Naming Bowl~

Unlike a lot of modern practitioners who focus on their divinatory aspects, I use Runes exclusively for their magical properties. One of my favorite applications is to dip the index finger of my right hand into the cauldron's water and trace specific Runes of blessing on a practitioner's forehead. It is a way of instilling the deep, symbolic energy of each Rune into a gift that asks for certain elements to aid and bless the person. The same concept is used in a naming ritual, but rather than using a cauldron to hold the water for the blessing, a hand-carved birch wood bowl is used.

In my personal Tradition, Birch is tied to the Rune Berkana, the Goddess, and among the handful of concepts that are associated with this specific tree, it is symbolic of birth and the integration of new life into an existing environment or realm. In early December 1998, I went up to the mountains that hold my dearest sacred sites and gathered a single large section of birch from which the bowl will be carved. It was important to me that the ritual bowl had very specific types of energy tied to it, so I began its crafting long before any tool touched the wood. The wood rode around in the trunk of my car, not completing its journey to our home until Winter Solstice, when it was finally brought inside.

As the solar light of the environment I live in begins to change at Winter Solstice, (from the moment of sunrise, the hours of sunlight begins to grow, symbolizing the rebirth of the sun), I wanted that energy associated with the naming bowl. The wood was placed next to the family hearth, the center of the home, and soaked in the energy that the winter celebrations raised, listening to the laughter and joy of gathering family members, witnessing the love we feel for each other.

I've chosen to wait until Spring Equinox to begin the actual carving of the bowl, as the sun (symbolizing life) will have grown to be equal to the darkness (death), the crafting of the bowl will be tied to the continually growing energy of the sun, enhancing the magic that is drawn from it. While I have a specific design in mind, I was taught by the Native American woman that I studied under for a time, that to craft a tool, you speak to the elements you plan to form it from, open yourself to its energy, and allow the spirit of the tool to guide you, rather than you forcing it to your own will. So we'll see how closely the final product mirrors the image that I hold in my minds eye.

Once crafted, the bowl will be blessed and anointed with specific herbs and oils and will then await the naming ritual on Summer Solstice.
 

 

~The Welcoming~

The concept of the naming is a simple one and is mirrored in a number of cultures and various Traditions. The child is raised overhead, presented to the sun and the sun is given the child's name that it may watch over, guide, and protect the child. Once its name is known to the sun, the baby is presented to the gathered family and friends as well under its new name.

My wife and I have chosen to raise the child Pagan, allowing it to choose its own path when it is old enough to feel a calling in one direction or another. Because the baby will begin its life in the Craft, we felt that it was appropriate to give it a Craft name to use until its coming of age ceremony, when the child can either choose a new name, embrace the one it was given, or embark on a new path of its choosing.

For us, the choosing of a Goddess Mother was something we immediately agreed upon. Our dear friend, fellow Coven-mate, and a woman weboth respect immensely immediately leapt to both our minds. Our dear friend Apple will be flying from Baltimore, Maryland to Salem, Oregon, not only to
ritually accept the role of Goddess Mother, but to lead the rite and be welcomed into our family.

Those that have chosen to join in the naming ritual will form three circles. Myself, my wife, and our child form the first at the center of the cast Circle, symbolizing the most intimate group of people that will aid in the child's development. Around us gather the members of our immediate families, representing the second group that will be part of the child's raising. And around them, in a third and final circle, are chosen friends, Coven-mates, and fellow practitioners who will be a part of the child's world.

The gathered individuals hold hands, united around the life of a newborn child. All except for Apple, who leads the rite from the center of the Circle. When the moment of the ritual arrives where she is given the role of Goddess Mother, I take over the leading of the rite and our Goddess Mother joins hands with us in the center of the Circle, becoming a part of our immediate family. To us, the role isn't an honorary one, but rather a joining of lives, a welcoming of a new member into our family.
 

 

~The People~

What I looked at as the most challenging aspect of the rite, is becoming one of the most rewarding. The three circles of individuals that participate in the rite come from many walks of life and follow many different spiritual paths.

 

To involve each group of people in the rite that we wanted to participate and symbolically be a part of the child's life, required coming out of the broom closet, setting aside misconceptions, and opening parts of our lives to those around us that we have kept carefully partitioned away. I believed my parents would be the greatest challenge. As devout Christians, I didn't know how they would respond to being asked to participate in a Pagan ritual. But the love for their family and their unborn grandchild is going a long way to erasing any boundaries between us and they have agreed to participate.

 

Next, I will approach my equally Christian brother. While my parents and brother know that I am a Witch, we've chosen not to share our spiritual beliefs with my in-laws - until now. We will be breaking new ground to involve them in the rite.

I've heard it said, time and again, that the birth of a child is a miraculous event that will change your life forever. Already, a baby that isn't due to be born until late May has already altered our lives. As we speak to our family and friends about our beliefs, we find ourselves opening our hearts to them, welcoming them into a part of our lives we've always felt was necessary to close off to them.

 

But for the first time, our family is seeing us as we truly are and, with their hearts opened by the perfect love represented in a new life, they are looking past misconceptions of what we are as Pagans, as seeing the beauty and love our spiritual beliefs truly hold.