A Mother’s Blessing—also known as a Blessingway—is a uniquely curated ceremony to bless the beautiful mother-to-be as she brings through a new soul. This is a rite of passage to motherhood passed down from generation to generation and celebrates the pregnancy and becoming a mother. 
The most cherished loved ones of the mother-to-be come together in circle to honour and bless the way ahead for her journey to motherhood through ceremony. They share their wisdom, help her to prepare and celebrate with her filling her cup and honouring her as the mother.
The Invitation
We open the ceremony by
preparing a guestlist of beloved ones of the mother-to-be. Guests are chosen as the circle of support during
birthing and as a mothering. Mothers, Grandmother, sisters, Aunts, dear friends, doulas and midwives.
An invitation with all details clearly explained goes out to everyone, and should include an order of service so everyone knows what to expect, a list of things to bring or wear or adorn with, and any preparation required. This is my friend Chesca’s invitation to a beautiful ceremony.
Preparing the sacred space
The physical location and time of day for this ceremony are key. We think about the number of guests, and the atmosphere we are creating. Is it in nature, or hosting this in the home of the little spirit being birthed brings great energy to the space. Is it day or lit by candles and fairy lights in the evening?
The event space is set as a sacred, special, calm, peaceful place. A throne is built for the guest of honour and a beautiful altar in the centre where everyone places their sacred objects to bring meaning and connection to the circle. Beautiful scents and warming light of flickering bees wax candles, soft angelic music, floral and herb arrangements and a beautiful, comfortable, nurturing nest of seating arranged in a circle. You can use oracle cards and other connection tools. We use subtle aromatherapy to fill the space that indulges the feminine—like rose and wild orange. Careful with your choices of aromatherapy with a pregnant mama.
The Facilitator
The experience of these circles is expanded and enlightened with a talented, open-hearted facilitator. I have been a part of the magical facilitation of women’s circles including a mother’s blessing with Deb Lobendahn of Way of the Sacred Woman. She has a beautiful gift of space holding for these events.
Grounding Footbath
A nurturing food bath is a beautiful ritual to begin this ceremony as it signifies the threshold we cross over from the normal world to the special world of ceremony. As each guest arrives, one of the other guests will remove their shoes, and bathe their feet ceremonially in warm milky water with rose petals and then their feet are cradled in a warm towel and then massaged in rose oil.
As they humbly kneel before each other, bathing and massaging each other’s feet, they connect as a circle and begin to build a powerful communion of support for the birth. This ritual working on the soles of the feet is humbling and has an intention of keeping us grounded in our support for the mother-to-be. The first footbath is for the pregnant mama.
This can be a great time to collect phones into a basket if you are wanting to minimise distractions.
Purifying Rose Water Wash
This invitation with this ritual is to wash away any fears you may have about the pregnancy and the birth. Take a moment to acknowledge the fears and worries you have, and then using a bowl of rose water, you spruce your hands, face, hair as you let them go and connect as a spirit of love in this circle of support. You may choose to declare what you are releasing, or this can be just as meaningful conducted in silence. Each person can end their cleanse with an affirmation like “I have only trust for this birthing”.
Opening the Ceremony
We open with a prayer, a dedication to the mother-to-be and an explanation of what to expect for the ceremony. Each guest then introduces themselves and how they are a part of the mother-to-be’s life and this little spirit coming through, and why she is special and important. Then their intention for the ceremony. This brings so much love into the circle.
At a Mother’ Blessing for a dear friend, the amazing Goldorang Bunjur Gamu Boorie of The Art of String Theory made tetrahedron lanterns with us before the event while teaching us the significance of this sacred geometry, the balance of male and female and the dreaming of the Seven Sisters. The lanterns hung all around us as a beautiful understory for the blessing.
She opened the circle with a Traditional Acknowledgement, build a beautiful ceremonial fire and conducted a smoking ceremony smudging us all with gum leaves and sharing her Emu Song story telling. We kept the fire alight through the whole event which is amazing because it was raining.
Candlelit Ceremony
“The spirit of fire that dances with a beeswax candle is as divine as the magical creators and the healing nectar it once contained.”
Another beautiful ritual we have created is on an auspicious moon before the occasion, I make a pure sacred beeswax candle for everyone joining the circle. I make our candles as an invitation for the spirit of fire to come and dance…and from this dance we in turn progress and produce and pollinate our own magic.
The guest of honour lights her candle and each person in the circle lights their own candle from it binding the circle. As they are lighting they are giving the mother-to-be words of support and strength and love. This is a powerful and reverend way to begin a ceremony.
At the closing of the ceremony everyone extinguishers their flame and the candles are lit again when you hear word of the birth.
“When you hear little spirit has come earth side,
light me and sing your lullaby”.
Honour and adorn her
As your guest of honour relaxes in her sacred throne, we honour and adorn the beautiful mother to be. Make a flower crown for her. Create beautiful ways to adorn her, the space and each other. Pamper her, brush her hair, massage her if she is open to touch, paint her belly, make a belly cast, nourish her and her guests with healthy beautiful colourful options. In making her look and feel different we honour the transformation she is going through.
Spirit Bracelet Cord Ceremony
All the loved ones in the circle are invited to join in a cord ceremony symbolic of the umbilical cord connecting mother to her baby. This is a communion where the mother and little spirit are held, supported and loved and they can confidently journey through this rite of passage to becoming a parent and bringing this little one into the world.
We gather into a tight circle. Moving around the circle in the direction of the sun (anticlockwise) we wrap the red cord around each wrist three times. As each person in the circle is being bound, we introduce ourselves as a daughter and granddaughter, honouring our own lineage of mothers—the women who came before us.
‘I am Karen, DAUGHTER OF Denise, GRANDAUGHTER OF Jessie.
When all in the circle are bound…
”We are bound in this sacred circle by this symbol of the umbilical cord. We invite the presence and wisdom of all the ancestors and all the descendants. Our collective lineage. We honour and bring the experience of birth from all those who have come before us and brought us life. We honour the mother energy within each and every one of us. Each time we bring awareness to this cord we bring awareness to this communion, to this loving tribe and to this sacred birthing. We shower you in love. You are held.”
Each cord is cut and tied around the wrist.
“We are now connected. We keep the cord around our wrist until we hear that the birth is underway—that this new life is arriving. We all cut the cord of our spirit bracelet as a symbol of unity of community, and we give attention and intention to the birth of this little spirit.”
Blessings
You can gift the mother-to-be blessings. These can be things to bathe in, sacred medicines, healing herbs and balms and potions for before and after the birth. It may be blessings in the in the form of written messages and affirmations or even prayer flags that support during the birthing. It may be letters to the baby about the mother.
Together you can build a nursing box filled with calming and nurturing things which she can easily get to during those long feeds, or anything else you believe will help support her in this sacred time in her life.
Birthing Necklace
As your guest of honour relaxes in her sacred throne, we honour and adorn the beautiful mother to be. Make a flower crown for her. Create beautiful ways to adorn her, the space and each other. Pamper her, brush her hair, massage her if she is open to touch, paint her belly, make a belly cast, nourish her and her guests with healthy beautiful colourful options. In making her look and feel different we honour the transformation she is going through.
Womb Ritual
At the same event for a dear friend, a group of sisters were led graciously by the amazing Christine Sanson Maudy from Living Inspired, The Creative Path graciously and lovingly shared all the 13th Munay-Ki (energy of love) Rites of the Womb. This ceremony of healing was the first hour of the blessingway.
Closing the Ceremony
“We are the children of the mothers of our lineage, and so our mothers and grandmothers have handed on their creative spark; the seeds of all the flowers that they bloomed and the hidden thorns of all that they suffered. They taught us how to be and how not to be, they gave us themselves and their mothers before them.
We carry the mothers of our lineage in our cells and in our hearts, they have given us the best of ourselves and another chance to transform their thorns into roses.”
~ Caroline de Lisser | Source of the Earth
As you close the blessing ceremony, you will feel the love and connection in the sacred space you have so lovingly prepared. The guest of honour will be cradled in the love of those dearest to her, and she will feel prepared for her birthing journey. Energetically, the circle is connected.
Celebrate and Nourish
Dance, sing, whatever you like. Finish with a bang. We have even had a belly dancing instructor at a mother’s blessing.
It’s a great idea to ask everyone to bring a plate of healthy beautiful food to share, and to make it meaningful honouring our past generations, a recipe that has been passed down to them.
Make it Significant
This is a significant life event. The list of ways to honour and love this divine mother-to-be are endless. The transforming woman, her life, her body, her emotions. She is embodying two souls, and preparing to bring through that little spirit to walk on the earth. The most perfect Mother’s Blessing will reflect the nature of the mother-to-be and her journey. Make it personal
Prayers, poems and stories to use
It is a beautiful part of the ceremony to ask someone to present a prayer, reading, a poem or a story. Here are some examples.
May you be blessed with an easy transition
from mother of one to mother of two.
May you be changed in all the ways
you hope to be changed.
May your body open easily and then heal.
May those surrounding you during birth guide you
through what’s coming.
May you know joy in bringing another soul to the world.
“I am grateful for this new being
who is small in body but great in Soul,
who has come into our midst as a gift.
May I be sensitive to the sacred
as I nurture and learn from this child.
Give me patience. Give me strength.
And grant me wisdom and love
to help my baby learn to sing her own song.”
-Annie Spring
“A woman in birth is at once her most powerful and most vulnerable. But any woman who has birthed understands that she is stronger than she knows.”
– Marcie Macari
“Close your eyes and breathe deep.
Breathe in peace, breathe out pain.
Imagine your feet, toes curling into dirt.
Think of yourself as rooted, think of your place in the earth.
How did you come to be here?
Through generations of women named
A maternal lineage. Think of their birth stories,
What you know, what you believe to be true.
Realize that their births carry deep wisdom.
Each birth is a powerful experience, each birth traces down to you.
Just as you pass this knowledge onto your baby
Understand that your birth is your own.
It will be different from all others, like the swirls in your thumb.
Your birth will have a unique pattern, unfolding with each contraction.
Rising and falling like a newborn’s chest,
This birth belongs to you.
This birth is the end and a beginning.
May this blessing of birth come to you without fear.
May this blessing of birth come to you with great understanding.
May this blessing of birth make your heart soar.
May this blessing of birth bring shouts of delight to your lips”
– Natalie Evans
“Today we gather in gratitude. We are grateful for the new life we are about to welcome into this world. We are grateful for the presence of [Mother’s name] in our lives. We also gather in preparation. We intend to prepare [Mother’s name], giving her strength, support, and clarity in mind, body, and soul, for herself, for her birthing, and for her baby.”
– Author unknown
Thank you https://melissaambrosini.com/
for your beautiful photos.
We would love to help you create a beautiful Mother’s Blessing.
In loving service 
