Needing inspiration for a thank you/celebration of pregnancy ritual

[xmasbaby]

Hi everyone,

I'm a pagan with very ecletic beleifs though most fall within the celtic paradigm. I read runes and tarots, practice daily meditation and rituals as well as celebrating the wheel of the year and the moon phases.

I conceived my baby on April 1st and that very night I had a dream that I was pregnant. At the month continued I kept having baby dreams and knew even before going to the doctors for a test that I was pregnant.

Before conceiving I had been trying for three years to make a baby. At the end of March I wrote and preformed a fertility ritual in which I made a statue of the mother goddess very pregnant and then in another ritual I painted her and drew fertility symbols all over her. I also hung a tiny statue of the the mother goddess above my bed for the month. I guess something must have worked because now i am pregant and due around the 24th December which as we all know is so very very close to Litha/Midsummer.

I have always beleived that I would get pregnant when the great ones decided it was time, and I am so very happy that now they have decided that it is time.

At the moment I am wanting to write a ritual to thank the great ones and to celebrate the conception of my little one as well as welcoming the spirit/soul that will be my little one. (I beleive that there are many souls out there and you get pregnant when the greats ones decide you are ready and one of these souls choose you to be their parent)

[redlady]

Gosh I wish I could help you. Im so out of touch with ritual now days. Im a naughty pagan who hasn't done a ritual in sooooo long.

My DH doesn't share my beliefs but wants to watch me do a ritual one day maybe I should start reconnecting with the goddess.

I have to use donor sperm to conceive and we are starting in June on the winter solstice. Maybe I should do a fertility ritual yours seems to work very well.

BB
Redlady.

[moon child]

congrats on the good news! it's so wonderful to hear your time has finally arrived! perhaps a simple altar for the mother appeals to you. a fertile offerings such as a pomegranate and a lovingly painted egg and a prayer of thanks by you would be a nice thing :3 hope this gives you some ideas

[mumintraining]

Hi xmasbaby,

Congrats to you on your little one. I came across your post trying to find inspiration for a pregnancy altar for fairly much the same intent. I wanted to create a space to reflect and give thanks for my second little blessing which is due in may next year.

I also thought it was funny as my first pregnancy I gave up trying and in desperation went out into the bush and said fine you decide. 4 days before when my period was due I was hounded in my dream by a mother bear and her cub who refused to let me go. Not violent just very persistent. After that I kept having dreams where out of the blue a baby was in my arms and I didn't know why. 9 months later healthy baby boy.

This time around I sat down and did a simple ritual asking that any potential sparks of life take hold and grow into being, part of it was a string I was to wear till I conceived which came unraveled that night - blow me down but now i'm very pregnant.

As I am still finding my feet on this path I am blown away by how direct and forceful the universe can be when trying to make a point.

So far my ideas for the altar which could be useful to you include the following.
cowrie shell placed with the rounded part up with a seed inside
images of lovely round bellies
herbs in a pouch that work on healthy/love/peace/calm/protection and wealth (how am I going to afford this all?)
Crystals/stones of a similar meaning including tigers eye for courage
I also found a lovely Invocation to Artemis in spellcraft winter 2007 today that I can pass on if you like. I was in an article on ecstatic childbirth by Jane Hardwice Collings whi I think has a site at Moonsong.
Another Idea I loved was creating your own anointing oil for use each night for streatchmarks but also as a connection to deity - no idea how I would go about that but it might be a good idea as part of your thankfulness ritual.

Oh and another Idea that just came to me was what about part of the ritual ebing with planting a native seedling or seeds (or not native as you choose) as symbolicaly connecting your growth and journey to those that nature takes each cycle.

Alright thats me out of ideas for tonight. I'd love to see what you come up with as I think you might be onto something and I would love to do something similar.

Take care,
Di