Pictured is Adenike of F.L.Y.A. Herbs. F.L.Y.A. provides candles, bath salts, tea, and more!! Catch her on Instagram IG at flya_herbs! https://www.instagram.com/flya_herbs/
We go through many Rites of Passages: baby, girl, maiden, mother, crone. Much of my work lately has been in the mother stage. Many people ask me if I'm a doula. I'm not a certified doula, though I come from a family of birth workers. My mother is a certified doula, my sister is a licensed certified lactation consultant. Me, I take care of the spiritual educational aspect of the mother phase. Honestly, I just love attending births. I cry at every wedding and I cry at every birth. Lol!
I also understand that women are the foundation of society, of family. Spirituality and sisterhood is what supports us under that pressure. Spirituality and sisterhood empower and nurture us so we can be strong and healthy. And in turn our families (children & partners) can be strong and healthy, which means we can actually get free and reach our highest potentials. Which ultimately means Happiness and Balance. See, its all part of the divine master plan. ;)
I also understand that women are the foundation of society, of family. Spirituality and sisterhood is what supports us under that pressure. Spirituality and sisterhood empower and nurture us so we can be strong and healthy. And in turn our families (children & partners) can be strong and healthy, which means we can actually get free and reach our highest potentials. Which ultimately means Happiness and Balance. See, its all part of the divine master plan. ;)
We are in the midst of a sisterhood renaissance. People are awakening and realizing the value of sisterhood--of women caring for women. In the face of the maternal health crisis, postpartum depression, & infant health care problems, we are standing up and saying, "enough!"
So as people increasingly call upon Rites of Passage Institute, I realize the importance and seriousness of my role. When I care for a woman, I speak life over her to contribute to her wholeness and to strengthen her in her new role. I know that because of this she can be a better woman, a better wife, better mother--that she can smoothly transition. I work to connect us to the Creator Source, to our roots and to educate and empower.
To ease the way into Motherhood, Rites of Passage Institute offers:
1. Moontracking
2. The Yoniverse
3. Original Birth (Child Birth Education Classes)
4. The Blessingway
5. The Queen Mother Ceremony
So as people increasingly call upon Rites of Passage Institute, I realize the importance and seriousness of my role. When I care for a woman, I speak life over her to contribute to her wholeness and to strengthen her in her new role. I know that because of this she can be a better woman, a better wife, better mother--that she can smoothly transition. I work to connect us to the Creator Source, to our roots and to educate and empower.
To ease the way into Motherhood, Rites of Passage Institute offers:
1. Moontracking
2. The Yoniverse
3. Original Birth (Child Birth Education Classes)
4. The Blessingway
5. The Queen Mother Ceremony
The Blessingway Ceremony occurs in the last trimester of pregnancy. Childbirth is an "open" experience. Labor is about opening; opening physically, opening emotionally and opening spiritually. The Blessingway helps to ease the opening. Just as a tree grows best when firmly anchored in the earth, so can a pregnant mother feel strong and capable when supported by a sisterhood of nurturing friends.
The Blessingway can include:
The Queen Mother Ceremony (Referred to as The Closing of the Bones (Al Shedd), The Sealing Ceremony, or Mother Roasting) occurs after the birth/labor. Once the baby is born, the body requires closing (the bones) or sealing it. The body requires bringing ‘chi’ or ‘prana’ back to the center channels; the energetic space at our core that we once shared with a baby. Our bodies must rebalance as that which was full is now empty and that which was shared can find its own rhythm again. It’s about finding restoration again, rebalancing and honoring your body, so you can get back to Queening in full effect!
The Queen Mother Ceremony Includes:
The Blessingway can include:
- Creating Sacred Space: Smudging, Alter/Musala
- Womb Prayer/Blessing/Chant
- Blessing Beads (waistbeads or necklace)
- Candle Blessing
- Water Flow
- Tribal Face Paint
- Belly Henna
- Bellydance
- Fear Release
- Herbal Foot Bath: Washing of the feet
- Tea Time w/Stories
The Queen Mother Ceremony (Referred to as The Closing of the Bones (Al Shedd), The Sealing Ceremony, or Mother Roasting) occurs after the birth/labor. Once the baby is born, the body requires closing (the bones) or sealing it. The body requires bringing ‘chi’ or ‘prana’ back to the center channels; the energetic space at our core that we once shared with a baby. Our bodies must rebalance as that which was full is now empty and that which was shared can find its own rhythm again. It’s about finding restoration again, rebalancing and honoring your body, so you can get back to Queening in full effect!
The Queen Mother Ceremony Includes:
- Smudging (i.e. sage, copal, frankincense)
- Floral Bath, Vaginal Steam, or Herbal Foot Bath
- Oil Rub Down
- Tucking (placing hot flax seed or rice bags around the body) & Closing
- Binding & Blessing
- Presenting Waist Beads
- Tea Time w/Stories
- Henna w/Stories
I have to say that I'm so grateful to the amazing families that I have served. There is a time that I thought that Rites of Passage Institute would die, that there was no place in Modern Society for my role. We had become so disconnected from our roots, our traditions, our elders--from each other. There is so much suffering when we are isolated. Together we are strong. Knowing how delicate my position is in a Modern Westernized society, I am so humble that people still see the value & wisdom in our indigenous culture--in my role as Curator of the Feminine Arts. With Humble Gratitude! Ase!
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