The Moon Is a Mother, Too: Rituals and Recipes for a Magical Pregnancy, from Conception to Birth - and Beyond - Softcover

Ortiz, Emilia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593543424 ISBN 13: 9780593543429

Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2024

Inhaltsangabe

Empower yourself through every stage of pregnancy and connect to your baby through candle work, affirmations, astrology, meditations, color correspondences, inner child healing, and more

Pregnancy can be one of the most spiritually transformative times in our lives. When a child is born, so is a parent, and we all deserve tools to support us through that process. With Emilia Ortiz's (@ethereal.1) guidance, learn how to:

• release your expectations around conceiving and pregnancy
• work with candles, prayer, intuition, and energy
• incorporate herbal baths and other self-care practices
• prepare for labor, both physically and spiritually
• use pregnancy- and breastfeeding-safe herbs for nourishing yourself, energetic cleansing, building milk supply, and postpartum recovery
• heal from previous losses
• differentiate anxiety from intuition
• and connect to nature for extra grounding when you need it.

Reclaiming our ancient wisdom and spiritual insight around pregnancy and childbirth is a radical act for all birthing people. By strengthening your bond with your baby when they are still in the womb, and tapping into your intuition throughout, you are laying the groundwork for an empowered, sacred nine months—and long after.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Emilia Ortiz is a mental health advocate, creative, and energetic healer from Brooklyn, NY. Utilizing both personal experience and teachings from mentors, she has become known for making difficult topics more digestible for her audience.

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PRE-CONCEPTION

A common practice throughout the Caribbean is to go out and bathe in the first rain of May. Some will collect it and bottle it up for later use in spiritual baths. It's believed to hold fertile energy, good luck, and cleansing and healing properties. It isn't uncommon to see people collecting the water or bathing in the rain as it pours down. While this isn't a practice exclusive to the Caribbean, the connection is important for the story I'm going to share.

Many years ago, I had a dream about a friend of mine. In this dream, I saw her dancing in the rain, her face filled with joy and excitement. Then I saw her pregnant in her mother's living room, surrounded by flowers and the people she loved most, with a soft green light washing over her. When I woke up, I immediately called to tell her about it, as I believe that pregnancy dreams are never to be dismissed. She laughed and brushed it off, because while she knew what I see in my dreams tends to come to fruition (as with many dreams), especially regarding new life and death, a baby was not on her to-do list. I reminded her, "I'm only the messenger and you can do with this information what you choose, but be mindful."

A little while later, she shared a video on social media of her dancing in the rain. It happened to be the first rain of May in the Dominican Republic, where she was visiting. I wrote her jokingly that I'd be starting my preparations for the baby shower. We both had a good laugh, and she mentioned that her family members had told her about women bathing in the first rain of May in hopes of becoming pregnant. I told her, "Listen, either a baby is on the way or you'll be birthing a new project"-though I knew in my gut which it would be.

A month or so went by, and she called me and said, "I have to start listening to you, because why am I pregnant now?" It wasn't planned, it just came to be. And yes, she had her baby shower in her mother's apartment. As I look back, I still can't help but laugh. That baby was determined to let her know it was coming into this world one way or another. Sometimes pregnancy requires planning and effort, sometimes it doesn't.

NOT EVERY SEED WE SOW WILL GROW

When trying to conceive, we can get so caught up in the timelines of others. We see friends, family, even people we barely know who seem to get pregnant without trying. It seems to just happen for them, while it can feel like it is taking forever or is impossible for us.

Our timelines always differ from everyone else's, but that doesn't make it hurt any less. The act of releasing expectations, surrendering to the process, is easier said than done-especially while still making an effort to be intentional about conception. How do we find our rhythm? How do we flow with this process? There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and that can be the hardest thing to accept. It is the first step, though, of how our children come to be. In another way, it's a lesson in parenting: things don't always go as planned and we aren't the only person in this. A child is their own person, with their own plans, which is something we have to both respect and work with. Like when they learn to walk, we can provide guidance, support, and someone to catch them should they stumble-but they have to take the steps on their own.

We often hear parents say, "You were just a twinkle in my eye," when telling their children about how they came to be. Before they are conceived in the physical plane, children are realized in our minds and in the spiritual realm. Even the thought of wanting to conceive can sometimes plant that seed in the universe. For some, this takes a long time to become anything; for others, it grows into the opportunity to adopt, or it may eventually grow into a wanted pregnancy (this includes surrogate pregnancies as well).

We plant the seed, but ultimately many factors come into play. We're not the only party involved, and all paths to parenthood are unique-which makes sense, because our life paths are one of a kind, and so are those of our children. None of this makes for a 1 + 1 = 2 situation. This is frustrating (it would be so helpful if there were a fail-proof formula!), but the first step is understanding that your experience won't look like anyone else's, so there's no point in comparing-especially since we don't know what others have gone through to get here. These differences shape us into the type of parent we'll be. Your journey here didn't look like everyone else's, so why would your time raising children look like everyone else's?

The way forward is not linear, and this can be hard to embrace. Sometimes our most careful plans miss the whole picture or don't account for other factors. This is where spirit can come in and transform our expectations. The spirit of the child may have certain things they agreed to before coming here. Shifts in how they come into this world may need to occur. Surrendering to that is part of the process, but it is far from easy to do.

While my child's father and I were trying to conceive, it seemed like everyone around me was getting pregnant like it was nothing. It was so hard for me to experience joy for my friends while sitting with the grief I experienced each time I got my period. There were baby showers I attended with a heavy heart and a fake smile on my face. There were baby showers I didn't attend at all. I didn't want to take away from anyone's joy at such a special time. Some people are able to think to themselves, It's happening to those around me; soon it'll be me. I couldn't get myself into that perspective, although I did try. What helped me most was being real with myself, setting boundaries, connecting with nature, and practicing self-kindness during the waves of feelings-and we'll get into how to do all of that. Being real about how I felt was important because fronting like I had faith when it felt like the most difficult task wasn't going to do anything for me. It wasn't going to change my circumstances or make me feel better while I waited. I'd only be masking my true emotions. Eventually all masks have to come off, so it's better to never put one on.

WORKING WITH MOON CYCLES

Throughout this emotional roller coaster, the moon was one of my greatest allies for retreating, releasing, building backup, and riding the changes in the tides of my emotions. In the times I felt most full, it illuminated what I was praying for, and it was my guiding source in the times I felt deep uncertainty. If you find yourself having difficulty at any stage of the conception process, consider looking to the moon for support. You can even just talk to her.

Working with the moon is powerful, especially in regard to conception. The moon possesses a special feminine energy, one that can manipulate the tides and influence our menstrual cycles. The end of our cycle each month is the shedding of the lining that was built to keep a baby inside and safe, which your body releases if there is no baby. The moon helps pull that down. It's only right that it would help in the process of a seed being planted, holding tight instead of shedding the lining.

After all, the moon is a mother, too.

The new moon is a time for setting intentions and new beginnings. Here is a simple ritual you can do to work with this phase of the moon.

New Moon, New Intentions

Florida water*

A white beeswax taper candle

Handful of dried patchouli leaf

Handful of dried rose

Handful of dried raspberry leaf

A heat-safe dish

A pen and paper

*Florida water is a spiritual cologne that can be found in botanicas,
metaphysical stores, Latine groceries, and bodegas. Some practitioners make their own Florida water that can be purchased through them as well.

1. First, cleanse...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2024
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593543424
• ISBN 13: 9780593543429
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Auflage: 3
• Anzahl der Seiten: 240
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Deutschland