blessings

As women have always woven
so we weave this yarn into the circle of our lives.

As women have always woven time and the fates,
so let us weave this yarn into the circle of our lives.

As woman have always woven the seeds with the earth,
so let us weave this yarn into the circle of our lives.

As women have always woven baskets and tools.
so let us weave this yarn into the circle of our lives.

As women have always woven threads into clothing and shelter,
so let us weave this yarn into the circle of our lives.

As woman have always woven words into poetry,
so let us weave this yarn into the circle of our lives.

As women have always woven, so we weave this yarn
with the Goddess who is here with us.
The Goddess is always with us.

As each woman weaves the yarn around the woman next to her,
let her call on the Goddess to be with her in daily life.
Let us all answer, ‘Goddess be with us.'”

–Anne Kent Rush, Moon, Moon quoted in Blessingways by Shari Maser.

I’m in the middle of planning two blessingway ceremonies for friends. I’ve hosted enough of them, that I rarely look through my books anymore, but another friend borrowed the books recently and when she returned them, I skimmed through and settled on this beautiful reading. While it isn’t a match for the belief systems of the friends for whom we’re having the ceremonies, it is a match for me! At the close of a mother blessing, we often wind yarn or ribbon around our ankles or wrists as a symbol of our connection to each other and as a reminder to think of the pregnant woman as she approaches her birthing day. In our own tradition, as we pass the ribbon or yarn, rather than the reading above, we usually sing:

We Are the Weavers

 We are the flow

We are the ebb

We are the weavers

We are the web.

At a mother blessing ceremony last summer.