Jack of Many Trades

A Font of Baptismal Wisdom

Originally posted: 2014-04-01

The thing about building a tradition is that I have to build all of it, and sometimes things sneak up on me.

I was baptized Catholic, so I'm culturally acclimated to parents making certain decisions for their children. We do plan to raise the Fishie in our religion. I know some people don't think you should raise a child in any religion, but I think it'd be near-impossible to leave her out of daily practice, holydays, and everything else. Instead she'll have all the mythology picture books I can find and as soon as she has preferences for practicing (or not practicing) we will do our best to accommodate them.

I'm trying to decide whether I should be planning some sort of ritual for the Fishie when she's born. On the one hand, I don't want to give her any obligations or make any promises on her behalf. On the other, I made certain offerings and secured the help of certain deities before she was conceived, and it feels like I should, at the least, formally present her to her "Godmother."

I suppose I should start by consulting with Mara to see what, if anything, she expects and we can plan from there.

I know I have several readers who are building new traditions. Do you have birth rituals? What kinds of pagan rituals have you seen?