Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Ideas for Lughnasadh?

I was just talking to my partner about what we should do with Rowan for the upcoming sabbat. When our son, Rowan, was born we made a commitment to observe all the sabbats with him from the very start. We want him to have fondly remembered rituals and holidays from childhood.

But observing sabbats with a child under one is difficult. What to do? We've had decent rituals (albeit simple ones) with him thus far, but his particular age and ability level is getting harder and harder to accomodate.

His first sabbat was Imbolc, and he was tiny. We introduced him to Nimue, one of the gods of the Feri pantheon- (without getting too in depth and giving you a Feri 101, Nimue a child god who has power of a god in the hands of a six year old. She's impulsive, prone to fits of pique, and is fiercely protective of her children.) When we did Imbolc with Rowan, we were parents for a mere few weeks. We were tired and the baby was small and less active than he is now. It was a simple introduction, in front of her altar in our temple.

Oestara was lovely- we had Feri guests and together we held a ritual specifically for baby Rowan- he was blessed by each person there and then introduced to our 7 directional Feri guardians. He got hungry during the ritual and mom and baby had to sit at one point and get our boob on in circle, but the ritual was lovely nonetheless.

Beltaine we went up to Wolf Creek Radical Faerie Sanctuary in Oregon and did their Walpurgisnacht bonfire, Maypole dance, and introduced Rowan to the Sacred Land where he was conceived (the previous Beltaine).

Midsummer was a simple feast and introducing him to bits of fruit.

And now we are coming up on Lughnasadh, when Rowan will be 6 months old- a wiggly, squiggly 6 month old who won't hold still or keep quiet, nor will he be able to participate like a toddler could in dancing or as a preschooler could in crafts. So what do we with a child do at this age?

A wonderful go-to guide for slightly older children is Circle Round, written by three priestesses in the Reclaiming trad. I have a copy of this book and cannot recommend it enough. When Rowan gets older it will be a great resource for us! In the meantime, I intend on documenting what does and doesn't work with a child his age as we go along.

If anyone has age-appropriate activities you'd like to share, I'd be much obliged. Feel free to leave comments here on the blog- and we'll get a discussion started!

2 comments:

  1. My coven is hosting a Lughnasad ritual mostly geared toward adults but my 10 month-old will certainly enjoy playing with corn husks while we make corn dollies and looking at the ritual fire from the safety of mom or dad's arms. At this age we're mostly finding ways to include her in what we do, rather than trying to plan things especially for her.

    PS. Hey, nice blog! Check it out, I made one too: http://reproductiverites.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey there! I will check out your blog for sure!

    That sounds like a lovely ritual, and my son loves gazing at fires, too. We have also been taking him to adult-geared rituals (when the other adults consent), but sometimes there is nothing appropriate.

    I also found that often, many pagan parents miss out because there is nothing appropriate. And I sure wanted my son to have the sabbats! So lately, i addition to adult sabbats, we have been planning a second "kids sabbat" and letting other pagan families take part. They are so grateful! It seems like we tapped into a big need, at least where we live...

    ReplyDelete

Comments are welcome but moderated. Please be respectful when leaving a comment.