Description
Book SynopsisIn this guide to consciously exploring the shamanic journey of pregnancy and parenthood, Anna Cariad-Barrett offers techniques and ceremonies to honor the transformation of becoming a parent and engage the sacred wisdom-keeper within. She provides tools and meditations to create personal shamanic medicine to support you and your family on this journey as well as connect with the wisdom of nature, expand your intuition, and explore altered states of consciousness. Restoring honour to the shadow side of parenthood, the author discusses the shamanic perspective on miscarriage, fertility, sexuality, postpartum stress and depression, blended families, and adoption as a form of birthing through the heart. She explains how to heal any deep psychic wounds from your birth family and transform negative beliefs you may hold about parenthood. She provides chapters on each trimester of pregnancy, offering specific teachings and techniques appropriate to each stage as well as conception, birth, and the postpartum period.
Trade Review“In a day and age where parents are pulled in so many directions, we forget the power and the wisdom within, the wisdom we were born with. Anna Cariad-Barrett reclaims this deep wisdom and reminds us that we are sacred beings. She supports the physical and emotional layers of becoming a parent--for the first or tenth time. Anna walks us through each trimester like no other book has done and provides simple tools to bring great abundance to our journey. She reminds us of the importance of being in a partnership and making our relationship a priority. This book is a must-read.” * Sarah Longacre, founder and owner of Blooma, prenatal yoga instructor, and birth doula *
“Whether you are pregnant, adopting, trying to get pregnant, or raising small children, single or with a partner, this book is a must-read! Anna Cariad-Barrett carefully articulates the issues and challenges you are facing and offers clear guidance on how to deal with them. Her information, stories, and guided visualizations are relevant regardless of your situation. I wish this book had been available when I was first pregnant and parenting young children.” * Nicki Scully, author of Sekhmet: Transformation in the Belly of the Goddess *
“Anna Cariad-Barrett’s book is an essential companion for anyone on the transformational journey of creation, whether birthing a baby, a family, or one’s self. By connecting us with the wisdom of nature and our inner knowing, she has taken the journey to a whole other dimension. A must-read for childbirth and parenting education if we are to secure a better future for humanity.” * Thea Summer Deer, author of Wisdom of the Plant Devas *
“A beautiful book about the powerful transformation process that takes place when one sets out to become a parent. Anna Cariad-Barrett weaves the often overlooked sorrows of the journey, including pregnancy loss and pregnancy after loss, with the joys that are imprinted into an individual’s identity as a parent.” * Lindsey M. Henke, MSW, LICSW, founder of Pregnancy After Loss Support *
“To birth and raise a child in today’s world may be one of the greatest of initiations. Anna Cariad-Barrett has created a wonderful book, exploring the soul contract between the spirits of an incoming child and its parents. This book is a thoughtful psychospiritual guide that will assist in your personal transformation.” * Hank Wesselman, Ph.D., anthropologist, author of The Re-Enchantment *
“Anna Cariad-Barrett beautifully writes about the joys and challenges of parenthood from a unique and refreshing perspective of shamanic initiation. She connects parenthood with a larger perspective of a spiritual journey through life. Reading this book brings ancient shamanic practices into everyday life, enhancing and empowering people to be joyful and effective parents!” * Nita Gage, DSPS, MA, coauthor of Soul Whispering *
“Anna Cariad-Barrett has written a profoundly important work for all parents, whether their child is yet to be born or is already alive at any age. Our culture has only weakly supported the most sacred of the rites of passage--birth. Many of our family traditions shared wisdom and positive experiences in raising a child; but many more could only pass down trauma and dysfunction to the next generation. This book is for anyone who wants to transform existing patterns in their own or the collective family and offers practical and spiritual exercises for assistance. Bravo, Anna, the children of the world thank you.” * Kathryn W. Ravenwood, author of How to Create Sacred Water: A Guide to Rituals and Practices *
Table of ContentsForeword by Linda Star Wolf
Acknowledgments
Introduction A Psychospiritual Exploration of Parenthood
Part 1
SOULFUL PARENTING
A Shamanic Psychospiritual Path
1 The Soulful Parenthood Journey A Multifaceted Process of Embodiment
2 Psychospiritual Initiation Healing and Transforming Ourselves as Parents
3 Rebirthing into Parenthood
4 Connecting with the Wisdom of Nature
5 Expanding Consciousness, Exploring Your Gifts
Part 2 OUR DEEPEST TEACHERS
The Light and Dark of Creating a Family
6 Opening to the Wisdom of Your Fertility Journey
7 Pregnancy Loss and Miscarriage The Lost Teachers of Creation
8 Adoption Birthing through the Heart
9 Blended Families Weaving New Relationships
Part 3 Psychospiritual Support for the Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum Journey
10 The First Trimester of Pregnancy
11 The Second Trimester of Pregnancy
12 The Third Trimester of Pregnancy
13 The Birth Journey
14 Early Parenting and the Postpartum Period
15 Soul to Soul
The Family Journey
Index
