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6. My Dream Come True
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>> 153 6 My Dream Come True “My Dream Come True”: Erin’s Blessing Ceremonies Eoin laughs in a deep, full belly laugh that seems absurdly large coming from a three-month-old baby. The guests who have gathered at Erin’s home this evening for Eoin’s baby blessing ceremony find it impossible to resist tickling him and swinging him in the air, just for the reward of that unlikely sound. The adults admire the baby as the four older children —three daughters of guests and Erin’s older daughter, Aisling— play a loud and elaborate game of tag in the dining room. A plaster cast of Erin’s nine-month-pregnant belly is displayed in the living room near two large, framed portraits, one of Erin and Aisling and one of Erin pregnant with Eoin. In the middle of the coffee table, the altar is laid out for tonight’s ritual. In addition to the standard candles, feathers, and food are elements that make it clear this is not an ordinary adult ritual. Piled in one corner are a handful of plastic baby rattles, and in the other corner of the table are two large, wooden cutouts of the sun and moon, one for Eoin and one for Aisling. This “baby blessing” will be a blessing ceremony for both of Erin’s children. Because Erin was not yet Wiccan when six-year-old Aisling was born, Aisling did not receive a dedication or blessing ceremony when she was an infant. Throughout the evening, Erin repeatedly mentions that she wishes she had been able to raise Aisling Wiccan from birth, as Eoin will be. Because her 154 > 155 guests read invocations to the remaining Quarters, calling on them to grant the children strength of will, empathy, clarity, and “rich soil to root in.” The guests read similar requests for blessings from the God and Goddess, asking Lord Apollo to make them “valiant and wise” and Lady Artemis to make them as “strong, free, and independent as you are.” After all the blessings are completed, Erin explains, “Now I’ll say my vows to the children and give them their Wiccan names, until they’re old enough to choose their own.” She smiles and adds, “I’m just going to read what I’ve written here. I’m not going to go into detail right now, because I’ll start crying. I’ll tell them the rest in private another time.” She clears her throat and begins, “Eoin, my little blessing,” then pauses to explain to the group, “I call Eoin ‘my blessing’ because I didn’t think I’d have another baby and another chance to do all the things I wanted to do with a baby, like this kind of ceremony.” She continues: “Thank you for choosing me as your mommy. I promise to love, respect, and protect you and to be the best mom I can be.” She gives Eoin his magical Wiccan name, explaining that it means “blessing.” Then she turns to Aisling and says, “Aisling has already had to deal with all my mistakes. Now here’s where I make my vows to her. Aisling, my dream come true—I call her ‘my dream come true’ because all my life I wanted a little girl named Aisling, and I got her. Aisling, thank you for choosing me as your mommy.” She repeats her promise to love, respect, and protect her, then says Aisling’s magical name, explaining that it means “dream,” “because Aisling is my dream come true.” Aisling says quietly, “I think I like ‘Aisling’ a little better,” and Erin assures her, “Well, Aisling is still your other name.” Erin reads from the ritual text again: “Lord, Lady, Elements, and Friends, bear witness to the vows I have made to Eoin and Aisling. Let them be known by their Wiccan names by all who are present here. Welcome them. Greet them and give them your blessings.” The rest of the children and adults present respond in unison, reading from their prompts: “We welcome them in perfect love and trust.” * * * This chapter considers the formal inclusion of children into contemporary Paganism through adult-led rituals such as Wiccanings and coming -of-age rites.1 As Pagan adults construct and conduct these rituals to 156 > 157 and each child is thanked for his or her voluntary choice to be born into this particular family. Despite variations in setting and personal preferences in ritual structure and content, Wiccanings...