Birth and childhood: practices that mark them
Protecting the newborn, naming rites and the charms hung over a cradle.
Birth and childhood are surrounded by protection because newborns and mothers are seen as especially vulnerable. Customs include the Indian black dot and kajal, the Turkish blue bead pinned to a baby, the Jewish red thread and the pidyon haben, the Chinese month of confinement, the Ghanaian outdooring, Yoruba naming ceremonies, the Italian cornicello and the Mexican red bracelet. This page looks at what these practices are said to do and what safe care requires.
Protecting mother and child
Many cultures ward off envy, spirits and illness during the early weeks. Mothers rest and are fed special foods, and visitors may be limited. Charms are hung over cradles and pinned to clothes. In many places the child is not named or shown to outsiders until a safe period has passed, and the naming is the moment of acceptance into the community. Families may also hold a feast for neighbours and kin, which spreads the work and the joy.
Naming and welcome
Naming rites place the baby among kin and ancestors. In Ghana the Akan outdooring takes place on the eighth day. In Hindu tradition, the namakarana is held in the first weeks. Muslim families whisper the call to prayer in the child's ear and hold an aqiqah. Jewish families hold a brit milah or a naming ceremony. In many African traditions a child is thought to be an ancestor returned. Parents in several regions tie a knot or a bead on the baby and keep a lamp lit through the first nights.
Midwives and women's knowledge
Midwives hold much of this knowledge, and many are respected elders. Their role has been undermined by medicalisation in some places and valued in others. In colonial and early modern Europe, midwives were sometimes accused of witchcraft. Today, many programmes train traditional birth attendants to work with clinics, because skilled medical care greatly reduces risk. Other customs, such as a month of confinement or the burying of the placenta, are held in many families and also have health consequences that vary from region to region.
Harm and care
Some customs harm: infants taken from care for rituals, twins or disabled children believed to bring misfortune, and, in some places, children accused of being witches. Others have been outlawed or reformed. Anyone with a pregnant or newborn child should seek proper medical care, whatever protective customs a family also keeps. Fathers and relatives share in the rites, and the first outing of the child, the first haircut and the first solid food are all marked in different cultures.
Birth and childhood on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 3 moreAmulet
A portable object worn or carried to ward off harm and invite fortuneCharm 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 4 moreCunning folk
European practitioners of folk medicine and helpful magic from the Middle Ages to the twentieth centuryTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Historical
馃嚭馃嚘 Ukraine and 1 moreUkrainian folklore
The folk traditions of Ukraine and its ethnic communitiesTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 5 moreBonfire
A large outdoor fire used in seasonal festivals and religious feasts across many culturesRite 路 Cleansing and purification 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚞馃嚬 Guatemala and 3 moreMaya religion
The living spiritual practices of the Maya peoples, shaped by centuries of contact with Catholicism.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 5 moreAmulet
A portable object worn or carried to ward off harm and invite protection.Charm 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreBirthing girdle
A medieval charm worn during pregnancy to ensure a safe deliveryCharm 路 Protection Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceGello螕蔚位位蠋
A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection Historical
馃嚫馃嚲 Syria and 5 moreInsufflation
A ritual breath used in Christian rites to drive out evil or invite the spirit.Rite 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚳馃嚘 South Africa and 1 moreSacred caves of the Basotho
Cave networks in South Africa and Lesotho used by the Basotho for ancestral rituals and healingTradition 路 Healing 路 Protection Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Maya mythology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Birthing girdle: Sarah Fiddyment , Natalie J. Goodison , Elma Brenner , Stefania Signor, CC BY 4.0, source
- Amulet: Anonymous ( Egypt ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Ukrainian folklore: U.S. Army Europe Images, CC BY 2.0, source
- Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
- Sacred caves of the Basotho: JMK, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cunning folk: Midnightblueowl at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bonfire: S Marshall, CC BY 3.0, source