Child Development

Pregnancy was always considered the most important period in the life of women of all nations. That was usually a period when women were to observe special rules, and these rules were as a rule similar with different people.
People from Latvia - a country on the Baltic coast next to Lithuania and the Russian Federation - hope that the Goddess of Fate smiles kindly on their newborn baby. Latvians believe the Goddess of Fate, or Lamia, determines a child’s future the second he’s born.
They may also pray to Mara, or Mary, for help in childbirth. It’s believed that Mara rules the human body and can make a woman’s labor easy or difficult. Young wives will often try to get in Mara’s good graces with gifts even before they become pregnant. In ancient Latvia, babies were usually delivered in a small building called a pirt. Pirts are similar to Finnish saunas and are designed to be used as steam baths. Mothers, infants and midwives return to the pirt three days after a baby is born for a ceremonial bathing of the mother and the new baby called Pirtizas. Women who helped with the birth may also attend and take part in the ceremonial feast which follows. When leaving the pirt, a new mother will often leave a gift for Mara

Nine days after the baby is born, his or her godparents host a name-giving ceremony, or Krustaba, at the parents’ home which lasts two days. In Latvia, a baby girl has two godmothers and one godfather. A boy has two godfathers and one godmother. Parents usually appoint relatives as godparents. Latvians believe children inherit their godparents’ good qualities, so they select someone they’d like their children to emulate. In addition to participating in the name-giving ceremony, godparents are expected to raise the child in the event that the parents cannot.
The name-giving ceremony begins in the morning. Guests arrive bringing gifts for the baby and food for the feast. Talk is happy that day; it’s believed that there should be no unpleasant conversation at the ceremony. And women wear their best and most expensive jewelry. The actual name-giving ceremony is performed at Mara’s church — a sacred grove of oak or birch trees. At the church, guests receive a quick meal of bread, milk, cheese and honey. Guests eat the meal while standing. They then form a circle around the child to insure good habits and sound physical development of the child

The child is placed in water and the clergy performing the ceremony asks the godparents if they will accept the child and lift her into Mara’s sun or leave her in the water of the Vala Mate (Mother of Spirits). The godmother lifts the infant out of the water and holds the her in front of the symbol of the cross while all the godparents promise to care for the child. At that point the selected name is bestowed upon the baby. In Latvia, the godparents select their godchild’s name

When the newly named child returns home, everyone welcomes the child as a full-fledged family member, and the child’s name is announced. Songs of praise and good wishes are sung at a feast, and the godparents perform a ceremonial dance with the baby. Guests join in and soon everyone is singing good wishes for the child while executing a light dance step and passing the child from guest to guest

On the second day of the name-giving ceremony, the godparents attend the preparation of the cradle. The godfather first leads a party of guests to a nearby woods and selects a suitable pole for the cradle while other guests prepare a light basket to hold the infant. The godfather fastens the pole between the ceiling and the wall and affixes the cradle to the other end. The godmother places the baby into the cradle along with a gift. The other godparents and guests also place a gift in the cradle. The name-giving ceremony concludes with guests giving thanks for the new family member. And, they give the baby their best wishes that life will smile kindly upon him.

Such a beautiful and interesting ceremony! I also want to have 2 godmothers! So they can care about me!!!!!!! I just don’t like that godparents select their godchild’s name! I think that biological parent’s should choose it. This is their decision.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 24th, 2006 at 4:31 pm and is filed under About pregnancy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.