Naming traditions: Nenets

Today naming traditions from the Nenets. From cold cold Siberia!

Were you named after... a SONG?

Did your motherhood path start with sounds? Voices? Songs? Did you sing to your baby inside or used music for birth? Does your child settle to sleep with a specific tune?

For the Nenets singing is a kind of medicine, so everyone has a Song, since birth, considered like an AMULET, a protection for life.

Songs, "syo", for babies are called "ngatsyeki syo, children song, and it is the personal song of a newborn baby, composed by her mother. Hopes and dreams are reflected in this "ngatsyeki syo" and It is used until she can compose her own song. 

How amazing is this? 

(...) "When I was born my land Yamal 

had taken off his white sovik (fur coat)

And my native land Gyda had joyfully put on her beautiful decorated yagushka (coat).

And in honour of my birth my motherland sang with the many voices of nature."

(from Let us come together, traditional song)

A newborn in Nenets family is only named after the umbilical cord fells off (and not before both mother and child take a rite of purification), and baby can only be named by the most RESPECTED woman in the family: a grandmother, an aunt, or a midwife.

Newborn receive two names, an “Open” name, known by everyone, and a “closed” one, known only by close relatives. Nenets traditional names reflect the peculiarities of a child’s birth or his purpose in life and respected people are not called by their name, it's considered rude. Actually as they get older, the names of Nenets become TABOO.

How interesting is this?! I cannot believe how much the traditions change from culture to culture! Uau!

And one more thing! I just find it so beautiful how the nomadic people live in total REVERENCE to nature! Nenets survival is connected, totally!, to the reindeer (white deer are even considered SACRED and their horns decorated with red ribbons) and they believe there is a kind of a pact, with the reindeer OFFERING themselves for subsistence and transport, and the tribe PROTECTING them from predators during the seasonal migrations. 

Every culture, every #sacredtribe honors specific #sacredbeginnings .

What about you? What are your family #namingtraditions ?

Naming traditions: Hawai

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#sacredlivingmovement

Aloha everyone! More, more, more naming traditions! Today, Hawaii! 

"Inoa po"

name in the night

a name received in a dream

Dreams. Did you meet your baby in your DREAMS? Did you receive signs about conception, guidance about birth or visions about your child's appearance in your sleep?

For the people of Hawaii this is a naming path: dreaming. 

Names are of great importance to Hawaiians and parents (or grandparents) dreams are prophetic, and those names believed to influence the child’s mana and SPIRITUAL development.

Native Hawaiians have many names; a spiritual (dream) name, family name, and nickname or characteristic name (and sometimes an event name!).

Ancestor lineage names can be sometimes kept SECRET to protect a royalty origin for instance.

The name itself is believed to hold POWER and if needed will be changed. If the child gets sick, for instance, a new name can "cure". If there is a shameful event the family the surname can be dropped and a new family name invented for all the future generations.

Naming traditions vary, it can happen that the baby’s parents choose the name; some families have one person that names all the babies in the family; other families have a kupuna (grandparent) or kumu (master) that is called to name the baby.

If someone other than the parents names the baby, the name chosen is traditionally based on how the pregnancy or delivery happen and how the baby acts after birth.

Hawaiian names are UNIQUE to that individual, babies are rarely named after someone else.

Naming a child requires much prayer and reflection, so being asked to name a child is an honor that people take very seriously. 

Birth names are powerful and often express qualities hoped for, or seen, in a child. Once a name is needed, the entire ‘ohana starts looking for signs and INSPIRATION. 

It is so beautiful how true Hawaiian names reveal themselves in so many ways.

It is common for most people to answer to a short version of their name, many times, literally, as long as a LOVE SONG... 

Wow... Oh please share, what #namingtraditions are you creating (even if only in your dreams!), #sacredtribe ?

Naming traditions: Native America

Howgh everyone! More naming traditions...

Today, Native America!

"May the warm winds of heaven blow gently on your house, and may the great spirit bless all who enter. May your moccasins make happy tracks in many snows, and may the rainbow always touch your shoulder."

Native American naming traditions, vary a lot from tribe to tribe but many are drawn from nature. 

"Look to the Earth 

And to the Skies 

The Sun, the Moon, and to the Stars You who would be wise.

For they contain the full measure of man 

The height, the breadth, the depth, the span of his entirety. (...)

Look to the Earth 

And to the Skies 

In Spring and Summer, Winter and in the Fall.

Watch life begin, unfold, then fade and die 

To rise anew 

Time and again for 

Time Untold

You who would be wise..."

~ Kenneth Meadows

However, Native American Baby names could also be descriptive or chosen as nicknames like "Little Black Eyes". 

An Apache women is more likely to have poetic names that reflected their physical beauty, like Morning Star, or that reflected their temperament, such as a firey temper or a mild manner, or after a physical tribute like small hands or feet, but they could also be named after some noteworthy deed or a skill they were particularly good at.

According to Lakota tradition, the Naming Ceremony was one of the Seven Sacred Ceremonies given by White Buffalo Woman.  

Have you ever been asked about your spirit name? One Grandmother, Waynonaha Two Worlds, explains that to a native person this is much more important than the legal name. A person’s spirit name tells you something about their personality and their mission in this life.

A baby name changes with adulthood and is actually often chosen to mark major events in life, changing with new achievements, life experiences and accomplishments.

A Cherokee boy now approaching manhood sent a gift and asked for an adult name. 

"I am praying that Grandfather will give a name for him with sweet grass and sage prayers, drumming, meditation and fasting. When the name is given in a dream or simply know in the heart, in a ceremony, the name shall be given to the man."

Names given by Grandfather through a person on the spirit path are considered prophetic. Any name earned as a result of good deeds for the people is considered significant.

Protective Totem animals, found by astrological study of the time of birth, can also inspire a name, as they believed that not only could one possess the traits and qualities of their own birth totems, but also explore and experience the traits of any and all of the totems at various times in life.

Native American Names often had "so personal and sacred a meaning" that they were never used as familiar or ordinary address.

 

This, inspires me.

What about you? Inspired by nature and animal names in your family traditions?

A beautiful prayer to honor sacred beginnings...

"Now you will feel no rain, 

For each of you will be shelter to the other. 

Now you will feel no cold, 

For each of you will be warmth to the other. 

Now there is no more loneliness, 

For each of you will be companion to the other. 

Now you are two bodies, 

But there is one life before you. 

Go now to your dwelling place, 

To enter into the days of your togetherness. 

And may your days be good and long upon the earth."

~ The Apache Wedding Prayer

... a prayer for a couple but... Can you read your mother&baby LoveStory in these words? I can <3

Naming traditions: Maori

Today... More naming traditions from around the world!

Mother Earth honoring gets a whole new meaning where specific tree barks are resting place for umbilical cords.

Grounding takes root in deeper dimension where placentas are buried in tribal land, forever connecting mother and child to Divine creation.

Have you heard of a culture so deeply rooted in the Magic of the Beginnings, that feeds their people, in every moment of their lives, with Myths and Legends where humans are no different from the weather, the stars and the moon, the fish of the sea, the birds of the forest, and the forests themselves?

A culture where the word for family. "whānau", is the same as for giving birth?

Maori people, from New Zeland, have amazing traditions and myths around conception, pregnancy and birth. Oh it's just so inspiring!

It is so important for this culture that the word "hapū", for example, means both clan and pregnant! Every element of this Sacred path is honored and given deep meaning. 

Did you know one of the rituals for a desired pregnancy is for the woman to stand over the "whenua" (this is the word for both placenta and land!) of a new-born child? 

After birth, babies are blessed with water in a meaningful ceremony, and given names based on these, full of Magic, Polynesian myths and rituals. 

These legends speak of Māori's ideas about the creation of the universe and the origins of gods and of people, and it is all so connected, all so... Whole, that they practice "Whāngai", a child adoption tradition where children are raised by close relatives... It is believed this emphasises a child’s connection to whānau (family) and iwi, the collective from whom their identity comes.

Wow! 

What about you? How do other culture's practices inspire your family traditions? 

With Love, 

#sacredbeginnings

#namingtraditions

#sacredlivingmovement

#sacredtribe

Naming traditions: Africa

Baby Buzz by Sacred Beginnings #sacredbeginnings #namingtraditions #sacredtribe

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Yebo! Mono! Hujambo everyone! 

Absolutely fascinated by Naming traditions around the world.

Named after a stream of water, the color of the sky, an orange sunset or a scary storm...?

Named for protection or after a feeling your mother had while pregnant, or a fear the father experienced at the time of the birth?

Named with the stars, the flowers blooming near or the sounds animals made when you arrived earth side?

This is Africa! 

Naeku: born in the early morning

Badru: born from a full moon

Such a huge continent we can't really say traditions are divided like the countries are, so... Let's talk about tribes! (FASCINATING tribes!)

For most, naming ceremonies PRAYERS are accompanied by EXOTIC ingredients like... alligator pepper, to energize the child's speech; honey, sugar, and bitter kola nuts, which symbolize the duality of life's sweet and sour experiences; native chalk and salt, to symbolize happiness; water, because it has no enemy; and palm oil, seen as an emollient to life's problems.

Onaiwu: This child will not die again.

Osamamianmianmwen: God did not forget me.

With the Maasai the baby gets a temporary name or “embolet” (opening) at birth, and the real naming ceremony is held later (sometimes three years after). Until the naming ceremony mother and baby stay in seclusion and let their hair grow long, to be shaved at the time of the naming. 

It is the women that study the child's personality and decide what name to be given. They bless the child by saying "May this name LIVE in you".

Ighiwiyisi: I shall not get lost in a foreign land.

Iyare: Safe journey.

Babies born in Swahili communities also get a "birth" name (jina la utotoni), usually given by an elder. This name describes the child's appearance. 

Biubwa: soft and smooth

Haidar: the one who looks strong

About 40 days after birth baby gets an adult name decided by parents (or paternal grandparents).

In west Africa, Sierra Leona, people only give the baby a name when the umbilical cord has dropped off, it is believed until then the baby does not have an identity.

The SHAVING of the baby's head is a common practice in most tribes.

The Himba mothers and baby stay away from the community for a week, after this, the child is brought to the SACRED FIRE and introduced to the SPIRITS of the ancestors. The child is given names from the patrilineal and matrilineal lines, ensuring that the origins of the child are known.

Kito: jewel 

Zalika: born to royalty 

What about you... What naming traditions do you follow?

Naming traditions: China

Nín hǎo everyone! Inspired by more Naming traditions.

Today... China!

The Chinese wouldn’t dream of naming a baby before she’s born.

For life in the womb babies are given false names, or milk names, to scare away evil spirits. Wow this is interesting! So it is believed that if Parents refer to their baby with an animal name or as "ugly" this will trick the spirits into thinking the baby is not worthy of a kidnapping... 

The Chinese sometimes have four or five names for a person — one for childhood, one for school, one for after graduation, and even one after death.

Ancestors and family names are very important here and when the Chinese meet someone for the first time, they usually ask: "May I have your family name?"

To announce the baby’s birth, the father sends money and wine to his in-laws. Special ribbons fastened to the wine jar signify if the baby is a boy or a girl. Parents send red eggs to close family and friends — an even number for a girl, odd for a boy.

The child is only named when older.

What about you? How did you name your child?

#sacredbeginnings #namingtraditions #sacredtribe

#sacredlivingmovement

Naming traditions: India

Namaste everyone!

(Photo credit: Joel Suganth "Mother and child")

Are you, also, fascinated about all traditions and customs around the world that honor so much sacredness on the baby's arrival Earth side...?

I am! 

Today.... India.

Did you know it is common in India to name the baby only after the birth? 

Mainly because the family astrologer (which is also a pandit, priest) is called to bring guidance to this Sacred Beginning.

According to the date and time of birth of the child, a particular letter is chosen, associated with the child's solar birth sign (soorya Rashi), and this is believed to be auspicious and bring good  luck for the baby. 

The baby is then given a name starting with that letter. And the father whispers the name four times in the right ear of the baby... 

Oh, what a beautiful way to start drawing the Roadmap of Parenting, don't you think?

Do you have any special naming traditions in your family? I would love to know!

With love.

#sacredbeginnings #namingtraditions #sacredtribe

#sacredlivingmovement