This baptism of a wonderful little boy is a story in pictures. I love to help connect a child with this world of beauty and its forces of nature. With baptisms, as well as my other ceremonies, it is very important to create a sacred balance with the four directions and the four elements.

Traditional baptism in our culture is with water, and that is beautiful, however
I like to add air, fire and earth to the mix. Some couples ask me to do a totem animal retrieval for the baby, and when I do that I also create a pillow filled with herbs from the ceremony. I embroider the animal on the pillow and this can be placed in the crib.

When planning the ceremony with the parents we discuss religious and spiritual beliefs, values and intentions for the baby's life journey. Each baptism/welcoming ceremony is custom designed for that child.

Click on the thumbnail to bring up the large picture.

"Blanky too!" Wait a minute. What about my bear? After I had gone through the first three elements, this little boy suddenly realised that his teddy bear blanket wasn't getting blessed. I started over, but it was worth it to see his ernest contemplation of the bear getting baptised too.

Babies and children pick up on the sacredness and the energy of ceremony and they love it. Children frequently ask if they can help me set up a ceremony. They do it so reverently and pay attention to all the details.