Naming ceremony

 To celebrate the name of your child with friends and family unites and brings people together in love, laughter and celebration. The naming ceremony welcomes a baby or a child into a family of love and security. Families cross cultures, gender and belief systems. It is important to embrace and welcome newcomers into our families, whether through birth or adoption. Celebrating extended family members is part of who we are and our communities thrive in a sense of belonging. Family, however they are created and whoever is included, is at the heart of the community, whether it is immediate family, friends or families forged through common interests; such gardening, allotments, street gatherings, village and town gatherings. Meeting up and celebrating community is part of our wellbeing, its part of what makes us human and our place within all living things. We live on a beautiful planet. Its diverse, colourful and magic. Let’s embrace it, nurture it and encourage community whatever the size, scale and who is involved.      

Naming ceremonies aren’t confined to birth and can be done for many different reasons. It’s a great choice for those wishing to welcome a child to a family outside of religious dogma. They are initiate, personal and fun.

Location, setting are up to you. The ceremony could take place in a garden, a street, a village green, a wood, a field, by a river, a lake, hotel grounds. Let your creativity dictate the event, the day, the surroundings. The ceremony could include a family coming into a community, or more than one child.  

This ceremony allows for a great deal of creativity and fun, as the family can be very interactive and play their part throughout. The giving of gifts or heirlooms is always quite poignant or, as an example, each member of the family could surround the child by handholding to welcome them into the tribe or spiritual belief system. Sand-blending has become quite a lovely and colourful way to symbolise the unbreakable union of all family members, by each family member pouring some sand into a jar or ball with the child pouring theirs in last. Music, readings and even animal involvement can help to create a standout day for all involved. A certificate and a memory album would be presented to the child as a keepsake, to map their journey and growth through life.