Rituals are what give our lives substance and the ability to find deeper meaning in our selves and in our connection with the world. When I use the term 'ritual,' I mean any set of actions with a spiritual goal. I have been involved with photographing and seeking out Ritualism with my husband Denny (author of Global Ritualism, Llewellyn 1994) for many years. In that time we have learned about hundreds of traditions and beliefs. During the last few years he and I have also been involved with teaching others how to connect with their higher selves using many of these ritual ideas. Nothing, though,  prepared me for the ritual that I photographed (as well as was a support person for) last month; the birth of my nephew.
 I have my own son, now just 5, but I was so personally involved with his birth that I really could not be aware of some aspects of the momentous occasion. This time it was my baby sister's turn, so it was as a helper and ritual documented that I was to witness the most scared of all ceremonies, the start of life. During the previous month I would call my sister daily and bug her, "Is it time yet??!!." I'm sure she got sick of that question, but I could not wait, I just wanted to hold that little baby. This was a high risk birth, so we all thought that he would be born early, but he came on his due date December 6. I got the call to meet at the hospital. It was perfect timing, 5:oopm. My husband stayed home with our son Forrest and I was off to the hospital. I was prepared for everything with a good luck stone for the birth (carnelian) and Lots of film to record this blessed event. Our cousin was there, my partner in intensity last February we had sat at the bedside of a beloved relative who was dying of cancer. We hugged, it was good news this time, a happy event, the other side of the coin from death. What, I asked Sue, is it about our Karma that we always meet at these moments of birth and death? We are like the ancient priestesses, I thought.
  My sister was relieved to see me, she didn't think I would make it in time. But how could I miss the birth? Her husband stood over her and watched, clearly out numbered and overwhelmed by the heavy feminine spirit in the room, but holding his own. My sister looked radiantly beautiful in labor. I told her how beautiful she was and I hated her for it. She laughed at my joke and went on to tell me that she was ready. It was tense for a few minutes due to some nursing chaos and my sister wanted it calm and peaceful in the room.  The doctor asked one nurse to leave at my sister request. With any great ritual work, there is almost always some sort of havoc or disturbance at the beginning. The best way is to deal with it is to banish, to clear the way to do the work that needs to be done. Just asking someone or something to leave the sacred area, to clear the space, is sometimes all that needs to be done. I had been shooting pictures for awhile and then sister started to bear down so I took another roll of the blessed event and we all started to share some of our birth stories. I mentioned that I had a son.
 "Oh, was he born at our hospital in Seattle?"
  My cousin laughed at the doctor and replied,  "No, he was born in Tokyo."
 I reflect back on the amazing birth of my own son and how different the situation was. We were not to sure where the best place was for my son to be born because we did not want to go to a Japanese hospital (they are in famously poor quality) and were concerned about what other options we had. We had to find a place and a doctor that was closer to our apartment. I was getting big and my physician said that I lived too far away from the hospital where she delivered. By pure "chance" we met our new doctor and midwife at my favorite restaurant in our neighborhood one evening. The Doctor introduced himself and asked how our dinner was, in excellent English, a shock for us. I was behind my husband so he could not see me. He introduced himself as a doctor and introduced his friend as a midwife! My husband smiled and said, "That is good we need one, my wife is pregnant!" We all smiled and we exchanged telephone numbers and addresses.
 The midwife, Akemi, is now one of our dear friends. We ended up having a very intense relationship and she showed me the way to have a baby in Japan. We used to call her "Tara", the Tibetan Goddess of Compassion because, well, she was for us! Meeting her led us to Dr. Kondo's clinic, merely blocks from us, and with her and him we had our child.
 As my sister started to push, we put out the objects various people had bought to speed up her birth and to welcome the baby. An African goddess statue to aid with a easy delivery brought by Sue, the triangular carnelian stone to help with birth and healing, and a fifty dollar bill because my sister and I are descendants of President Grant! The diamond earrings, birth gift from her husband, came latter. All lined up in a row, here was our family's personal mythology as ritual items.
 In  Japan it was very different, but the rituals were very similar in some ways. I went to a shrine (Suitengu, sacred to the Goddess of water and birthing) to be blessed to have a safe birth. A priest and priestess blessed us all in a group ceremony, strangers and friends together. I was the only foreigner there, but I was just as welcome. There is a statue of a dog surround by other animals in the Chinese zodiac in front. The dog is good luck because they have such easy births, so I (like everyone else) patted the dog on the nose to help ensure an easy birth, like dogs do. I also got several 'Omamori' or charms for the same purpose.
 Though my sister didn't have an Omamori, she had other charms as I mentioned, like the African goddess, and we all prayed for an easy birth. The head started to crown and my sister was very well attended; our cousin Sue is an MD and also present was a resident as well as a top Obstetrician.  When I gave birth in Tokyo, I had a family practice doctor as well as a top a Surgeon ( a friend of mine and Akemi's who wanted to deliver his first foreign baby) and I also had two midwives. Our positions were pretty much the same, the main difference was the language and the place of birth.
  My sister's baby was born in a Hospital, where my baby was born in a Tokyo clinic. The first floor was a waiting room and office and also where the doctor saw his patients. The older midwife, the wonderful Takahachi-san, had been with the same family for over 36 years. She had been the midwife for the doctor's wife and helped with the birth of his three children. She also was with Dr. Kondo's father who was also a physician. Her life is dedicated to one family and helping other women. This is very Japanese, the ritual of birth is mostly a female mystery and Osambasan (midwives) are the respected priestesses of this mystery.
 On the second floor of the new clinic was the birthing room, a tatami room, a bath,  shower and a western room complete with bed, telephone, TV and all the extras. On the third floor is where the doctor lived with his family. Really, it was almost a home birth, but I guess I could call it a home -away -from -home birth.
 "Push!" they told my sister and she screamed and pushed but still no baby.  Any moment he would be coming and I was now finishing my third roll of film. I reloaded both of my cameras so to be sure I would not miss the baby while I was busy putting film in. She pushed again and we all told her what a great job she was doing. I looked at the sacred, objects the were laid earlier at her head, they were very different than the ones that I had in Tokyo, but the same in essence. I had my Omomori, good luck talismans from different shrines, and my favorite was one a little boy, the son of one of my Japanese friends, had given me.  I also had on a pearl ring from my husband, for me it was to focus on, but to the midwives it was another good-luck amulet. When they brought me into the birthing room, they seriously asked me if I had my good luck charms. I did and we were all happy.
 As my sister's baby started to come, we all watched as this beautiful baby boy was born and we cried and cheered and welcomed the baby whose name turned out to be the same as the guy on the 50 dollar bill. What a beautiful boy he is! The nurse went to work as my sister and brother-in-law hugged and looked at each other so lovingly.
 "You can have anything you want," he told her.
 "Get that in writing," said the Doctor.
 We all started to laugh. My cousin had to leave to go to her practice. and then the after -birth came next. We started to share old 'wives tales' (ancient sacred traditions, actually)  about planting a tree with the afterbirth. "I want a corkscrew willow," my sister said. But who would do it? Accepting my role as a Ritualist, I offer to take the afterbirth home then they put it in a bag for me. I have an acre of  garden, I will plant the tree for her. In Tokyo you cannot have the afterbirth, they sell it to make Chinese medicine with it, but they do give you a piece of the umbilical cord in a ceremonial box. This I still have, one of my most powerful sacred objects!
  So as my sister cradled her newborn son, I left with the after- birth and came home to my now five year old son reflecting the rituals of these two births. In each one, the sacred space was really ruled by priestesses. In America, this sacred aspect of the birth ritual is still there but not so obvious. In Japan it is very clear, the ritual of birth is sacred and important and taken very seriously. I look forward to my return visit to Tokyo in February. I am going there to give psychic readings for two weeks (Feb. 15-29.)  But there is also a sacred ritual to this return trip for me, it will be a pilgrimage to the sacred place where I gave birth and I will honor there the wise-women who helped me so much. Maybe someday the healers, midwives, women doctors and nurses in our culture will again be honored in this way.

 PS- Greetings New Babies Grant and Rowen!