Experiences Awaken the Soul: Pre-Natal Psychology and the Mythology of Pregnancy
There are key moments in our lives when we have an experience that brings us out of a deep stupor. I didn't know I was in a stupor. I'm a student of mythology, and in general, my life and the culture at large is constantly being analysed through mythic perspectives. I thought this meant I was awake, aware, alive. Apparently, I wasn't as "present" as I thought I was.
Recently, my life has been ambulating in a synchronistic thread of events, jarring my consciousness into a newly awakened state.
First, my dear friends Liesel and Craig lost their beautiful newborn child, Lucas Jai, just a few days after his entrance into the world. At first, there was hope that he could make it and the doctors put him on life support. After a catscan was done it was discovered that Lucas' brain injury--not exactly sure what that means--was permanent and he would pass in a matter of weeks. His parents decided it would be best to release his soul from being between two worlds. Lucas was taken off of life support three days after his birth, and I am honored to say that I was witness to the event.
During, Lucas' memorial service, I heard a voice in my head say, "You're in the wrong line of work. Go talk to the doula." It was a surprising and disconcerting experience, but I decided I would follow my instinct and ask Liesel who her doula is. She introduced me to Nikole, who was wearing an almost identical lavendar pashmina shawl!
The synchronicity of my own interest in mother healing energy and the mother archetype that pervades all mythologies and Jungian psychology, seems to go along with being a birth doula. I'm still not sure how this will fit into my career as a mythologist, teacher and possible healer/therapist.
I'm finishing my PH.D. at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Mythological Studies, and do not have time at the moment to do doula training. My coursework will be completed in August 2005 and I will have a lot more time to devote to this new area of interest.
I'm wondering if there are any studies being done on the effect of the pregnant mother's psyche and emotions on the fetus. I think this falls into the area of Pre-natal Psychology. Just collecting mother's pregnancy and brith stories could be a wonderful, fulfilling experience.
Please post your comments about this topic or any resources that could be useful and enlightening. I added a bibliography sent over by a friend who did a paper on how music affects the fetus in utero -- to view, click below where it says "Comments"
Recently, my life has been ambulating in a synchronistic thread of events, jarring my consciousness into a newly awakened state.
First, my dear friends Liesel and Craig lost their beautiful newborn child, Lucas Jai, just a few days after his entrance into the world. At first, there was hope that he could make it and the doctors put him on life support. After a catscan was done it was discovered that Lucas' brain injury--not exactly sure what that means--was permanent and he would pass in a matter of weeks. His parents decided it would be best to release his soul from being between two worlds. Lucas was taken off of life support three days after his birth, and I am honored to say that I was witness to the event.
During, Lucas' memorial service, I heard a voice in my head say, "You're in the wrong line of work. Go talk to the doula." It was a surprising and disconcerting experience, but I decided I would follow my instinct and ask Liesel who her doula is. She introduced me to Nikole, who was wearing an almost identical lavendar pashmina shawl!
The synchronicity of my own interest in mother healing energy and the mother archetype that pervades all mythologies and Jungian psychology, seems to go along with being a birth doula. I'm still not sure how this will fit into my career as a mythologist, teacher and possible healer/therapist.
I'm finishing my PH.D. at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Mythological Studies, and do not have time at the moment to do doula training. My coursework will be completed in August 2005 and I will have a lot more time to devote to this new area of interest.
I'm wondering if there are any studies being done on the effect of the pregnant mother's psyche and emotions on the fetus. I think this falls into the area of Pre-natal Psychology. Just collecting mother's pregnancy and brith stories could be a wonderful, fulfilling experience.
Please post your comments about this topic or any resources that could be useful and enlightening. I added a bibliography sent over by a friend who did a paper on how music affects the fetus in utero -- to view, click below where it says "Comments"
2 Comments:
A friend who has done research in the area of pre-natal psychology did a paper on how music affects the fetus in utero...here is her bibliography:
Polverini-Rey, R. (1984) Intrauterine musical learning: The soothing effect on newborns of a lullaby learned prenatally. Retrieved November 10, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.asoundbeginning.com/moreinfo.htm
Satt, B., (1984) An investigation into the acoustical induction of intrauterine learning. Retrieved November 10, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.asoundbeginning.com/moreinfo.htm
Standley, J. M. (1998) The effect of music and multimodal stimulation on responses of premature infants in neonatal intensive care. Pediatric Nursing, 24(6), 532-538
Wilkin, P. E. (1996) A comparison of fetal and newborn responses to music and sound stimuli with and without daily exposure to a specific piece of music. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. 127, 163-169
Prenatal and postnatal stimulation research: An open window to the world. (2000, August 22). Pompano Beach, FL: Amphion Communications. Retrieved November 3, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://2bparent.com/research.htm
Kris-
I just read this as I was perusing your blog. This is really interesting to me right now- especially because John & I (as well as you & Shaun) are affected so strongly by music and are also both trying to conceive. I have always envisioned music being a HUGE part of my childs in-utero experience. Whats out there is alot of classical, but I'm more interested in the rhythmic sounds of the drum and intend to keep drumming during pregnancy. Now I have a ton of stuff to look into- thans for this!
Love-
Steph
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