 View Our Latest Posting Below! Updated 2/28/05 |
Table Of Contents     |
| Welcome to WOMANCRAFT -- an education in midwifery without necessarily, that is, literally, attending births. Though many of Hygieia's students are midwives, intrapartum doulas, and doctors , there are many ways to midwife the Possible Family along with going to births. First I must inform you that I love Hygieia College Co-Respond-Dance above all and yet I am behind in the Lessons already recieived from students, due to my illness (initiated through a Rho Gam vaccincation after my only hospital birth). Therefore I am limiting new students with the stipulation that they must be patient to receive personal Responses to their Lessons. My students write such gems as this -- the Home Study Course is about... "the power of female birth-blood trance for healing and human ecology". If the spirit moves you into our Mystery School, you will join over a thousand women dedicated to womancraft and who are birthkeepers-in-embryo. It is my honor to be your midwife. Please feel free to call me anytime for more information. |
Hygieia College Home Study Courseoffers Ten Lessons based elementally: 1. Innerview 2. Foundations of Healing Birth 3. Earth (Myths & Herbs) 4. Water (Dreams & Sexuality) 5. Fire (Politics, Lotus Birth & Visioning) 6. Air (Astrology & Touch) 7. Ether (Sound & Yoga) 8. Psyche's Midwife 9. Oral Interview - A Personal Evaluative Dialogue the Wise Woman Healer Within and Lesson 10. Gathering for Ceremony (Workshop) Jeannine Parvati will respond to each Lesson by writing an original series of questions and the co-respond-dance deepens through the dialogue, back and forth, until you request the next Lesson. In the Mystery School tradition, the material is non-medical/obstetrical -- each written Lesson is to be returned to Hygieia College upon completion. A diploma at the end of the journey is offered and possible apprenticeship. Now an International Institution which exists as a State of Mind, Hygieia College has over 1000 students around the world and gatherings are held throughout the U.S.A., Europe and Australia. This course also untrains pre & perinatal professionals who want to base their healing practices at home and midwife the possible family. Midwifery is the metaphor to bring to the light the essential healer, grounded in Earth-based and intuitive skills. Phone queries welcomed to clarify if Hygieia College will serve you @ (435) 527-3738. International calls will be returned collect. A Self-Paced Home Study Course, Hygieia College invites mothers and others who care about birth to join us in deepening our gnosis & to celebrate life as Sisters-in-the-Clan-of-ncouragement. All workshops and gatherings open to children and babies of any gender.
Why do you want to become a lay/midwife, healer of women and families? I’m not sure I can really articulate why. I am called to it. And I believe in the original goodness and divinity of human beings. This goodness seems to be forgotten at birth, and before. Rather than a materialization of divine love, babies / pregnancies seem to be viewed as a potential disaster. But, I feel like if everyone remembered their original goodness and the original goodness of every child born into the world, the world’s problems would be solved. Mary Peetie Hygieia Student Australia Students in Hygieia College can join an email group list and bring questions evoked from the Home Study Course to discussion.This Summer brought to the Hygieia College E-List an investigative and passionate dialogue about extended breastfeeding and weaning and the hot birth political climate, that we want to share, below; 
Hello Sisters,I have contemplating these musings a while now, and was wondering what you thought about those who say long-term breastfeeding is unhealthy for babies. When my gynecologist in France (who is really a super doc) asked me how long I planned to breastfeed Taliesin, I just replied randomly, thinking it was a very long time, "oh six months." He questioned that length, explaining that all mammals lactate for as long as they gestate. Thus, he concluded, "your baby gets nine months of red blood, and should receive nine months of white blood. There is always perfect symmetry in nature." This made perfect sense to me, I liked the image of the red and white, the balance on either end of the birth day. We nursed happily away, and did nothing to wean. Nine months came and went, then 10, 12, and we are now nursing at 21 months, for I have seen no reason to end this loving exchange. But I have recently been reading about two different "alternative" or "visionary" approaches to parenting, Rudolph Steiner's anthroposophical medicine as explained in Rahima Baldwin's, You Are Your Child's First Teacher and Transcendental Meditation's interpretation of Ayurveda for pregnancy and postpartum in For a Blissful Baby, by Kumuda Reddy, and what I've read has surprised me. For Steiner, "when the child achieves uprightness and walks (between 9 and 12 months), it is freeing itself and asserting its individuality; achieving similar freedom in the area of nutrition is appropriate at this time as well." She goes on to explain that anthroposophy recommends weaning at nine months/40 weeks, or at least beginning weaning at 9 months, ending by 12. Also, she says that while it may be appropriate for certain less technologically developed cultures to nurse children 3 years, it does not fit the highly developed individual consciousness of the West. Finally, she gives the argument of mothers who "suffer through" nursing for years, waiting for the baby to wean himself, exhausting themselves, and suggests we take our lesson from mammals, "who are more into self-preservation and preservation of the young than that." Hmm. I tend to respect Steiner's insights (though I am certainly not an anthroposophy scholar!), and I wonder if perhaps my gynecologist is also echoing Steiner? Is there some cyclical, natural truth to this? Physiologically, we are mammals, after all. Have we gone too far one way, tipping the scale from bottle-feeding to breastfeeding ad vitam eternam, acting in reaction to previous generations? Did I somehow fail to see my nine-month old's signals that he was ready to unlatch? Is this all stemming from a patriarchal perspective? Next, I found out that Maharishi Vedic Medicine recommends to start weaning when baby's first tooth appears, keep breast-feeding for 3 months after introducing new food, and that 11 months is the optimal age to wean. "Continuing to breast-feed for a longer period of time can be exhausting to the mother, with fewer and fewer gains for the child. The older [the child] gets, the more she is aware of her surroundings and the harder it may be for her to stop breast-feeding." Finally, Ayurveda states that breast-feeding when pregnant creates unhealthy milk. I know all of this is not "mother-baby correct" in many circles, but I just wanted to know what you all thought. Is all this founded on something? What do physiologists say? Thank you for reading! Taliesin requires my breast-attention. Lately, he seems to just want to nurse a few minutes, then just pat my breast and stare at it! Blessings, Gabrielle Kauffmann Hygieia Student Earlysville VA Hello Dear Sisters, I am a little new a responding to postings and we'll see how far I can get before my little one stirs. I too have read the texts you are quoting from and found that putting power into anyone elses hands be it dr's of scholars takes away my personal power to trust myself and my baby and our relationship and undermines my ablities to read my body and babies cues. There are so many reasons for extended breastfeeding but the one that sings the loudest is trust in yourself to make decisions that work best for you and your baby.And trust that you and your child know. By extending breastfeeding your child not only benefits from continued superior food and health due to the immunities past through your milk but also trusts that you will respond to her needs and meet them with your love and closeness. Children nurse for a number of reasons, hunger, closeness, tired, over stimulation,illness, hurts- all of these reasons come at a much faster rate as a child grows into toddlerhood. Having nursed my child until she weaned herself a week before her 4th birthday I can say made toddlerhood much smoother for her and me. Anytime she was overstimulated or hurt a little closeness eased her pain. It naturally progressed to time in arms without milkie. The transition was gradual and loving and she learned to trust me. I learned I had everything I needed to nourish and comfort my child by pulling her close and holding her.I also learned having let her wean herself that that decision for her was huge. So many things changed with that decision. It was as if she said ok I am ready for more of lifes responsiblities. Both physically and mentally. She jumped in with both feet. I never really knew what weaning would be like for us. I just trusted she would know. I knew as 3 progressed to 4. I talked to her openly about wanted to eventually wean. She nursed every night to go to bed until the night she weaned. She nursed, looked at me and said I am done, patted my breast, rolled over and went to sleep. Done. Never asked again. My husband talked to her about it and she said she was ready and knew mommy was too. She did it becuase she loved me she said and didn't need milkie anymore. I was floored and still am. I am glad I trusted myself and her to make that decision. She knows now I will always be there for her and talk freely and honestly with her, I will always hold her, protect her, and love her. I know I can do it and trust myself to know what's best for me and my child. I hope my story helps you realize your power to decide what works best for you and your daughter. Cherish the time you have for only you can provide that continuum, I can't believe my girl's not nursing any longer!! In peace and support. Sunny Daily Hygieia Student Louisburg Kansas Dear Sunny, Thank you for your support and insight. Reading your story was very beautiful, and how your daughter decided her time to wean herself enlightening. On our side, there was never the idea of doing any forceful weaning, as we quickly found that if I withheld my breasts or tried distraction tactics, Taliesin would just grow insecure and want more, so we simply surrendered to this form of loving. I was expressing more of a curiosity of the mind, I guess left over from too many years in school, and thinking more with my brain than trusting my heart (old habits are hard to lose). Just wanting to understand where these rules had come from, since these were traditions I respect, as opposed to medical standards, for instance. I always want to know "why?" people come to think a certain way. 
But I also need to learn to trust myself, and our relationship (I love that trusting our relationship, rather than taking all that into my own hands how freeing!) rather than giving that power over to outer authorities, as you so justly recognized. That's a big one right now! Blessings, Gabrielle Kauffmann Hygieia Student Earlysville VA Dear Sisters, I've thoroughly enjoyed hearing weaning stories and find a common thread in this discussion with something I have been feeling lately. I often get email from CfM (Citizen's for Midwifery), and other similiar midwifery groups working towards the "legalization" or promotion of equal status for all midwives. Although I have respect for the tremendous work these women are doing, I find myself wanting to "delete" messages from them, feeling my heart pulled in a different direction. Just a thought: Are the struggles they are constantly engaged in politically, emotionally feeding a fire that only serves to distract? I feel that, like with the weaning, we need to turn our attentions to our own fires, honoring and stoking our own powers within to birth. What I mean is the possible dream JP speaks her truth about; what if all families took birth into their own hearts and hands and made this their responsibility? Lately, I've been feeling this great Oceanic pull as if this is what Free Birth touches on a deeper spiritual plane. Free birth is a way to inner wisdom vs. being distracted with the political dramas presented on the screen that take us further and further and further away from the core of ourselves. It is not drawing me in anymore. I guess I'm just ready to write my own script, direct my own movie. The fire is like a collective consciousness and the sticks we bring are our own belief systems. I'm asking, what fire do we want to tend? I no longer feel the need or inspiration to give the "legalization of midwifery etc.." fire any more of my sticks. I don't mean to be disrespectful of others choices, but rather want to learn to make my own and live that fully. Thank you for listening to these ramblings of hopes and dreams. Happy Solstice! Kristie Wells MotherMidwife to Kiah (5.5 yrs) and Aosha (5.5 yrs) Hillsborough, NC 27278 Hygieia Student Dear Kristie, How enlightening, to consider whether all of these issues draw us in or out. Such a powerful practice. If we look at everything in this light, how clearly things wither away, or stand out against clear skies. In my community, I have been involved in a new group whose goals are to offer more birthing choices to families. The women leading the group are very political, warrior-like and have in them a sort of birth rage, led by disappointment. Although I acknowledge their feelings and respect their commitment, I find myself drifting off in their monthly meetings as though all of these debates and by-laws we laboriously ponder were simply gusts of wind, leading us nowhere, in truth. We gather for different reasons, I guess, all with our stories and hopes and dreams. I originally went to jump into the birth scene, to talk about birth, but find I do not want to fuel this angry bonfire, I do not want to go over the dangers of cytotec for the hundredth time. All this kindles a fire, yes, but a destructive one, and I see now, thanks to your insight, how this does not kindle my inner flame. I do not come to my hearth/heart feeling at peace at the end of our gatherings there. In the end, won't we all need to work out our fears and personal herstories out in the quiet of our homes, anyway? Such distractions we choose for ourselves! And in the same way, reading about all these weaning theories, as I have been recently, again, thank you, I see this reading does not enlighten me, but rather dampens the fire, causing it to smoke and me to cough my doubts. Ahh this sisterhood is so beautiful! Blessings, Gabrielle Kauffmann Hygieia Student Earlysville VA Dear Kristie and All, Your realization of freebirth being a way to heal the Earth is heartening. I came to this same realization about abortion -- I chose to focus my energy in teaching fertility awareness rather than fight for the right of women to have "better" abortions. Same with childbirth -- instead of working to make midwifery "legal", I midwife the midwife in every mother who is open to being all we can be. Blessed Be & Blessed Do, Jeannine Dear Hygieia E-List, We've just returned to New England from five years in Micronesia, where I lived with my husband and son (who was one when we left) on three different tropical islands, in some places that were very remote, with traditional life styles intact. On the island of Pohnpei, children nurse until the Mom's next pregnancy reached three months. The last child who has no younger sibling self weans, usually at six years old. Women nurse each other's children and tandem nursing is fine as long as the woman nursing is not more than three months pregnant. After the birth, tandem nursing is fine too. At some point during my sojourn, I realized that what we call "milk teeth" start to fall out around the same time the child who is left to self wean stops nursing, six years. To me, it was like the illumination of a light bulb, "oh yeah, that is why they are called milk teeth ~ for use during the time of the breastmilk." Recent studies are finding that the benefits of breastfeeeding continue with time and at no point in duration do they just stop. Until recently, no one had examined the benefits of extended nursing and many assumptions were made based on only what had been looked at and not beyond. Now it is found that benefits continue. For me the bottom line is alot like birth, if a woman is in an environment where she feels safe, she will know exactly what is right for her and her child. Warmly, Lisa Boisvert-Mackenzie Hygieia Student Taipan & Vermont, USA Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 Subject: Of moons and midwives Last night, I went to a forum on birthing with midwives. I had been feeling a little cranky that day, knowing but not wanting to know I was not pregnant this month. I would gladly have stayed at home, for it had been hot all day, and I was just looking forward to curling up and reading, but our house was busy, and I was happy to see my friends. As I entered the room we had reserved, I was struck by the energy in the room: a wide circle of midwives and pregnant ladies, yoga teachers and friendly faces. Most of them well grounded, feet like trunks planted parallel into the ground. I sat and breathed in relief, I was in the right place after all. As the evening unfolded and three women spoke of their childbirth experiences with different midwives, I felt more and more indrawn, pulled in by the power of their experiences, sitting in that "sacred space" they described so well. My hand went to my lower back, I shifted in my chair, trying to find a comfortable position, those feelings of contractions coming on stronger. After the gathering, five friends and I went to a new tea space, to continue our evening. We were all lined up on a bench outside, with droplets of water falling on us out of nowhere, sipping green Matcha tea shakes, nibbling on oriental biscuits, cupping our teapots, our bellies. All glowed from within, excited as we were to be here under the stars ⤔ women out of time for an hour. Inside, a belly dancer named Rain girated under applause. It was fitting she was belly dancing, I thought, fitting her name was rain, fitting I had met her the day before and she had told me how she always had her moons whenever she was scheduled to see her midwife, as though her inner tide was drawn out by the pull of her midwife. As I drove home, chanting on the dark, winding roads, I smiled, and thought, we are all connected. In bed, I dreamt of helping a woman (so familiar, was she me?) give birth, and a wise woman with white tresses wrapped around her head pop her head in and nod, then leave quietly. And fittingly again, this morning my moon was here. Blessings, Gabrielle Kauffman Hygieia Student Paris, France Earlysville, VA
Table of Contents: Hygieia Home & Latest Updates Wild Woman Vision Camp Home Study Course The HERSTORY of HYGIEIA COLLEGE Additional Postings and Updates |
Pay
Tuition Now
