At 10:00 PM Wednesday 9/13/2006, Ritu wrote:
Ronn Blankenship wrote:
> IIRC there are some religions
> which believe that the baby acquires a spirit or
> whatever they call it when s/he takes his/her first breath
> outside the womb.
>From what was said to me during my pregnancies, I think the Hindus [or
at least the non-atheist/non-agnostic Hindus] believe something like
this:
The soul starts 'visiting' foetus at ~ 3 months, just looking in and
getting acquainted. At the end of the second trimester, there is a
ceremony to mark the beginning of the third trimester. Apparently, this
[the beginning of the third trimester, not the ceremony] is the time the
soul comes to 'stay' inside the womb, to get used to the trappings of a
body once again. The ceremony thus is called, for the want of a better
translation, a 'centring' ceremony. The expectant mother is told that
her prime duty from this moment on is to maintain a balance in her life,
thoughts, emotions, and actions, for any imbalance would be less than
beneficial to the child.
I think the above is essentially right - both the times I was told this,
the babies were busy kicking the bladder and I had more immediate
concerns, like politely excusing myself and finding a bathroom.
Which provides a pointed illustration of the fact that yet other
cultures consider the quickening (when the mother first feels the
baby move) as the point when the spirit enters the body . . .
-- Ronn! :)
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