Melanie Marquis - Witchy Mama: Magickal Traditions, Motherly Insights & Sacred Knowledge

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Witchy Mama: Magickal Traditions, Motherly Insights, and Sacred Knowledge 2016 by Melanie Marquis and Emily A. Francis.

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First e-book edition 2016

E-book ISBN: 9780738749105

Cover art: iStockphoto.com/63005403sergeytitov1977
iStockphoto.com/32196582Richard Ellgen
iStockphoto.com/32198172Richard Ellgen
iStockphoto.com/6107557mugshot

Cover design: Ellen Lawson

Interior Photographs Jessica Lee Allen

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Marquis, Melanie, 1976 author.

Title: Witchy mama : magickal traditions, motherly insights & sacred

knowledge / by Melanie Marquis and Emily A. Francis.

Description: First Edition. | Woodbury, MN : Llewellyn Publications, 2016. |

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016002266 (print) | LCCN 2016009924 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738748306 | ISBN 9780738749105 ()

Subjects: LCSH: PregnancyPopular works. | ChildbirthPopular works. |

Magic.

Classification: LCC RG551 .M37 2016 (print) | LCC RG551 (ebook) | DDC

618.2dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016002266

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publishers website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

Dedication

This book is lovingly dedicated to our sacred children, who are our greatest treasures, and to all the good mamas of the past, present, and future, including our own.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Jessica Allen, Colette Shorthouse, Stephanie Colletti, Johns Creek Yoga Studio, Roz Zollinger, Claire Marie Miller, Jill Kostrinsky, and Jorja Fleming for your help and contributions. We would also like to thank everyone at Llewellyn who helped make this book possible. Emily would like to give special thanks to the girls who made her a mother, Hannah and Ava, and infinite gratitude to her whole incredible family for all their love, kindness, and support. Melanie would like to give thanks to her children, Aidan and Mia, who make her laugh and smile every single day.

Contents

List of

: Magickal Tools for Making the Most of Motherhood

: Fertility and the Path to Conscious Conception

: Youre Pregnant! Now What?

: Pregnancy Stretches

: Embracing Your Inner Mama

: Pregnancy Dreams Deciphered

: Preparing for Birth

: Welcoming Baby

: Baby Astrology

: Relaxation Tools for Moms

: Energizing Techniques for Moms

: Bathtime Magick

: Bedtime Magick

: Mealtime Magick

: Magickal Home

: Psychic Mama

: Beautiful Mama

: Sexy Mama

: Kid Magick

: Powerful Mama

Figures

: Setting the Tone with Breath

: Sunshine Breath

: Sunshine Breath

: Sunshine Breath

: Angel Breathing

: Angel Breathing

: Angel Breathing

: Cat Pose

: Cow Pose

: Cat Pose Standing

: Cow Pose Standing

: Potters Squat

: Torso Stretch

: Torso Stretch

: Chest Stretch

: Wrist Stretch

: Wrist Stretch

: Butterfly Stretch

: Butterfly Stretch

: Seated Forward Bend

: Seated Forward Bend

: Seated Forward Bend

: Straddle

: Straddle

: Hip Stretch

: Hip Stretch

: Seated Lumbar Spinal Twist

: Seated Lumbar Spinal Twist

: Seated Lumbar Spinal Twist

: Gentle Spinal Twist on Floor

: Shoulder and Chest Energizer

: Shoulder and Chest Energizer

: Shoulder and Chest Energizer

: Shoulder and Chest Energizer

: Stimulating the Chi

: Stimulating the Chi

Foreword by Emily

The first time I got pregnant, I was excited but a little uncertain. I wasnt ready to look at my pregnancy as some wonderful, magickal experience yet. But after suffering a miscarriage late in the first trimester, my attitude changed completely. I went from feeling ambivalent about even being pregnant to feeling terrified, wanting it, not wanting it, questioning it, loving it, not believing entirely that it was really real, being excited, and then feeling loss and pain. The loss shook me to my very core. I woke up every night after finding out we lost it and would roll over and lie on my husband and just cry. Oh, what I would have given to have never doubted, never questioned, never been negative! Oh, what I would have done to have another chance to get pregnant and have a baby! I would do it all right this time!

Shortly after suffering that loss, I was in my yoga class, lying in savasana , the relaxation pose. As I lay there, still and quiet, I heard a voice as clear as day whisper in my ear, Are you ready now? Because there is a little girl trying to come through. I answered with all my heart and soul to that voice: Yes, yes, yes, I am ready ! I went home and told my husband, We are having a girl! He asked me, Are we pregnant? and I said, Not yet. But soon we were.