The rites of birth.

Not everyone knows that in Italy there is a law, 113 of 29 January 1992, which requires municipalities to plant a tree for every child born into the world, indicating its precise location on the birth certificate. Although it is not a widely respected directive, it is a way of introducing a small ritual, useful and fun, which is traditionally practiced by many populations around the world. But let's see what the traditions and customs are for welcoming newborns around the world.

The Maori of the Cook Islands, in New Zealand, after giving birth have the habit of burying the placenta in the ground, planting a coconut tree on top. Depending on whether the palm grows vigorously or not, it is established whether the child will become healthy and strong or weak and sickly. Also interesting is the fate of the umbilical cord, which is thrown into the sea if the newborn is male or into inland waters if female. Because, the islanders say, “the spirit of man belongs to the open ocean, that of woman to the lagoon that is on this side of the cliff”.

The Kamba, a Bantu-speaking community in Kenya, simply bury the umbilical cord and placenta just outside the hut where the child was born. This custom could represent a form of thanksgiving to Mother Earth for the gift of life received.

According to the women of the Navajo nation, in the southwestern United States, burying the umbilical cord near the family home gives the certainty that the child will always return home. As for the placenta, it is often buried next to the object that symbolizes the profession that the parents hope for the child.

The Kamba and other inhabitants of the savannah, such as the Masai, joyfully celebrate the arrival of a child, killing a goat (two or more if they are twins, or an ox if it is the son of a chief) and thanking the divinity with songs and prayers. In many cases, it is customary to have the newborn sleep between the wife and husband until the mother has had her first menstruation after giving birth.

In the refined Hindu tradition (widespread in India, Nepal and Southeast Asia), among the dozens of ceremonies intended to propitiate a happy pregnancy we find the “pumsavana”, a rite that is celebrated in the third month to obtain the grace of a male child. Where an agricultural economy prevails, it is in fact considered more advantageous to have a good number of male children capable of working the land.

But not all Hinduism considers it bad luck to hang a pink ribbon. On the smiling Indonesian island of Bali, where Hindus are over 90%, women occupy a position of absolute importance. A special occasion like motherhood inspires dozens of ceremonies. For example, as soon as the baby is born, the midwife takes the “ari-ari”, the placenta, washes it in scented water, places it in a half coconut filled with flowers and then gives it to the new father to bury at the entrance of the house, on the left if female, on the right if male.

A series of rituals and offerings to the deities are carried out for the Balinese newborn: on the 12th day the parents are convinced that the baby’s soul is firmly anchored to the body and can dare to give him a name. On the 42nd day he officially becomes a member of the family. In the meantime, the baby is not allowed to touch the ground and only on the 105th day do the adults stop holding him in their arms, celebrating the event with a banquet.

In some Haitian, Nigerian and Roma communities, it is decided to assign two names at birth, one of which is kept secret and revealed to the child only when he is old enough to defend himself.

In Japan, an ancient tradition called “ochichiya” requires that a name be given on the 7th day after birth, communicating it to acquaintances with a note attached to a small gift. The Japanese celebrate the first month of life by taking the baby to the temple all together, parents and grandparents. And on the 100th day, the “okuizome”: the baby is made to sit at the table with the rest of the family to wish him a future full of gastronomic delights.

Some Vietnamese families, to choose a name, don’t just wait for the anti-spirit “vaccination” to take effect (around the first month, in those parts), but invite relatives and friends not to pay compliments to the newborn; instead, they address epithets such as “ugly” or “toad”, since it seems that evil entities prefer to persecute the most beautiful children.

In Greece, it is customary to immerse the baby three times in baptism, to symbolize the three days Jesus spent in the tomb.

In other Orthodox communities, such as in Georgia or among the Christian minorities of Kazakhstan, immersion takes place in lakes and rivers, which in winter have extremely cold temperatures.

Aboriginal mothers in the Kimberley area of ​​Australia are instead masters in the art of “infant smoking”! Nothing

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Folklore.