Continued from Part 1 & Part 2,this article looks at the following culture naming rites,rituals and ceremony:

(7) Sikh - the Mool Mantra
(8) Native American

(9) Hawaiian

(10) Latvian

(7) Sikh- The Mool Mantra

• At birth, the Mool mantra, the core teaching of Sikhism is whispered into the baby’s ear.
• Naming ceremony:the ceremony takes place in a Garudwaras or place of worship, during the first year of life. It may be performed at any time from the end of the first month to the end of the 12th month. The parents choose the date and number of guests to be invited. Prayers are offered asking for a special blessing of good health, long lifeand the Sikh way for the child. The Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Holy Book, is then opened at random.The first letter of the first word of the hymn on that page is used as the first letter of the child’s name. After the family selects an appropriate name, the members of the congregation give their approval with a holy cheer.
• Given names are common to either gender. The word Kaur, meaning “princess” is added after a girl’s name. Singh meaning “lion” is added for a boy.

(8) Native American

• The names are often created for the individual and relate to something unique about the child.
• Due to strong belief in each person’s individuality, traditional American Indian parents seldomgive their own names to their children.
• They might choose a nmae that honors a proud event in the life of an ancestor.
• To the Delaware a person’s true name is a sacred gift, and only visionary name-givers are allowed to choose it.
• Among the Shawnee, two name-givers ponder various possibilities during a night vigil. The next morning each name-giver offers a single name to the parents, and the parents choose the one that will be given to the child

(9) Hawaiian

• In Hawai, the entire family participates in the name giving
• A child’s name may be based on special events, people, places or created by parents from an incident at birth.
• Traditional Hawaiian names are long and have very picturesque meanings.
• Many of the names popular in Hawaii today are adaptations of contemporary English words
• Some of the loveliest Hawaiian names are those that come to a relative “from heaven”,in the form of dream, omen, sign or inner voice.

(10) Latvian

• Although a vast majority of the population is Christian, Latvian, worldview and traditional harkens back to their oldest religion, based in nature and on natural deities.
• They believed that Lamia ( goddess of fate ) determines a child’s future at the moment of birth.
• Nine days after a child is born the god-parents host a two-day name-giving ceremony, or Krustaba, at the parents’ house.

Earlier, we have learned about the naming rites,rituals & ceremony of the (1) European, (2) Christian and (3) the Jewish.

Part 2 looks at the following:

(4) Islamic   (5) Buddhist      (6) Hindu

(4) Islamic - Call to Prayer

• At birth, the Call to Prayer is whispered in the baby’s ear as the first sounds he or she hears.
• The act symbolically brings the infant to the awareness of Allah from the very first moment of life.
• It is accompanied by a reading from the Koran and other rites
• Naming ceremony- after a few days- seven in most Islamic countries, a naming ceremony is held. At a gathering of family and friends the child is formally given a name. A lock of hair is usually cut from the baby’s head. The celebration is accompanied by a meal, reading from the Koran, and other rites.
• Baby boys are often circumcised at this time. Although Islamic belief is that all males should be circumcised, the age when it should happened is not specified. Sometimes the circumcision does not take place until the child is a toddler or even older.

(5) Buddhist-Kika & Naming Ceremony

• After a child is born the parents have his or her Kika drawn. The Kika is a specific horoscope that many Buddhists believes determines all aspects of an individual life including marriage and death.
• Naming ceremony - at this ceremony, a rimpoche, or Buddhist holy person, studies the child’s Kika and selects a name that reflects the traits and predictions described in the Kika. After cutting a strand of the child’s hair,the rimpoche announches his or her name.
• Among Buddhists there are many naming ceremonies. In some traditions, children are named between the ages of three and eight.

(6) Hindu -Namakarana & naming ceremony

• Namkaran is the traditional Hindu baby naming ceremeony
• It has many different variations.
• Nama literally means “name” and karan means ” to make, to effect”
• Choosing a Hindu name is a complicated process. The child’s horoscope is prepared before the ceremony takes palce. An alphabet is derived from the horoscope and the alphabet is used to select five names
• Friends and relatives are invited to the naming, which is usually celebrated on the 12th day after birth. At the ceremony, the selected names are written on five separate pieces of paper. The papers are shuffled and placed individually under five oil-burning lamps. The child’s name is the one under the lamp that burns the longest. The baby’s father than whispers it into the child’s right ear.

If we were to learn more deeper about the occult art pertaining to Naming, we will then able to understand that names indeed have a lot of meaning. If given well, the vibration from the names will enable one to harmonize with nature so as to gain prosperity, peace, smooth passage through your life and health/well being.

It is therefore not surprising that different cultures laid different emphasis on the naming rites,rituals and ceremony. This article looks at the various cultures on their individual naming rites, rituals and ceremonies:

1. European - Saining
2. Christian- Christening
3. Jewish - Bris(boy) & Simchat Bas(girl)
4. Islamic -Call to Prayer
5. Buddhist-Kika & Naming ceremony
6. Hindu-Namakarana
7. Sikh- The Mool Manta & Naming ceremony
8. Native American
9. Hawaiian
10. Latvian-Krustaba

(1) European - Saining:

• The term sain comes from the Old English segnian. Its orginal meaning, ” to mark with a sign ” was eventually replaced by “bless”
• It is a traditional European child blessing and naming ceremonythat takes place nine days after birth.
• The baby is taken to a grove, where a tree is planted or chosen. The tree stands witness to the first mention of the child’s public name.
• Traditionally, the mother speaks the name of a girl baby, the father speaks the name of an infant boy. If a second name is chosen, it is whispered into the baby’s ear.
• The child is passed around the circle and introducted to the company,who present him or her with gifts and wishes.The infant’s name is spoken to the four directions. Then the baby’s umbilical cord is tied to the branch of the tree to strengthen the connection between the child and the tree; the placenta is buried at its roots to nourish it.

(2) Christian -Christening:

• A Christening is the Christian ceremony of baptizing and naming an infant. The meaning and procedure of the Christening vary among different sects.Anglicans, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox churches considered baptism a sacrament.
• According to these churches, the baptism confer God’s grace regardless of the baby’s awareness of it.
• Baptist and similar churches do not perform the baptismal rite until a person is old enough to understand its significant and participate voluntary. Most Christian churches administer the baptismal water by pouring or sprinkling it over the baby. The Eastern Orthodox and Baptist churches practice immersion (submerging the infant or adult into the water)

(3) Jewish- Bris(boy) & Simchat Bas(girl)

Bris (boy)

• A Jewish boy is name during a Bris or Brit Milah which the traditional rite of circumcision.
• The Bris takes place on the eighth day afte birth, even if it falls on the Sabbath or a Jewish holiday.

Simchat Bras ( girl )

• A Jewish girl is name in a simple ceremony in the temple or synagogue on the first Sabbah after birth.
• It’s also acceptable to have the naming done at any Torah reading, and some parents choose to wait several weeks to a month after their daughter’s birth. There is no explict birth ritual for a girl comparable to the Bris.
• The Simchat Bas,”the rejoicing of a daughter” is a relatively new welcoming celebration for a baby girl that is being adopted by many Jewish parents.Because there are no established rules, the elements of the ceremony and accompanying festivies are open to interpretation and determined by the personal wishes of the baby’s family.