The baby baths are an introduction into this world that cleanses, purifies, and grounds the infant's body while assisting the spirit to successfully transition from one realm to the next.
by Jasmine Holder
“That’s powerful. It’s awakening everything”. That was his response after seeing a traditional baby bath. We spent time talking about all the nerve endings and sensory stimulation that the hot water ignites as it runs along the newborn's spinal column. I couldn’t help but smile and respond to my father, a long-time holistic pediatrician and family doctor, with admiration and honor. A man continually attempting to bow to tradition and acknowledge Indigenous knowledge systems as the world’s foremost leader in the healing sciences. Here we were, three generations present —my father, myself, and my son—witnessing the evolution and convergence of identity and destiny.
Following in the footsteps of my father’s heritage, accented and shaped by my mother’s guidance. Rooting myself in the work of traditional birth work and matrescence care, moving away from Western modalities and anchoring into the words and wisdom of my mother, of her mother, and my great-grandmothers. All of their whispers, their nudges, their directions find me and pass through me like a channel in a river. Bestowing their lived experiences into my methods of care, the discreet placement of my hands, and the assuaging of colicky cries. It is their tried and true methods that settle in my bones now and direct me. The grandmothers are the ones who guide us, who lay the first water upon our backs and teach us the recipes to be passed down and protected. It was those early trainings in my teenage and young adult years that I took for granted. And it is now that I stand to value and protect what they’ve poured into me. It is not that I begin to see how tradition lives. How this mission of Kebtah offers an illumination for me to see culture pulsate, cultivate, and continually maintain and grow.
The baby baths are an introduction into this world that cleanses, purifies, and grounds the infant's body while assisting the spirit to successfully transition from one realm to the next. I spoke no words about its value or context to my father; I simply listened, listened to him speak about the relationship between newborn reflexes and the spinal column, the foundations of the brain stem and nerve stimulation, the value of hot water and stretching the infant's limbs in supporting sensory development, spatial awareness and infant perception. It was beautiful to see him put its benefits into his own language and context — there was no need for me to say anything else. I became a witness to how I sat at the intersection of my father, a healer doing his best to navigate the modern medical system, and my mother, a woman steeped in tradition through and through; how their teachings sat with me in my hands and my heart, directing my search and cultivating my dedication.
Now here I am, finding myself at the feet of a mission like Kebtah — attempting to anchor in tradition and restore the cultural values that are fleeting in the West. Here I am sitting at the feet of my sisters, trained by Dogon elders and Grandmothers, illuminating the pathway back home for me. Preserving the techniques that fortify the bodies of our youngest elders and prepare their spirits for the long journey through life. I’ve become a humble and quiet initiate, taking in closely how principles disseminate themselves; from the protection and fortification of our babies and mothers, to the unexpected dialogue with our fathers. All continuing down the same narrative, gently and firmly speaking to the protection of tradition. Continually asking me if I can hear the call and accept the responsibility. To turn my attention to the applications that project and preserve generations and let go of the rest.
