Do We Somehow Absorb The Events Happening As We Are Born?
I don’t mean in an astrological way, as that is a load of old rubbish. But surely the state, feelings and emotions of the mother, must be passed to the child!
When our first son was born in 1969, everybody was on edge for the first moon landing. But it all turned out well! Gayle Hunnicutt whose own son was born at the same time, said her son was placid. Was ours? Perhaps as a young child, but not like how Gayle described her son.
I was born on the 16th August 1947, just a day after India gained independence. I am a few hours late to be one of Midnight’s Children. Has it affected me? I love India and most things Indian. I’ve been twice and hopefully I’ll go again. I’ve just watched John Sergeant’s excellent documentary on Indian railways, which talked eloquently about the tragedy and violence of partition, when around a 1,000,000 people died. It must have been in the papers and on the radio around the time I was born. I’ve also heard of this violence from a man, who at the time was a young officer in the British Army trying to move civilians to safety in soft-skinned vehicles. He wouldn’t talk about it.
In Sergeant’s documentary, we saw how the tragedy still continues, with India and Pakistan refusing to forget the violence and emnity and try to build a better future.
Today London showed how bad that relationship has become, with Pakistan playing Australia at the neutral venue of Lords. Judging by the fact that Pakistan are on top, they will claim victory, when in truth they have been defeated by the terrorists, who have forced them to play in England.
We must learn to renounce violence and surely the Indian sub-continent has seen enough in the last seventy years.
The Anonymous Widower 
You should study the Metamorphic Technique which looks into this in some depth.
Comment by Carol | July 13, 2010 |
In my personal experience, I think yes. I was separated from my mother at a few days old due to serious complications to my mother from the birth. I remained in the maternity unit for 14 weeks, despite being a normal healthy child. My mother was in a hospital some miles away. There was a flu epidemic, my grandparents, aunts etc werent allowed to visit me. My dad could wave through the nursery window. At 12 weeks an aunt took me home until my mum came out of hospital. I am certain that all this has had a great effect on me, and not for the good I might add!
When my own first child was born, I literally relived that period of my own life.
Comment by Liz P | July 13, 2010 |
You should read about The Enneagram. A similar theme and fascinating to boot. It is premised on the basis that we are all shaped by how we perceived our entry to the world to be. For example, a baby who perceived danger and distrust either in the womb or during/immediately after birth will have a ‘fear’ element in their personality – always (perhaps subconsciously) looking for the danger in life’s activities.
Comment by Emma | July 13, 2010 |
I always remember a tale of a bomb-disposal man in WW2, who ended up on an island somewhere on the Rhine I think. It was a maternity hospital and there were just frightened women, as all the staff had fled. But Royal Engineers are made of sterner stuff and they delivered all of the babies successfully under a ferocious artillery barrage. The joke was that they were short of anaesthetic, but they had lots of boxes of champagne. Such is the madness of war. He always wanted to meet one of those children, as after what they had been through, they could surely go through anything.
Comment by AnonW | July 14, 2010 |