About the Book
The mystery of conception, pregnancy and birth evoke wonder, even in today's fast paced technical world.yThe Incarnating Childyrespects that, 'Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting.' Joan Salter picks up Wordsworth's theme and follows the soul life of tiny babies into childhood and adolescence.
Table of Contents:
Starting point - knowledge of man - the threefold human being, an art of motherhood or a science of child rearing, an new art of parenthood; the process of incarnation - the poets, research embryologists, the forty days period; preparation - body preparation - food, herbs, more body care - the perineum, stretch marks, nipple care, preparing clothes for the baby - fabrics, warmth, colours; anticipation - soul preparation, the Sistine Madonna, destiny, baptism, naming, home orientation; the phenomenon of motherhood: the trials, the archetypal feminine; the first six weeks - the protective environment, wrapping, bathing, baby massage, baby slings, weighing, at six weeks, new vistas ahead; the baby's body gestures - microcosm and macrocosm, plant gesture, fish gesture, seeking the upright, bird gesture, reptile gesture, quadruped gesture, human gesture, alpha and omega; the body gestures and the days of creation - first day, second day, third day, fourth day, fifth day, sixth day; coming in from the cosmos - circles and spirals, the cross, three-men, ladders, the rainbow, the house; taking in the world 1 - the child's food - breast feeding, weaning, the bottle fed baby,; the introduction of food, fruit, grains, vegetables, meat, eggs, milk and honey, nightshades, mushrooms and legumes, some practical matters; taking in the world 2 - the sense impressions - sense impressions and body organs, rhythm, warmth, touch, eyes and ears, television, movement, balance, sense of the other's ego, art - a healing influence; the human soul and its functions - the three functions, physical growth, growth and awakeness; the rhythms of seven years; the first seven years - the Madonna's cloak, asking questions, imitation and repetition, plays and toys, dolls, simple action games, books, fairy tales, gnomes and fairies, nursery rhymes, within the family circle, going to work, the broken circle, the true family circle; questions and viewpoints -crying, wakeful babies, immunization, social development, play-groups, playmates and pre-schools; guiding behaviour - the establishment of good habits, challenges, three human skills, soul virtues, saying virtues, prayers for young children, a caring attitude; the constitution of the soul - the experiencing principle, the intellectual principle, the higher principle, preparing the higher during childhood; the development of thinking - from birth to two years; Piaget's work, thought connected with action, three and four years, the second seven years, knowing; the years ahead - the child speaks - new tasks for the ego, the life-body, the soul-body, adulthood. Epilogue: a personal assessment. Appendices. (Part contents).
