Introduction

We propose in this article a reparation ritual for children who were not born because of a premature death provoked spontaneously or willingly. This extraordinary healing act was born from a particular experience that happened in the Takiwasi Center, in Peru, using a therapeutic approach whose origin we will explain.

The clinical experience of three decades has shown us the serious and sometimes dramatic consequences of abortions whose physical, psychological, and spiritual effects are often silenced or underestimated in a great measure. The post-abortion syndrome is generally concealed or dismissed by the medical community. However, when the reparation is done correctly, the benefits in these three levels are evident.

We are personally using a Christian approach and inside this spirituality path we have created the prayers that go along with this ritual. This being said, we consider that this contribution can be modified, corrected or improved. On other hand, this formula is not exclusive of Christianity and it does not matter that the people who use this type of reparation share or join it. Regarding the validity of the Christian aspects if this sacramental ritual, we subject ourselves to the authority of the church for its assessment.

Genesis- Origin

In the year 2000, a French woman in her sixties named Françoise got in contact with me via mail to ask if she could come to Peru to the Takiwasi Center, with the purpose of starting a therapeutic process that combines western psychotherapy and the use of the Amazonian medicinal plants. This include, among other techniques, the drinking of Ayahuasca, a psychoactive ancestral brew that plays an essential role in the indigenous initiations and here it is integrated as a tool for the exploration of the deep psyche. When Françoise explained to me her clinical situation - ovarian terminal cancer with ascites - I told her of the impossibility of treating her due to the risk that it involved. The trip was difficult, the Takiwasi Center is not a well-equipped clinic with enough medical services to attend these types of cases. In spite of her insistence, I stood firm on my decision. However, she requested an interview with me in my next trip to France which I accepted.

When I saw her in France some time later I found a woman in a very bad physical shape but at the same time with a strong desire not to die without knowing "what she was dying of". Her swollen stomach looked like that of a pregnant woman, but was big due to the ascites strokes that had to be pinched regularly. I was overwhelmed not because she wanted to be cured; at this stage is almost impossible, but because she wanted a better understanding of her life, the reasons that lead to her dying. She was willing to face the risks that traveling could present and her family accepted her will, even if she died while traveling. After taking some necessary precautions to a possible repatriation, in addition to her family assurance and warranties and their commitment of following my instructions word by word, including a sudden return, I accepted her request to help her find an answer to her existential and very important question. I welcomed her in Peru for one month. Moments before boarding the plane, Françoise pinched her ascites. She endured the trip and arrived to Takiwasi to follow a therapeutic process with Ayahuasca and other medicinal plants.

In the first Ayahuasca session, she saw an earthquake, symbolically a tremor was about to happen internally. Then she had a terrible vision: she saw herself wearing clothes as an official of the SS! This vision was very troubling to her and she did not understand what that meant. In her life's history she did not have a personal or familiar relationship with the Nazi regime and the events that happened in the Second World War.

The Nazi symbols appeared frequently in the Ayahuasca session and showed a cult to death. The swastika, wheel of life in the Hinduism, is inverted here, and therefore shows the opposite, "the wheel of death". This is not just an indifference to life, but an active and voluntary act to celebrate the strength of Thanatos (death). When I suggested that meaning to her the day after, she still did not associate the swastika symbol with something specific for her.

In the second Ayahuasca session this point was clarified and will play an important role in her process. She heard a voice that she identified as that of Wisdom and asked her if she really wanted to know what she was dying of. She answered "yes". Then the answer came as this: "you are dying because of the death you have spread in your womb and in the womb of other women".

Françoise understood. Around her twenties, she met an unknown man on the street and spent a night with him in which they had a sexual encounter. The man disappeared and she found out that she was pregnant. Her father urged her to abort the undesired child who lacked a father… and she accepted under pressure. After that event, she explained how a hatred for men started growing in her because of the man that abandoned her and her own father that ordered her to kill her son. Then she decided to take men out of her life and from that moment she would only have homosexual relationships without conceiving another son. She became a nurse and decided "to help" other women in her same situation because French law didn’t allow abortion yet. Françoise took them into other countries where abortion was permitted and she would dedicate her life to it.

The voice of Wisdom was her teacher and told her: "the unborn children aren't dead, because they have to be born in order to die”. The birth of a child is the arrival of day light and the recognition of the child´s singularity by his parents and humanity, symbolized through a name. The soul of these children is blocked in their life process, waiting for what they lack: a body that arrives at day light, the recognition as a singular human being and the return to the earth at the time of death. Do you want to fix your mistakes?” She nods with her head. Therefore, she is told how to do a ritual that will follow these essential steps in the life of all human being:
- Modeling the body of the child with clay, done with all the love the child should have received upon his arrival.
- Assigning him a unique name.
- Burying him on the shore of the small river that flows beside the Takiwasi Center.

After this overwhelming session, Françoise asked me to do this ritual along with her, not only to guide her, but also to represent the masculine figure that have been missing in her life. I agreed, telling her that considering my condition of Christian, Catholic, the only thing that I could offer her were prayers included in my spiritual life and that made sense to me. Once she approved, I prepared a series of readings taken from the Bible and from the books of Christian prayers.

The ritual was done according to her vision, accompanied by prayers and the blessing to the symbolized body of the child and the blessings to Françoise, representing at the same time the Mother of these aborted children. Françoise was very emotional.

In the third and last Ayahuasca session, after the ritual Françoise sees a series of small red hearts rising from the earth to the sky. These were the liberated souls of the children. Then a big mouth appears in front of her and tells her: “I am the mouth that speaks the truth. You can ask me a single question”. She asks: “am I cured?". The answer is immediate: "you are cured".

Just before her return to France, Françoise had a meaningful dream that closed her spiritual healing process. She saw herself riding a horse as if she was a brave warrior heading to combat, remembering Joan of Arc, and in front of her "the Nazi army surrenders".

Three months after her return to France, I received a fax from Françoise that started with these words: "when you receive this fax I will no longer be on this earth..." and she continued to thank me for her "healing".

Comments: The role of Ayahuasca

The Ayahuasca sessions are conditioned by several factors (place of the ritual, quality of the beverage, the dose, preparation of the person, the healing masters, etc.). But in our eyes, the most essential part resides in the intention of the person. This is what will guide the process and give meaning to it. The sincerity of the person who drinks Ayahuasca is fundamental. Françoise motivation and her intentions were clear, that was what pushed me to take the risks associated with her trip to Peru despite the adverse circumstances. Françoise, in the proximity of death, was very active, situated in reality and far from the attitude of a curious person or a "neo-shamanic tourist". Her question was vital to her. She didn't ask to be healed physically, she rather wanted to find the meaning of her death and, therefore, the meaning of her life as well. Her petition lied in the spiritual level.

The Ayahuasca allows a gradual process of understanding and integration of the symbolism that arises in the therapeutic sessions. We clearly see the stages of her three sessions: (1) the announcement of a disarrangement (or we would rather say a conversion) and the acceptance of guilt; (2) the lessons from this guilt and the ways that we can repair it; and (3) the reparation ritual, the liberation and answer to her healing expectations, the confirmation of the healing-conversion. The Ayahuasca is traditionally presented as a master and here we can see very well the pedagogy that guides the process.

The Ayahuasca plays an important role in terms of bond and opening to the spiritual world, is not her who responds strictly speaking, she rather facilitates and allows this communication with "all that makes sense". Facing Françoise, we find the voice of Wisdom, the voice of Truth that transcends the Ayahuasca itself and its context, and give the answers in a sort of essential dialogue, teaching and transcendental orientation.

The Ayahuasca manifests in the psyche of the individual in a symbolic manner, as in the final dream that echoes the first vision (the relationship with Nazism). This symbolism includes all dimensions of the being, the physical (earthquake sensation), the emotional or psycho-affective (anxiety, fears, etc.) and the spiritual (the Nazism, the voices of Wisdom and Truth) dimensions. Some of the images or voices do not need interpretation and are immediately clear to the subject, others require a symbolic reading.

The role of the ritual

The process of Françoise had two ritualistic dimensions: one of them, through the ayahuasca session, and the other one through the reparation that has been indicated. Both are subject to a strict interpretation that allows them to be operative. The Ayahuasca ritual at Takiwasi is performed according to the teachings of the ancient healing masters of the Amazon who have transferred us their knowledge and also by the signs that arise in our personal process through dreams and visions. We can also see that the structure of the reparation ritual for abortions is based on the information given by Françoise’s visions as a teaching and as a demand from the spiritual world. This is not about an aesthetic or sentimental justification; it rather means to put into action precise and effective processes that can find their justification in the sense that they are holders and their deep coherence with the spiritual laws that Françoise ignored completely in the conscious level. Around the indicated dominant structure, lies an area of personal expression (When Françoise asks me to represent the masculine that is positive, it is me who chooses texts in accordance with my feelings).

The ritual assumes a function of interface between the world of the sensitive realities and those invisible realities. A delimited field is created in time and space that allows the combination or the coincidence of space-time. This condensation of the ritual can be effective beyond the ordinary limits of time-space. In this manner, during the Ayahuasca sessions, Françoise found, at the same time, the amount of abortions that had been practiced for many years, but that were "summarized" in the essential "bad behavior" that could be repaired through a "unique ritual" in the same way, just a modeled child represents all other children without the need to model as many children as abortions to be repaired: Is therefore a small quantity of hearts that are free and confirm that reparation reaches everyone.

Moreover, the ritual of reparation, ritual of the formation and burial, show, in some instances, the lives of these children: The gestation (modeling of the clay) the birth, the acceptance in society (name and blessing), death and the return to the earth.

Concepts regarding abortion

Based on Françoise's experience, the induced abortion amounts exactly to murder that causes the death not only of these children, but also of the hearts of the people that practiced and took part in it. Françoise was a person who sews death and she became the first victim. She would become, at the same time, victim and executioner of others, but also of herself. Now she is "pregnant" from ascites, a water of death. The extenuating circumstances that accompany her initial act (abandonment from the father of her child and of her own father, her youth, her ignorance, her consternation for this unexpected situation) they don't remove the flaw that requires reparation. In the same manner, her "good Intentions" to "help" other women don't keep her from being responsible, on the contrary, her deliberate choice of staying on this path confirms that her own abortion already consisted in sowing death as she will do." in women's wombs" Also her "altruist" act towards other women that suffer is contaminated by a dimension of hatred that reacts to her suffering, her hatred towards her father and in general towards all men. She will also decide not to have an affective and sexual relationship with men and she will declare herself lesbian. The hatred felt towards her because she did not have the courage of saying "no" to the lethal orders of her father. Her suffering does not get transformed into love, in compassion, to avoid that other women practice abortions, knowing how to resist to the negative pressure of the human and social environment finding the necessary support that they lack and don't suffer as she has suffered. She opted to project her hatred towards men who impregnate other women in an irresponsible manner, without seemingly attributing a shared irresponsibility with these women and in some way come to terms with her painful story through other victims. In the first place, it is her own suffering that she wants to take care of, forgetting her aborted child and those who she will help eliminate. The complicity of death will have priority over the complicity of life. We can also assume that the weight of her guilt for her actions is reduced to this justification of "altruist" towards her fellow humans. The shared and standardized guilt becomes less heavy. Françoise does not find the path of forgiveness, she should forgive herself, her son, and she has to offer her forgiveness to her father and the man who abandoned her. In spite of the circumstances that has surrounded this anonymous man, she was who accepted the sexual act, and it wasn't imposed on her. Is illustrative that she accepts the need of a positive masculine figure in the ritual and she let herself be guided and led by a man in this act of reparation.

The reference to the Nazis is clearly situated in the order of genocide, of crimes against humanity. We could think that this concept of genocide is applied in particular to Françoise because of the number of abortions she participated in but they don't correspond to a single abortion. Another experience contradicts this interpretation. A 40 something year old man who has also followed a process with Ayahuasca, is found terribly affected during one session with terrible images of the genocide in Rwanda. After he accepted, by an act of compassion, to share the suffering of the people of Rwanda, later in the session, he tried to eliminate these images and the sensation of anguish to no avail. Even though he didn't have any involvement with this tragic political incident and facing an intense suffering, he started to complain to himself interiorly saying: "I have not done anything like this, I have not killed anyone in order for me to deserve to live!", The wise voice that manifested to him through the Ayahuasca replied: "why are you so sure?", and then he remembers the abortion of his own son in which he took part many years ago. This single abortion is presented to him in the same order as a collective genocide. The number of abortions in which Françoise has participated lies rather in the "form" of a Nazi official, not of a simple soldier but of a person "graduated" in the army of death.

Beyond the image of genocide, abortion is equivalent to a fundamental choice that is the cult of death. It not only signifies a passive rejection of life through the no acceptance of the life that is in the process of gestation, but it also has an active position of the cult offered to the spirit of death.

Abortion is presented to Françoise as an interruption, not only of the vital process in the physiological sense, (that of course she knew about) but also as an obstacle to the fulfillment of the spiritual future of each child. Because these children don't have a body, though they have a soul that survives to the physical death, the full liberation of the soul implies death after being born in the light of day. It is imperative and necessary that these children be born in order to die, in other words, they ought to pass the stage of their spiritual transformation. Since this spiritual law is not fulfilled, the soul survives, but is incapable of completing all the process that allows their soul to follow their spiritual path. That is why it is necessary that the ritual includes the material presence of a physical body born from the earth and that the body appears in the light of day after gestation (modeled). The reparation is completed with the return to the earth of this body born from the earth. The child about to be born, even though he has a body and soul, is "incomplete" in the spiritual plane, because he has no access to the earth and soul in this world. It would be sort of an abortion of the body and soul, inseparable, that is why the child, his body and soul, remain "waiting". This child is described based on what Françoise has heard, as in a place of "transit", in waiting, without being able to advance in their fulfillment or carrying. Once the ritual of reparation is performed, these souls ascend from the earth to heaven.

The other condition that seems fundamental is the recognition of the singularity of this being by the community, starting obviously, with their own parents. This singularity of each human being is represented by the adjudication of a name. This is a welcoming sign: the acceptance of what life offers. His name is said aloud as a sign of his recognized humanity. As we have previously said, the presence of the child in the world is not only physical, it also includes all aspects of his human nature, including the social, fraternal (psych-affective) and the spiritual dimension, the aspect of the relationship with others and the "all-other". His identity makes sense in his human filiation (his lineage and beyond that of the son of Adam and/or for those who believe that Abraham) and his spiritual lineage (the son of the creator).

The burial must be in the ground next to the river that runs by Takiwasi. We can see the signs of a new current of life after death. One illustrative anecdote has been told by another woman that performed the same ritual. After the abortion that she made, she could not have another son. One day, watching TV, she sees a documentary about the hunting of whales. In a moment, a whale climbs to the top of the ship through a crane, and in its ascent, the fetus of a whale falls from the womb of the whale and drowns in the ocean. She feels a strong emotion and she likens this event to the loss of her child. Then after the ritual of reparation, she has a very moving dream where she sees a whale swimming in the Takiwasi river and next to it its baby whale alive and happy, cruising the ocean together. The reconciliation was signed and the mother and the child go together towards a life destined to join the ocean "of the great all" the arrival to the world, to this world is not a physiological act, but an act destined to follow a spiritual destiny, to the other world, the one where the immensity of life join. Abortion divides the histories of the mother and the son, it twists the spiritual course of each one, and it mutilates mother and child from their spiritual fulfillment.

Abortion is above all, an important spiritual transgression. This is evident in the experiences that we shared with Françoise, at her request of healing, which without doubt it includes, in her mind, the possibility of a physical healing as well. Something tells her that she is already healed, although her physical condition never changed because she died some months later. But she is at peace with herself which she would confirm with her posthumous fax, and this peace is probably the fact that arising from the meaning of her sickness and that at this point, she finds herself fully satisfied. The physical healing could have come as an additional grace that Françoise would have accepted to some degree but she didn't put it as a condition of her search for justification. Being a non-believer, Françoise, however, poses a question of a spiritual order, her search is semantic, she directs herself to the profound meaning of her condition, she feels that this disease makes sense and that it escapes her. In this way, she returns intuitively to her human nature that doesn't allow a rational explanation (Doctors, in the positive sense of the word) but it requires an intelligence that pertains to the sense of life and death, so to say, a metaphysical dimension of human nature, the "spin" before her trip to Takiwasi from the moment in which she took measures to recover her essence; she finds the words that nourished her, the answer that satisfies her hunger for justification. Her motivation is evident and she insists to travel to Peru in spite of my initial opposition, taking mortal risks of this endeavor. Françoise became an investigator of the truth, risking her own life and it is the voice of truth that is going to answer her.

Reflections from the Christian Perspective

Françoise doesn't position herself as a believer and she didn't make her request from a Christian perspective. However, we have observed, her request is above all, of a metaphysical dimension and it doesn't show any resistance to the inclusion of Christian elements in the ritual of Ayahuasca or in the ritual of reparation of abortions. During her experience with plants and rituals, no symbolic elements purely Christian appears. However, for a Christian, it is difficult not to acknowledge he who is called the path, the truth and the life.

The "tender care of the heart of Jesus to the conversion of sinners" (Mt 14,14 and Lc 6,18) could be read in the humbleness of Jesus to be present without imposing, demanding the filiation to his church. It fades to leave Françoise free but the voice of wisdom and the voice of truth will remain. Jesus saves her first but not in order to gain another adept.

Who else could ask? do you want to be healed? And this situation reminds all of the condition of the paralytic where it is seen that her spiritual healing is available from the interest of faith (Mt 9,1-7) (jn 5,6). Françoise also shows this act of faith through her powerful motivation, her search for truth, to dare to find an objective answer, putting her life at risk. She is a prodigal daughter who overcome with pain, comes to the father that gives life and she runs toward him to embrace him even before she asks for forgiveness. (lc 15,20). She will ask her son for forgiveness and all other aborted children during the ritual of reparation...she doesn't yet have an access to ask for forgiveness, to the father that she still ignores, directly...and she will receive him in spite of the circumstances. God's mercy is manifested very well here, in this small act of reparation compared to the sins committed by her, but big because of the sincerity and authenticity of Françoise.

If Françoise faced her situation, in what she has become in an unconventional manner, this challenge doesn't produce any judgment. Jesus didn't come to judge but to offer the salvation to sinners (Juan 3:17) she is not invited to the auto-accusation of culpability, mark of demonic suggestions, but to the recognition to the truth of her life, her responsibility and at the same time the paths to her forgiveness and healing are offered to her. It was her guilt, however, that triggered her rebellion and to the distribution of this weight in the semi-altruist inadequate actions from where she free herself. Jesus is, above all, a liberator and he frees her form her own self, from the madness of her suffering and the careless manner in which she has managed this suffering.

The father is also recognized in this act of mercy that consists in revealing her faults to offer forgiveness to her immediately. Françoise would have been crushed if she had had the revelation of her function as a "Nazi" of the reality of the crimes committed, without a possibility of reparation. In this pedagogy of the recognition of the error, of the request for forgiveness and the reparation of acts, it is the wounded being that is led to cure her own wounds. The revelation of her shadow is accompanied to have at her disposal the means to separate and this is without a doubt the proof of the work of God.

The spiritual transgression of Françoise is that she offered a cult to the spirit of death. In her suffering, she preferred to lean on hatred rather than love, denying her part of responsibility in what has happened, putting her guilt outside of her instead of seeking forgiveness. Now we see that beyond her ignorance and multiples circumstances that mitigate her error, this has not been eliminated. And it is precisely through the recognition of her responsibility that she has access to her freedom in the form of reparation. If Françoise is the passive victim of the alienating circumstances, she could not access the condition of being free or even recover the spiritual dimension of her human nature, of a spiritual being.

Besides addressing the main preoccupation of Françoise and offering her a compensation for her salvation and that of the children in question, God transforms her in a seed of life. Her conversion (The Hebrew Techouva or the Greek Metanoia, different from the adhesion to a religion or church) Is to go from the cult of death to the cult of life, of the Nazi official whose deadly hordes make him retreat. This is the exchange offered by the mercy of the father. We are going to explain later how this "personal" ritual in the beginning has turned into a ritual offered to all those wishing to repair one or more abortions. Françoise, the seed of death, because of her brave and sincere demeanor, was converted, by the divine grace, in a seed of life. Where sin abounds, grace also abounds (rom 5,20). The structure of her person that shakes and is that shakiness anticipates a confusion, or rather, a conversion and this is possible because Françoise, after burying the spirit of rebellion, accepts the verdict of her spiritual healing, fully, without seeing the physical benefits. Françoise has turned around, has come back to the giver of life.

The spiritual battles between the forces of life and death are illustrated in the conception of battle and the military confrontation of the divine army of God Sabaoth and the army of the enemy against life, of the devil. Françoise is covered with the Nazi uniform without knowing and she must get rid of it and turned into a Joan of Arc covered by the armor of God (Ef 6, 12-17). The devil get through her, separating the mother form her son, attempting to separate "what God has united”. He wants to twist her life trajectory to turn her towards the path of death, destruction and hatred. The reconciliation through forgiveness and reparation, will allow her, just as the whale and her offspring, to swim in this new impulse of life, one next to the other, towards life, the ocean of love that is the culmination of all spiritual destiny. Abortion is therefore an act of rebellion that equates a cult to the devil. This is a demonic act. The banality of abortion in the contemporary social scene, leads to a minimization of the gravity that we remember here: A death, an infanticide, a crime against humanity, nothing less.

Every human being exists in the wish of God even before his conception (Jr 1:05) (Ps 139,15) and abortion is not only a crime against the child himself, but also a sheer rejection of the will and divine love. Is man that rebels against God despising and canceling God's will imposing his own will. Is the creature that defies his own creator through abortion, man associates himself to the rebellion of Lucifer and its angels, he will become a member of the devil's church. It represents the loss of supreme knowledge, the negation of our human nature, of the creature and especially of God as father of all understanding. And the quickness with which all abortions are performed deserve the prayer of Jesus on the cross: "Father, forgive them for they not know what they are doing"(Lucas 23-34). Only the blood of Christ can repair the spill blood from the abortions.

In the Christian perspective, the soul doesn’t incarnate as if it pre-existed in the body it proclaims. Also, all vocabulary of "incarnation" sounds hollow when it suggests the preexistence of the soul and a disconnection of one another. If we say that Jesus is "the Verb made flesh" means that the second person of the trinity assumed a human nature: body and soul. The soul of Jesus is created at the same time as his body, as any other man, and is his divine person that incarnates in that animated body. Therefore, is ambiguous and wrong to say that "The soul incarnates" and this banal statement requests a constant and systematic correction. The souls of the aborted children can't express fully informing the body with which it was created, that is why the soul dies with the death of the unborn child. The anthropological and theological problem is too difficult to explain in reality, but the experience of the suffering of the mothers who have aborted justifies the request of the proposed sacramental.

Extension and general features of the ritual

After Françoise visit, I thought that her case was closed and that it was a unique experience related to her personal situation and was limited to that only. However, we were continuously faced with the suffering from the abortions that our visitors had. I have discovered that at least half of the women who look forward to a personal evolution process in Takiwasi with the help of the plants, have suffered an abortion. The case here summarized indicates some examples.

Each time the topic arose during a session of Ayahuasca, The abortion were felt by the mother as though they had a deep wound that never scars. Even though some women admitted making this decision for the best of reasons, according to their partner, in "ideal" conditions without feeling guilt at the conscious level, the capacity of understanding further exploring the depth Ayahuasca allows, revealed quite the contrary. The abortion showed them a systematic act contrary to life, an act that allowed no rational justification. In the most difficult situations in which many circumstances seem to have inexorably led to this act, the lack of faith in the providence prevailed.

Abortion implies consequences for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Often, in the revelations that arise through the use of Ayahuasca, the links between abortion and suffering in these three levels start to come up. Some women, for example, can't explain their infertility, in spite of the fact that they used to be fertile in the past. Other cases, such as Françoise's showed several somatic disorders without an apparent reason. Many of the depressive symptoms and several mental disorders derive from acts of this nature. The emotional and sexual relationships with the opposite sex were altered, in some cases in a chronic and serious way. These links between abortion and the psychosomatic disorders, what is called Post-abortion syndrome in the medical jargon, have been barely studied; they even remain hidden from the press and the medical circles. This mute conspiracy tends to exonerate the law on abortions and keep women in a lack of conscience with respect to the seriousness of this act, not only for the unborn child, but also for his own personal physical, mental and spiritual well-being. We would like to believe that this is a neutral philosophical option and those who opposed present themselves as the defenders of a moralism that is narrow and fanatical. But this is a question of truth, and without even bringing up faith or the adhesion to the teachings of the church, is required by the negative, measured and proven consequences, taking some not very founded epidemiological studies, meaning, whether the academic world bothers to take some action regarding it.

Abortion demands compensation and it can be repaired. Long before the arrival of Françoise, whose story have demonstrated this affirmation, a therapist for forty years, Blanche, had arrived to take Ayahuasca for professional reasons. Blanche was married and had four children with her husband, with whom she lived. a fifth undesired pregnancy seemed impossible to them because of their age, having four children and their professional commitments... they are part of those people that elect in a "reasonable manner" an abortion in mutual accord and without feeling guilty for this act. Their surprise was great when the Ayahuasca session revealed the seriousness of their act, besides it shows that she is pregnant and this time she can do nothing about it citing ignorance or lack of conscience, that the acceptance of this last child will repair her past bad behavior. In fact, blanche was pregnant without her knowing and she immediately decided to keep the child that is now more than 20 years old and whose parents don't regret having allowed him to be born...what demonstrates that it could have been possible in exchange for the one was aborted. In regards to Françoise, the revelation of her mistake has been accompanied by the possibility of immediate reparation.

On the other hand, to many people, abortion has played an important indirect role, but essential in life's problems. It has to do with people who have not been involved themselves in the decision of causing an abortion but the abortion of a loved one has had an impact in their psyche. The classic example of the older brother (or sister) aborted by their parents before their own birth. This topic has the risk, of carrying, before their birth, the heavy load of reparation from the previous abortion. This unconscious function, transmitted by the mother could lead to strong personality disorders. This function can also be conscious to the extent where the mother gives the just born the previously thought name for the previous pregnancy: This child is at the same time he, himself, and other and also a defunct person (or an unborn child), a psychic pattern that could lead to a mental dissociation, eventually deep, to the point of evoking a schizophrenic structure. many settings are possible when the child that is about to be born, is assigned, often unconsciously, the role of substitute that keep him from being himself, what alters his identity and its place, due to the tacit, in confusing and incomprehensible physic situations. To the small children forced to assume a role of "replacement" in a setting that he ignores, the configuration of the family is not present, they do not integrate, and therefore, mental pathologies appear in diverse degrees.

Abortion wounds or kills something in women which is the gift to transmit life, what is called "maternal instinct" a term that evokes a sort of animal instinct rather than an act of procreation in the image of the creation from God. This instance was confirmed by several patients during the therapeutic process with plants and who have become conscious regarding a change in the relationship with the mother from the moment the fetus was aborted, after his birth, another child. This change often presents itself as the loss from a warm relationship to a colder and distant one, more mechanic: her mother is not the same, the "current" don't flow in the same manner. Her maternal function has been reduced but she still fulfills her social function, something in the psycho-emotional plane died. Her ability to give life appears as an act beyond the events of pregnancy and childbirth. The giving on life does not pertain only to the biological, to the physical body, but to the capacity to give love constantly and unconditionally that illustrates the dimension of the divine in women. The mother is, like the earth, more than anything it offers nutrients. Women lend their bodies to the physical birth, but she also giver her heart to the psychic birth. Because her spirit is born in the spiritual life, she can benefit her son with a spiritual birth as well, despite that he does not depend on her mother, but on the person himself. This gift is more than a function, a divine gift that she offers to her children. That is why mothers can become biological and psychological mothers in an ascending order of donation. It’s the spiritual dimension of the mother that facilitates the psychic maternity and then the physical maternity. Therefore, it can also be possible to be a spiritual and psychic mother to non-biological children (such in cases of adoption) the spiritual mother of non-biological and non-psychic children (for example, the spiritual children of women that are committed to a religious life, even from a distance).

In this context it is convenient to differentiate spontaneous or involuntary abortions from the ones are caused at will. Of course, the degree of responsibility in the death of the fetus is totally different. Therefore, involuntary abortions are seen as "errors or corrections from nature" for which there is no assumed responsibility and it is not necessary to make any reparations. However, the experience contradicts in part this statement. In fact, for one thing, sometimes there are negative consequences in the mother and other children as we have described previously, for example, in the role attributed to the substitution of other siblings or in the physical or psychical disorders of the mother after the involuntary abortion. On the other hand, the child aborted spontaneously is in the same situation that the children aborted intentionally regarding their spiritual evolution: they have a soul that suffers and that has not been able to manifest or own a body. Moreover, it is rare that the mothers have had a dream or an intuition about which sex or name they would have given him. Without excluding or confirming the possibility that, in case that it was in fact an "error of nature”, what we observe is a sort of solidarity or trans-generational heritage. A great transgression from of previous generation members (for example, the grandmother that aborted) this event is transmitted in the following generations until it is forgiven and repaired. The mother has no responsibility for the involuntary abortion, but she can inherit a familiar responsibility not assumed in the past. We could see the case of a familiar curse of her descendants that manifested in this way. This faces us with the mystery of evil or sin, using a more religious term. The spiritual dimension is essential to tackle, in a comprehensive way, the aspects that this clinic make evident. Later, when the reparation is applied in these cases, liberations, physical, psychic and spiritual healing manifest.

At the same time that the requests were increasing in demand, I also felt the internal pressure to restart the ritual of reparation of unborn children and offer this reparation more broadly but without a guarantee that everything would be fair or just. I felt like i could have been taking on a role that was not mine and that surpassed my therapeutic function. In in my spiritual path that I have found an answer to this question having in minds that:

In an evident manner, this ritual possesses the trans-psychic that implies an action in a spiritual order. But this is not a sacrament. This ritual belongs to the order of the sacramental (for example the use of holy water, the sign of the cross, the veneration of a dedicated icon, etc...) whose access is allowed and recommended to the baptized. Through baptism, each Christian person has three spiritual functions: Priest, prophet and king". But this sacerdotal dimension resides only in the possibility of intersection, especially using the holy word.

I have discovered that similar practices barely exist within the church but they have started to grow more. Particularly in France, in the sanctuary of Cotignac (our Lady of Grace, Var), whose diocese makes the ritual of reparation of abortion twice a year. with the use of liturgical texts i discovered that they were closely related (and some identical) and I thought that it was necessary to practice it.

Once I accepted to take on this responsibility, the internal pressure stopped immediately and I received a confirmation that this was what I needed to do. The practice of the ritual was strengthened due to the results of the reparation, reconciliation and physical, mental and spiritual healing. Later, a priest was named by the bishop of my diocese to oversee and make sure that we were following pastoral rituals to the people, the patients and visitors who wished to be healed by Takiwasi.

Sacrament and sacramental

Some groups offer in the baptism of unborn children what seems impossible: Baptism is a sacrament and the sacraments are a grace given to living people. The dead child cannot be baptized, just like a dead person cannot receive the last rites, therefore the proposed ritual, which is a sacramental, it's not a sacrament, it is important because it refers to the divine mercy, even beyond the sacraments themselves. The applying of the baptism as a wish (in this case the parents and the church) even with said formula (“if God's willing”), require an explicit authorization and confirmation from the bishop, who should be probably referred to the congregation to the doctrine of faith.

There is no doubt that we ought to be happy that a priest proposes a blessing to these children to the Virgin Mary, the spiritual mother of all believers. These children become powerful God's intercessors on behalf of their parents and with the mediation of the virgin, also the mother of intercession. We also show to those who believe in that the ritual of reparation is not worth the sacramental absolution: If the mother is Christian, she should confess with an authorized priest to give her an absolution, in this instance, a concrete case, the murder is a "case reserved" to the bishop who can delegate a priest, but it is necessary to ask him.

As we have seen, this ritual is not exclusively catholic in its formation and elaboration. However, we have recognized the intervention of the divine mercy given to all men "of good faith" believer or not. Many Françoise, without a doubt, look for an inner healing without consciously integrating the withdrawal of the spiritual dimension that is inevitably related to the case of abortions. This discovery could appear in the course of a therapeutic process that leads to the request of reparation, leaving aside the recognition of Jesus as savior or the Catholic Church as the privileged place where his mercy manifests. But above all, Jesus teaches us that is the faith that saves (Lc 8.48) God has been happy that Françoise and all the women the she represents, benefit from the grace of his mercy.

That's why this ritual is a sacramental and not a sacrament, it is open to all sincere people in its process, moreover, it possesses a relative flexibility in the way it is executed and the way it is performed so it can adapt itself to a great variety of situations and contexts.

Development of the ritual and recommendations

We wish to explain here the way we proceed in Takiwasi so it serves as a reference to other therapists. It is not our intention to pretend that this is the only way to heal in reference to the details, but it seems that the three basic indications arising from Françoise's experience should be kept as follows:

Modeling of a Body with clay that symbolically corresponds to the gestation phase and then to the birth. With this goal, in ritual practiced in other places, the possibility of representing the body of the child through a doll has been proposed. This option does not seem adequate because it suppresses the order of the matter-The earth- later keeping it from returning to the earth, as well as phase of the molding of the child where the child is molded by a person with feelings of love and welcome upon his arrival. The molding reminds the act of the artisan that allows that this clay takes shape and show the process of progressive formation and differentiation of the child. The hands symbolize a "co-creation" act, they express the heart, offering energies from the right and from the left allowing it to integrate harmoniously, the masculine and feminine functions to form a complete being. Adam has been formed from the dust of the earth (“afar min haadamah”) (Gn 2,7).

In other places such as Cotignac, where we have been able to perform the ritual of reparation, the presence of the child is represented by a candle or a lighted thick tallow candle. After this ritual of reparation, we clearly see that this liturgy was incomplete, due to the absence of a body made from clay or earth, from matter. The use of a lighted candle could remind us the moment of blessing of these children as a sign of the light of the spirit, but we regarded it as inadequate due to the lack of a "fleshy" body.

The Giving of a name that identifies the child and marks recognition and an acceptance of his humanity by society and in particular, by his parents. Is important that this name be unique as with his brothers, and avoid giving him a name of someone else born in the same family. We recommend not to give him the name of a deceased person so as to avoid confusions relating to the identity of the family or allow that to turn into ghosts of reincarnation of an ancestor or of another person, which could lead to the lack of procedures of differentiation of the absolute singularity of the being who is about to be born.

The Return to the Earth, the burial that symbolizes the death of the body and the liberation of the soul. It presents itself as an essential condition of the performance of the ritual that allows "the birth to heaven". The proximity of the river in Takiwasi is circumstantial and of course, it's not necessary. Beyond these three conditions that we regard as indispensable so the ritual makes sense and it keeps its effectiveness, we give some complementary recommendations that correspond to the way we proceed, but that could, without a doubt, change its form depending on the context.

This ritual is proposed at the end in a therapeutic process so the person who commits to this act is fully conscious of it. This allows him to obtain more opportunities extracting the deeper meaning of this process. It is not a sacrament, a procedure in itself (ex opere operato), but of a sacramental (ex opere operantis) its effectiveness depends on the possibility of investment, of the sincerity of faith of whom requests the ritual as well as he who performs the ritual. If in the sacrament the effectiveness if complete, in the case of this ritual the efficacy and the results are linked to the protagonists and to honesty, the intensity and sincerity of its intention. A previous preparation assures better conditions. We try to avoid a practice that will not be of the order of "magic" where the facial expressions will cause quietness without the presence of the heart and of the spirit that conditions the result of this initiative.

As in any other ritual, this one has to be started by an opening and a closing ritual. Is this condition that the ritual allows the establishment of a particular time-space where the symbolic function is operational? The opening ritual is about a permission request to the "spiritual world" so the ritual can be accepted and performed, and that any deficiency, error, or forgiveness be forgiven in the name of the sincerity of the heart and the humbleness of those who participate and of the desire to fix the committed fault. It also includes a narration of the intention of those who make a commitment to participate in the ritual and the final objective found in this exercise. The closing ritual integrates a manifestation of gratitude towards an active intervention of the spiritual world in what is about to be done.

It is desirable that the ritual be held in a familiar or known place. We performed it in the Takiwasi Chapel that has been blessed by the bishop of the diocese. After the opening ritual, the participants leave the chapel in order to perform the modeling of the child which takes about fifteen minutes. We insist that this modeling ritual be full of love, of requests of forgiveness, of welcoming and acceptance, of reparation which gives meaning to the ritual. We make clear that the modeling of the child it's not important in its aesthetic or artistic quality, this work should be free, without patterns, this allows some sort of differentiation, each one of the parents giving the shape that corresponds to the vision of the child about to come: Fetal form, full baby, unique attributes. The children here represented are taken to the chapel, symbolizing their birth within society, symbolizing the gathered men and the believers in the assembly of the baptized by the church. Is here that we bless the children and their parents with holy water, through the person that represent them, at the same time their names are said aloud. A candle can be lighted representing at that very moment, the awakening of the child, the awakening of his intelligence, of his conscience, of his spirituality...This stage represents his existence in this world and prayers of preparation to his death will continue until each one of the parents leave the chapel to bury the child in a hole dug on the ground, next to the shores of the river where his parents choose. The performer of the ritual approaches each person to recite a prayer that reminds them of the full acceptance of the divine law, happiness and freedom. The people gather again in the chapel to close the ritual with prayers of thanksgiving and worship.

It is essential to have several spaces during the course of the ritual where the parent can be alone with his child and can talk to him with his heart and his words to establish a bond. This bond starts with the modeling and the burial next to the river. The parent shows his affection and his intentions in the way he elaborates the representation of the child as well as the decision to choose the place of burial and details of it. During this time, the performer of the ritual prays to ask god for forgiveness and the intercession of the child, the parents of the children, the people who participate in the ritual, and all those who directly or indirectly have been involved with abortions. Here we pray the rosary of the divine mercy. As we have previously said, for Christians, abortion is a deadly sin that leads to the death of the child. It is convenient that the parents who have been involved with abortions ask for forgiveness in a sacramental confession with a duly authorized priest who can forgive the sins involved with abortion.

The ritual, as a whole, lasts around an hour and a half. We suggest that each person adopts an adequate physical posture while in the chapel to manifest respect for the sacred place that allows him a better opportunity for reflection. The performer of the ritual is upright, then he kneels down to pray individually when the participants are absent.

Different situations and questions came up so we prepared the following answers:

It would be ideal that the mother and the father of the aborted child be present together in order to get reparation for their act, which does not always happen habitually. That's why one of the parents is often the one who does the ritual. In the best possible ways, we advise that the parents talk about the issue mutually so they can agree on the ritual and the choosing of a name. This second option is almost always impossible to perform due to the separation of the parents due among others to (divorce, separation, and death) or even a geographic separation. In this case we assume that the desire of only one parent is enough to proceed with the ritual.

There is also, a certain number of requests pertaining to the reparation of an abortion by a person who has been affected without him or her being the perpetrators. In the case of an abortion caused by their own parents or by a member of a family or perhaps by an ancestor or a member of an extended family. It can also be a case where an abortion is decided by the romantic partner of the moment without knowledge of the other partner and sometimes against his own will. In this case the consent of the interested parties becomes impossible as well as the choosing of a name mutually agreed. This consent cannot necessarily be obtained from people who hold the same views and values or level of faith or motivation. In these situations, we consider the honest desire of the person who makes the request; it's a necessary and enough condition for the performance of the ritual of reparation.

In the seminars that we have, the people of faith wish to join the ritual without being personally or directly linked to an abortion. They choose to pray for the intentions of other people that perform the ritual moved by personal motivations or to dedicate their prayer to all unborn children in the world as well as for the generic abortions, like for example, the abortions that happened within his family, his city, his country, etc. In this case we propose, as was the case of Françoise, that a unique symbolic child be modeled who represents all other children and at the moment of giving a name to that child, a generic name be chosen (we have explained this because the names of Maria and Juan seem appropriate) or it can be limited to saying their intentions aloud at the moment of the blessing of the child.

Some people cannot be present (essentially because of geographic issues) and they ask us to do the ritual for them, giving the unborn child a name for which this intervention is requested. Again, the sincere wish of the person requesting the ritual is a necessary and enough condition for us to yield to their desires and a volunteer then represents this person in the ritual. The healing that follows later confirms the veracity of this practice.

When the ritual is requested for several abortions, if these are clearly identified, we ask the person to model a child per each abortion and to choose a specific name for each one of them. On the contrary, if the abortions are not identified (in quantity) or if a doubt arises or a generic reparation appear, (for example, for the children not born from the line of the parents), a unique child that represent all of them is modeled and is given a symbolic, generic name, such as Maria or Juan.

The ritual prayer includes a request for reparation not only for the parents of the unborn children but for all other people who have directly or indirectly participated in them as was the case of Françoise. Third parties, (such as her father) can exert a lot of influence .and motivation to carry out abortions. In abortion cases, almost always a third party is involved to carry out this act. We cannot stay away from these considerations, "the spirit of time" that makes this a banal act, free of responsibility its authors, and sometimes vindicate the "benefits", perverting the concept of freedom. This co-responsibility, or even better, this "solidarity in sin" is reciprocally called a solidarity of reparation.

The father of the unborn child

We see that fathers appear less implicated regarding responsibility on abortions and its consequences. It does not mean they are exonerated, but it seems that the final decision is up to the mother more directly. She has to be complacent and willing to do it because her own body is also implicated. The consent of the father is facultative, sometimes passive, but the consent of the mother is necessary and active. Thus, is happens that, is the father who rejects the child and force his partner to make an abortion.

It is also important for the father to recognize that the unborn child also come from him, they exist in the spiritual plane; he is his father, not merely a father. He should integrate the presence of these children as the sisters and brothers of his living children, failing to recognize this, could create deep psychic problems and a deep spiritual wound, even if these abortions are ignored, his responsibility would be less probable, but the unconscious links less active.