I finally did it! I lovingly planted my placenta after storing it in the freezer for almost exactly 4 years! The timing proved to be just right, as only in this time in my life would I be able to fully appreciate the symbolism that imbued this experience.
While I was pregnant with Miran in the summer of 2005, I planted a baby Magnolia tree for him in our side yard. I contemplated the cyclic beauty of nourishing the earth with a tree, just as my own body was providing for the nourishment of my baby. For me, it was small way to give back to Mother Earth and to serve as a reminder of my sacred connection to the her.
Miran's birth was as natural and graceful as the nourishing Magnolia tree growing in my yard. I birthed the life-giving placenta, and once the cord was no longer pulsing, it was cut by my midwife and put in a safe place for me to take home and eventually give back to the earth. Little did I know it would remain encased in a styrofoam cup for four years in the back of my freezer.
January 10, 2010 I felt a calling to finally plant my placenta! The new year was so full of promising new hope for me, for my family and for the planet, I knew this would be a beautiful right of passage for the coming year. For the past five months I've been volunteering my time working on some green initiatives for the school district where my daughter attends school, here in Poway. One of the goals I have been working on is to eliminate the use of styrofoam trays in the elementary school lunchrooms. Currently, Poway Unified Students consume 8,000 styrofoam trays per day. Over the course of one school year, that amounts to 1,550,00 styrofoam trays! I have helped set change in motion and my goal is to get the district to switch to 100% recycled paper trays which can be composted or recycled in return. Great strides have been made, but there is a lot of red-tape to cut and awareness raising to do!
So, when I took my placenta from the freezer and realized it has been, ironically, encased in styrofoam all these years, I instantly thought of my campaign! As I pealed away the styrofoam I couldn't help but feel that it was sucking the life from the placenta. I could almost feel the placenta breathe as I freed it from it's captivity. Broken pieces of styrofoam, tossed into the garbage, never to be decomposed, or even baled (compressed)revealing this super-human membrane that was an integral part of the creation of life. To me, this moment foreshadowed the the passing of the old, destructive practices of our school district, and represents the birth of my dreams for a sustainable school district, and for a generation of children that will not allow their food to be served on a styrofoam tray.
I dug the hole under the tree and tossed some home-grown compost into it. I could almost feel the anticipation of the Magnolia tree roots as I placed the rich dark compost, overflowing with worms and grubs into it's foundation. I laid the placenta down with a prayer of gratitude and hope. As I covered up the cord with compost, I felt it was still connected to my body. Somehow, I know that this dream of environmental freedom is now deeply rooted and supported by the very thing that nourished and sustained us all as fetuses in our mother's womb. The cycle continues, the healing has begun, change is inevitable!
